Customer Reviews

My Pleasure (Rose Hunters Trilogy)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a style very much like Dorthea Dunnet's Francis Lyman series, Connie Brockways hero Ram is complex yet simple. Her heroine, Helena, is fiesty yet not too silly or overboard stupid. Her writting brings a fresh look and new scenes at what can be a very cliche-ridden genre. The sword play, the verbal sparring and the romance all handled with a right touch. And Ram, ah Ram, willing to do what ever because his lady asks. Now that is simply a hero. Despite what the 'pro' reviewer wrote, this is a keeper if you enjoy a well crafted story with witty dialogue and believeable story line.

I was a huge fan of the first Rose Hunter installment. In fact, "My Seduction" was my first ever Connie Brockway book. I fell in love with her writing ability and was swept away with the wonderful story of the three chivalrous men bound by their honor to do a good deed for the Nash family. As I read, I remember sitting there thinking to myself, "Heroes just don't get much better than Kit."
HA!
H-e-l-l-o Ram Munro!

Ms. Brockway does an upstanding and admirable job of developing a romance between Ramsey and Helena, one that is both realistic and emotionally deep. I have to admit that in reading so many romance books, I've grown tired of the similar stereotypical and categorical plot twists and cliches that often occur in order to propel a story. "My Pleasure" was a refreshing escape from that and left me smiling long after I read the last page. (And what a last page it was.)

Bravo, Ms. Brockway.

I just thought this book was incredibly romantic and sexy. It seems like I can't find books any more that just tie me to the page, and I can't put them down, but My Pleasure was like that for me. The hero is incredible, a swordfighter but who is really devoted in a non-sloppy way. It was great!

MY PLEAUSRE is my pleasure
Fencing master Ramsey Munro has watched over paid companion Helena Nash for 3 years without her knowledge. One night they come face to face in the dark Walks of Vauxhall Gardens-the fun begins, the mysteries of the past begin to unwind. The man who is obsessed with Helena and watches her from the shadows enters the drawing room of her employer. Helena is his, there is no doubt is his mind. Ram is looking for the man who betrayed him and his 'brothers' years ago and put them in a French prison for 2 years. Helena's father trades his life for the friends and the Scotsmen vow to watch over the Nash daughters. This Munro does with Helena unaware of his guardianship. But now the evil from that ugly prison in France is reaching out to touch the Nash sisters and Ram is determined to stop it. Helena needs no protecting, she can solve her own problems, thank you very much . But she does go to Ram--to learn from the master how to handle a sword. She wants to protect herself from DeMarc, but is DeMarc the only one staking her ? Or him? A swordfight in a back alley, a championship fight that gives Ram the chance to be Helena's knight in tarnished armor, Helena's own battle in the stable all make an exciting ending to this fast paced story. Connie is a great wordsmith (I made that up- I think). Scenes come to life with her description and dialog is spicy.

Also recommended: Once Upon a Pillow

As much as it pains me to write this, My Pleasure was a sloppy mess of implausibility, pointless subterfuge and enough misunderstandings to make my teeth gnash. I had trouble believing I was reading one of Brockway's books and am at a loss. I think it had the makings of an interesting story, and indeed my attention was engrossed for a while - even though I had to take much of the plot elements with a grain of salt (and basically pretend they didn't exist so that I could enjoy myself - I should have known that such a recourse could only portend further horrors). I think my enjoyment was made possible by the prose style, which tricked me into liking the book for a while. But even that couldn't carry this book much farther than a few chapters.

There was so much wrong with My Pleasure that I don't know where to start. I guess the author was trying to insert some levity into a series that started out dramatic and brooding with My Seduction, and so to that end we have Flora and her "Ossie" - two absurd people who infect the heroine, Helena Nash, with their silliness when she allows herself to become embroiled in their clandestine love affair. Helena Nash is the paid companion to a mean old dowager, Lady Tilpot, and Flora is said lady's daughter. Helena's reasons for helping Flora are flimsy - some rot about transferring the love and help she can't give to her sister onto the hapless, flighty Flora. If this weren't enough, the hair brained scheme she cooks up entails her disguising herself as a page boy and essaying out to Vauxhall and bacchanals and dark alleyways in search of Ossie (all, of course, dangerous, scary places that positively broadcast a plea for her to be jumped by gangs of brutish, randy bad guys then saved by our oh so convenient, i.e. stalkerish hero). These foolish trips into London don't seem to accomplish much - she passes some notes, rarely ever finds Ossie, and, as mentioned before, runs into a lot of trouble and creates a lot of confusion instead. All this I could overlook or ignore for a bit. In the beginning, even if Helena's charade was just an excuse to get the hero and heroine together, their encounters were interesting and entertaining.

But after a while the story unravels completely, the characters' interactions seem disjointed, their relationships mundane and underdeveloped. I finally threw up my hands and gave up on the book after Helena goes to the hero, Ramsey Munroe, for fencing lessons. Her intelligence seemed to hemorrhage from her at an alarming rate as the story progressed. She's afraid of someone who's stalking and threatening her, and so she wants to learn some self defense. I wish for once I could find a heroine who's given the opportunity to be active and strong, a true fighter, without the pretense and farce. Or just don't try it all and find other ways to make her strong. Of course she can't ask Ramsey to protect her, because that would make sense, and because she has to be all secretive and "honorable" to protect Flora and Ossie. Part of this deceit is her pretending she's someone else when Ramsey comes upon her on one of her midnight escapades. During the fencing lessons she's Helena Nash. In her page boy costume she's "Corie." The double identity thing with Helena didn't work at all. It wasn't carried through well or consistently, and just seemed tacked on and silly - particularly since Ramsey knew it was Helena all along. I liked Helena at first - she's had to create a facade of icy calm for self preservation, dependent upon the browbeating Lady Tilpot. But her increasingly erratic behavior stripped her of any credible personality and left me confused and dismayed to be confronted with such a travesty of a romance. There was just no room for real emotion or the development of a relationship in this book, with its ridiculous twists and turns, ploys, pretenses, and cliches. I didn't believe in their love for a second - and even worse (or more hilariously, depending on your persective), until almost the end of the book, neither of the protagonists believed in the other's love either.

As for the hero, I liked him at first as well. He's a fencing master, on the outskirts of society, sophisticated, formiddable, and devoted to the heroine he's sworn to protect. The human equivalent of a rapier in personality and grace of form I guess - Brockway carried the analogy well and wove the practices and discipline of the sport into his character. But Ramsey, though only slightly better than Helena in that he seemed relatively sane, ended up falling flat as well - how could he not when caught in such a nonsensical plot and shackled with a heroine who was acting so stupidly? Nor did Ramsey have any of the passion and fire, the drive and depth that I found in Kit MacNeill, the hero of the previous book. In My Seduction, the history of the brotherhood from St. Brides, the tragedy that befalls them is front and center for the plot and characters, the background that gives the story color and feeling. It's dealt with beautifully and creates an atmosphere that is evocative and stirring and that is entirely absent from My Pleasure. I wish I could forget I ever came across this book - I probably and thankfully will, considering it is memorable only as the first book by this author that I didn't like - hate, after all, is such a strong word.

I almost skipped this book, but I decided that since I read the first and last books of this trilogy that I might as well finish the whole thing... So I bought this book, and I don't regret buying it... It was so much better than what I thought and what other readers gave credit for... Ram was such a great hero, and the way Brockway described him, made my knees weak... I sigh everytime I think about him... Helena was a headstrong heroine and an admirable one... She showed her acquaintances that she could be trusted, even though her secret gave Ram the wrong idea, and she sacrificed almost everything for them, even though they were annoying at times, and she wanted nothing more than to hit them both over the head for being fools... And the result of the two coming together was perfect and I really loved this book, even though it took me more than a day to finish... It was sweet in a unique way... I really love this trilogy...

I think this book had good passion but it lacked a good reasonable plot. There was no reason Helena could not have told Ram why she was where she was and when. It certainly was better than letting him think she was loose. It was a good read but a little irritating too. If I had to read it again, I would.

In 1805, pragmatic and dutiful Helena Nash works as a companion to pompous Lady Alfreda Tilpot since her parents died four years ago so that she does become a burden to her family. Over her personal concerns, the closet romantic becomes the link between Alfreda's niece Flora and the man she loves and secretly married Oswald Goodwin. She becomes further worried because Oswald is a loser trying to obtain a fortune at gambling because he needs to keep his spouse in the style she has grown up in but he can
not afford.

Scottish rake Ramsey Munroe sees Helena sneaking about the streets and assumes she is visiting a lover. He is concerned with her safety because he and two other fellows owe their lives to her father, who died freeing them from the French. As Ramsey and Helena fall in love, he worries for her safety because a serpent wanting to destroy him will use his beloved as a pawn to get at him.

Regency romance readers will take plenty of pleasure from the fine middle tale of the Rose Hunters trilogy. Helena learns rather quickly that good intentions is the road to hell as she lands in trouble just because she allowed her romantic nature to open up a can of worms. Ramsey is a wonderful protagonist who feels guilt for the death of her father and further responsibility for bringing the woman he loves in peril from his enemies. Connie Brockway provides an entertaining story that will leave readers waiting for the final novel to complete the passionate miniseries.

Harriet Klausner

Please ignore the grumpy PW reviewer in the editorial section. If you love romantic stories with witty dialogue and swashbuckling adventure, this is a great read.

I've been reading romances, for as long as I can remember. While I have several favorites, Connie Brockway's books are each so different and equally enjoyable. She also has such a great way with words. This in my opinion, makes her brilliant!