Customer Reviews

The Key

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just finished reading The Key... an absolute breath of fresh air. Iliana and Duncan are perfect together. I love the way they both came to appreciate one another. The dialog was so fresh, bright and spontaneous, I found myself laughing throughout. Not only at Duncan and Iliana, but Angus, Elgin, and all the other minor characters, whose wit added to this lively tale of the lovely English Lady Iliana forced to marry the Scotsman Duncan in order to remove her from a wicked step-father and thereby pave the road for the eventual release and annullment of her mother. Both had to learn the ways of the other, but Liliana's use of the chastity belt to keep her foul smelling husband away just led to so many moments of pure hilarity. I especially liked Ms. Sands description of the passed out Duncan and what Liliana thought of his manhood parts! I just about fell on the floor with that one...and enough cannot be said about Angus, that lovable bear of a father-in-law. His misunderstanding of what his son was going through was pure joy! I LOVED this book! Definitely a keeper to reread again! Bravo Ms. Sands...can't wait to read your other novels which I will be ordering en masse shortly.

From the back cover:

Iliana Wildwood would do anything to escape from the depraved baron who sought her lands--including marrying a barbarian. Fleeing to the Highlands, Iliana was wedded to Duncan, laird of Dunbar Castle. Certainly, there was something about the virile warrior that made her weak in the knees--but something stank in the state of Scotland, and Iliana would not trust anyone until she'd discovered the source.

Determined therefore to resist her handsome husband, Iliana found a way to keep her secrets safe. Employing a belt of chastity, the spirited beauty managed to thwart the thane's advances. But then her husband changed his tactics and began a sensual assault that sent her intentions up in smoke. And as the air cleared, Iliana found that it had been her heart she had locked away, and that this stubborn Scot had finally found the key.

And my review:

This book started off so well. Lynsay Sands has a wonderful, flowing writing style that is easy and a joy to read. She can really draw the reader into the story, and has a great feel of history. I really felt like I was back in Medieval times, but never felt like I was reading a textbook.

And the conflict between the hero and heroine was also well done. I really liked Iliana. I felt that she was strong and spirited without being a shrew. I really admired and identified with her. But the hero was a bit of an immature child, in my opinion.

But really turned me off this story was the constant reminders of how much he stinks, since he only bathes twice a year (January and July). And since it's June, he's pretty ripe. Is he supposed to be sexy? Because that's just gross. (Yes, I know, historically accurate, but still gross.) As a minor theme, it might have been interesting, even amusing. But there seemed to be a mention about how much he stank (and everyone else except for the heroine, apparently) on every single page. It was really tedious. And with such an image in my head, every time the hero started kissing the heroine, I wanted to gag from the idea of having so much horrible body odor that close up. (Wouldn't most of us be disgusted by our husbands if he went even two days without a shower, let alone six months. I shudder to even think of it.) It just got to be ridiculous. Instead of this being a romance novel, or a story about a Scottish keep, it was just a story about a man's disgusting, reeking body. How is that romantic or sexy? Again, it was just gross, and not something I really want to read about.

And then the heroine lands in a big pile of manure, and while trying to get out, falls into it again and again. I'd had enough. Was this author obsessed with things that stink, or something? Enough already! As if I hadn't been overload with the million mentions of how much the hero reeks, now I've got to read about a heroine covered in animal crap. Lovely. I read romance for romance...not to bring to mind memories of changing dirty diapers or shoveling doggy do.

I guess this doesn't bother everyone (given the rave reviews on this page), but it sure bothers me. I'll give this author one more try, as it's obvious that she has writing talent. I just wished she hadn't wasted it here.

This is the first book I read by Lynsay Sands. And I absolutely loved it. The Highland setting and the Scottish hero and the heorine with her chastity belt all equalled one of the funniest books I've ever read. If you want to smile, if you need a laugh, and if you like Amanda Quick's books, you'll absolutely adore this one. I think Lynsay Sands is going to be a great new author.

After reading SWITCH, I went in search of other titles by Lynsay Sands and was glad to find The Key. I would lay in bed at night, giggling until my husband finally asked me to explain what was so funny. The chastity belt in this story is the ancient equivalent of sending someone to sleep on the sofa. The war of the sexes staged over the bathtub was hilarious. I am looking forward to reading The Deed.

I just love Lynsay Sands books because she doesn't have a problem with making her characters less than perfect which makes them appealling. This is the story of Duncan and Iliana who are ordered to marry by the King of England in order to protect Iliana's mother from a lord who is attempting to force her into marriage. By marrying her to Duncan, he is keeping Iliana out of way of being used as leverage against her mother.

Duncan is more than willing to marry Iliana, for he is being given such a large dowry for her that he can finally make the repairs on his keep that he has been saving to do for years. Iliana is more than willing to marry to protect her mother but upon arrival at her new home, she discovers it is filthy and so is her husband. She comes up with a plan to wear a chastity belt until her husband agrees to take a bath. Duncan is very attracted to his new wife and is greatly frustrated to find the chastity belt. He refuses to bathe, because it is his custom to bathe only twice a year. He will not let a woman change him or his keep. He will attempt to seduce her instead. Iliana is attracted to her new husband, but when he gets close to her and she smells him, she cannot let him touch her.

Duncan's father Angus is a sweet old laird who is excited by the prospect of grandbabies. Through a series of misunderstandings he believes his son is having sex with Iliana constantly and she is overtired because of his overly randy ways, when in truth Duncan isn't getting any. This is handled in such a comical way that you laugh constantly. Finally, Duncan is forced to take a bath and they consummate their marriage. Then another series of events occurs keeping him from her again. This book is as sexy as it is funny. The descriptions of how sexy Iliana thinks Duncan's body is and then when she smells him....well, you just have to read it. The supporting characters are interesting as well and their is a book called the Chase which is about Duncan's sister Sineod.

Anyone who can make a stinking hotheaded stubborn mule of a hero lovable and a chastity belt central to the story without make me go "Huh?" is defitely something in my book! Haha!

This book is peppered with wonderful repartees and the pace never slows. I never had so much fun reading a medieval like this in a long time.

Definitely for folks who have a soft spot for Scotland and good storytelling with lots of love and laughter.

My only complain is: What's with that cover? I picked up the book thinking it's a Scottish romance set in the 1700s to 1800s!

Ms Sands has hit on the perfect reason why any woman would choose to put on a "belt of chastity."
Iliana is forced into a marriage to protect both herself and her Mother from her stepfather.
What follows is a wonderful romp as our hero Duncan tries to convince his relactant wife to perform her duties. He is willing to go to great lengths to remove her belt except taking a bath.
This book is a great read for anyone looking for some light hearted relef. It has humour and romance ,strong leading characters and a wonderful cast of secondary characters. I loved Duncan's father.
I recomend this to anyone looking for a fun read.

Iliana escapes her evil stepfather by agreeing to a marriage with a Scottish laird, but she never dreamed she'd have to deal with a pigsty of a castle and a husband who smells like a pig and refuses to bathe more than twice a year! Duncan Dunbar and his father Angus have lived in a filthy bachelor household since Duncan's mother's death twenty years ago. Having never known anything else, Duncan is outraged when Iliana refuses to consummate the marriage until he takes a bath. Fortunately, she has brought with her a chastity belt (a gift from her dead father after a trip to Italy) which effectively discourages her husband's advances. Then she rolls up sleeves and sets the entire household to work scrubbing and cleaning a castle which has become an abomination after 20 years of neglect.

Although her stubborn husband fails to appreciate her efforts, her father-in-law--remembering the way things used to be when his late wife was around--becomes her staunch defender and ally, advising his son that having a woman in the house has its advantages. Nevertheless, Iliana and Duncan have a great deal to learn about life and love before discovering the key leading to their own happiness.

Iliana is a strong-willed, determined young woman who has survived abuse and imprisonment, and, in spite of being "only a female," she stands up for her beliefs in the face of her husband's disapproval. Surely the woman who cleverly masterminds the defense of the besieged fortress in the absence of her husband will eventually find a way to persuade him to bathe regularly!

The humor in this book kept me enthralled from beginning to end. Although I'm not sure I believed the chastity belt premise too much--surely he could have snatched it away any time she had to answer nature's call--the humorous characters and situations made this one of the most original and enjoyable reads in a long time. I will definitely look for more books from this author.

What would you do if the handsome Highlander you married refused to bathe and lived in a near pigsty? Hit him where it hurt. Put on the Chasity belt and hide the Key!...

Iliana escapes her wicked stepfathers plans, by agreeing to marry a wild Handsome Scots Laird. But she never dreamt what she would have to deal with. When she arrives she finds it is a bachelor keep, and since the death of Duncan's mothers some two decades before, that he and his father and been living in horrid conditions and not sure when they last bathed. Iliana refuses to consummate their marriage, and Duncan is furious, not understanding why she should object to a couple decades of grime. So she does the only thing a thinking woman can do, put on the Chasity belt, hide the key, and set about to cleaning the castle. Duncan fails to appreciate all her hard work, so the key says hidden, but his father is slowly appreciating the positive side to having a female in the household.

The humour is laugh out loud in the battle of will. Iliana is a strong character, surviving abuse and imprisonment and yet not broken in spirit.

It is a wonderful warm and funny tale, from the talented mind of Lynsay Sands, the Queen of the Hysterical Historicals.

I had a horrible day at work, and when I got home this book was waiting for me in my mailbox. It immediatly cheered me up, and I stayed up until 1 am reading. This book has everything you need to relax after a nasty day fighting computers: humor, tenderness, a wicked stepfather, men in kilts, and very steamy love scenes. Sands' The Switch is also a wonderful book, especially between studying for finals.