Customer Reviews

Lord of Dishonor

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

 

 

Simply one of the best Regencies I have read and my standards are Mary Balogh and Loretta Chase. Amanda, elder daughter of the Amberly Assortment (most of whom have different fathers), has known scandal all her life but did not plan to marry the scandalous scoundrel, Viscount North, whom her mother tried to compromise by sending to her bed. North is an enigma throughout the book which makes for great plot suspense. He is the consummate rake and yet something does not ring true. He seems to attempt to seduce Amanda, even knowing she is chaste and after having agreed to help her capture Sir Giles, but never quite goes through with it. One is left with the feeling he is bored with it all, having done it before. But North has never met anyone like Amanda and she so intrigues him that he cannot let her get away and he pursues her, fighting himself all the way. The totally surprising ending makes the book several cuts above the (sometimes) regrettably Regency fluff from other authors. Definitely, Edith Layton is an author I will seek out.

The daughter of a scandalous Countess, lovely Amanda Amberly had shied away from the clutches of those who expected her to follow in her mother's footsteps-until a tempting twist of fate flings her into the arms of the most notorious rake in the realm.

Does a great job of entertaining the reader from start to finish. The characters and plot are superb.

Loved it! 4.5 stars at least. Infamous mother directs unannounced rake to the bedroom of her unattached daughter. She and others catch him half undressed leaning over the bed. Amanda, the daughter, and Lord North, the libertine, don't want to be forced into marriage. He plans never to wed and she wants another man. They come up with a pretend engagement. Great book.

Maybe I was biased because I dislike fake engagement stories. Maybe I read this too close to Layton's very fine The Duke's Wager.

Whatever the reasons, I did not like this book. Yes, it was well written. Yes, the heroine was swell and likable. Still, it did not work for me. There was too much narration, too much telling instead of showing. Also, the hero's actions from the beginning(above mentioned fake engagement) did not mesh with his charaterization. He did not know her and was, in fact a bit of a cad. The writer did not adequately explain North's about face.

I kept telling myself to keep reading and that such a well written book was bound to get better. Some parts actually did. Some did not. But I really had to force myself to stick with it. Romance novels should not be endurance tests.