12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A story with a twist of originality, November 15, 2009
This review is from: My Lord and Spymaster (The Spymaster Series) (Mass Market Paperback)
Romances are often predictable with cardboard characters and rehashed storylines. Simpering virgins, roguish alpha males, big misunderstandings, and tidy endings. As Yogi Berra would say, "Deja vu all over again."
Joanna Bourne's "My Lord and Spymaster" is a refreshing yarn. It has a bit of an Oliver Twist ambiance with brutish street toughs among high brow sophisticates and two very compelling lead characters with complex backgrounds. Bourne's stories unfold a bit at a time, allowing the reader to get to know her hero/heroine and the choices they have made and obstacles they have overcome before their paths intersect. She weaves a tapestry of their character, wit, charm, steely will, vulnerabiltity and courage. Her story is rich with details: business concerns are not just window dressing; the spy intrigue gives a sense of life and death choices; the allegiances to country, family and colleagues bring depth to motivations.
The supporting cast is just as interesting -- Adrian, Doyle, Aunt Eunice and Uncle Standish, and even Kedger the ferret. Jess is the intrepid young woman who has had to fight her own battles and use her rapier sharp intelligence to climb her way out of poverty. She has met her match in Sebastian who has polished the rough edges of his own street smarts to become a gentleman and commander and to use his influence to have her father arrested for treason.
Some readers have complained that there is not enough bedsport. Yes, the sexual scenes are understated, but the romance is not. There is electric current between Jess and Sebastian, but as they pursue their different objectives, there grows a sense of wanting not to hurt one another, a protectiveness, as each stand on opposite sides: trying to prove Jess's father's innocence/guilt. I love the written tale - the beautiful worded scenes in the garden, the gritty and sinister turns, the biting snobbery of Claudia and Quentin, the guttersnipes and cockney dialogue. I love Sebastion's wooing of Jess, who has had her trust betrayed so many times, his gentle taming, his tale about a raft and rug sharks.
The best books have the magic to transport you to distant places and times and to make characters and their foibles real, to make you laugh and to feel real empathy. By the time I finished Bourne's book, I felt I had experienced part of Jess and Sebastian's adventure. And when was the last time you read a story with rug sharks? Thank you Joanna Bourne for being a weaver of tales and an imagineer.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If Dickens wrote romance . . ., August 4, 2008
This review is from: My Lord and Spymaster (The Spymaster Series) (Mass Market Paperback)
As far as romances go, this story definitely earns 5 stars. It is truly an unusual romance. The setting is so accurately drawn and the characters so well developed, I was very much engaged throughout and I'm not a romance reader. Each character is complex and intriguing. The attraction between the leads is believable and never melodramatic--a lot of sparks fly. Ms. Bourne's deep knowledge of the English vernaculars and levels of society gives this story the feel of a Dickens novel. Even subordinate characters are fully formed and add multiple layers of depth. And this is superbly done by the author in astonishingly few words. Quite a skill. One could picture the thieves' warren, the ships' recesses, the shipping warehouses stacked with everything from the most basic items to the exotic. Problem with such lush description is they'll have to work hard to capture it all in the movie because fans will have expectations! Highly recommended to those who want a smart, complex, fast moving tale that is out of the ordinary and memorable.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent, July 1, 2008
This review is from: My Lord and Spymaster (The Spymaster Series) (Mass Market Paperback)
After a magnificent debut with The Spymaster's Lady, Joanna Bourne shot straight to our keeper shelves.
If you love Samantha Saxon and Jo Beverely, then discover the daring adventure, well-crafted plots and compelling romance of this great new author.
After her father is wrongly accused of selling secrets to Napoleon, lovely Jess Whitby infiltrates the London underworld for the real traitor only to end up naked in the bed of a rude merchant captain. Not only is she falling in love with him, but he may be the scoundrel she's looking for.Don't miss her debut:The Spymaster's Lady
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