Customer Reviews

Lucien's Fall

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yet another wonderful book by Barbara Samuel, sweeping you along with romance and drama - suspense demanding that you turn the page and never skip a line.

Lucien is an unlikely hero, an infamous rake with a devil may care attitude to danger and to life. Underneath all of that veneer is a tormented soul, a very talented musician and composer, who has allowed the disappointments in his life to smother his creativity. At night his mind is tortured by music, which he writes and then burns every morning.

Madeline is to be married, mainly to ensure the maintenance of the family estate. Her father is dead and money has all but dried up. Her stepmother has chosen Charles as her suitor, not dazzling or handsome, but kind and caring. Madeline loves the gardens and is desperate to save the estate, so she has every intention of doing her duty and marrying well. She is determined to ignore Lucien's advances.

There are no real villains in this story, all of the characters have a vulnerability and charm, with the exception of Lucien's father perhaps. Lucien is a lost soul and Madeline is a shining light of hope. Their path is complicated by reputation, appearances and secrets, but most of all by an undeniable love that grows between kindred spirits.

This is a beautifully written, full-length historical romance. The Kindle edition of the book originally published by Harper-Collins in 1995 has apparently been made available by the author herself, and for making the price so affordable, she deserves free puppies for life. Yes it's that good. Free puppies good.

I don't normally read this type of book, not in the last 10 years anyway, but I was home sick felt like reading something without being fully committed. I read it in a single day and couldn't put it down. I really liked these characters and loved the artful way this story was told. I would read it again. I'm still sick and read "Heart of a Knight" today by the same author, but I didn't love it nearly as much as this one. This one was special... For me anyway.

Seriously what did the female character see in the male character? his overdrinking? his uncaring and disrespect of women? his 10 yr old temper tantrum after his music was taken from him? For someone supposed to be sensible, her attraction to him made no sense to me. It seems the author was going for the good girl\bad boy dynamic where the man needs saving and the supposed intelligent and sensible girl is reduced to a shivering mess just because he smiles at her, nevermind that she was aware of his less than noble intentions. This message is false to me and I did not enjoy this book because of it. The man was infantile and needed to grow up. A 2 star rating.

5-star HR writing. 1-star characters. Except for Charles. He's the marquess that heroine Madeline's stepmother wants her to marry to save Whitethorn,their estate, from financial ruin. I wanted to give him an Oprah makeover, take him away from the awful people at Whitethorn and find him a True Love worthy of him. Dang, but he was good, kind and noble, albeit not a hunk or dashingly rakish. (It seems his kisses were a bit too dry also.)

Well, I guess Madeline was OK too. At least she's the second best of the characters here, but she certainly didn't deserve Charles. However, that's irrelevant. We know who the hero is: Lucien, Lord Esher. (It's his "Fall", after all.) I have nothing good to say about him except that he's a hunk and dashingly rakish. He's apparently tortured because his mother encouraged his prodigious musical abilities but after her death his daddy wasn't nice to him about his unmanly interests.

Then we have Juliette, Madeline's stepmother, who lends a whole new twist to the Wicked Stepmother. She's actually quite loving to her stepdaughter but wickedly amoral as to sexual liaisons for herself. Just in general, I found most everyone here (except for Charles, my crush) to be amoral and hedonistic. Well, I must except Madeline too. She is merely very young and drawn to the exciting and beautiful. (She's also turned on by exceptional musical ability.)

If I were to rate this only on my reaction to the characters, this would be a 1-star book. However, the writing is actually very good and the romance between the H and h is developed well. And this is a romance, not a morality tale.

This is a re-issue of sorts for B. Samuel. Since moving to Kindle, I haven't been exposed to some authors deep back log of work. This is one of my favorite romances I have read in a LONG TIME. I enjoyed the maturity of the characters, the "plot" twist, and genuine redemption in the end. Well worth the $$.

I knew once i finished this book that i had to read it again. It was for sure a tear jerker for me. I really felt like i was in the story...there in the gardens. It was a wonderful story.

To find a book of this quality for under $3 is amazing. I really thought it was a wonderful and beautiful read.

I loved this gorgeous story of a truly tortured rake and his feisty heroine. Lucien has to be one of the most sexy heroes ever to grace a novel. I loved how Ms Samuel built the tension between the h and h so that when they finally get together it is heart-stoppingly beautiful. I will definitely be reading more of this author and looking forward to it.

wow!! this was probably one of the best romance novels i have read. barbara samuel is truly genius. so eloquent and moving. her way with words is sublime, her storytelling detailed and nuanced. will reread this again and again and thankfully, have already downloaded and read many of her other novels but this is by far the best.