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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lost Lords #2. Better than #1., April 28, 2010
This review is from: Never Less Than A Lady (Lost Lords) (Paperback)
Oh, where to begin? I'm a Mary Jo Putney fan from way back, THE RAKE being one of my all-time favorite romances and the Fallen Angels series a favorite too. On the other hand, LOVING A LOST LORD, the previous book in this new Lost Lords series, was, IMO, awful and didn't seem like a Putney novel at all. This new one is better, closer to what I'm used to from Putney, but... It's fairly well written and pleasant enough to read BUT reading it is like watching a Hallmark or Lifetime made-for-TV movie. With the exception of one over-the-top villain and the blustery, intractable Earl of Daventry (and his deceased son), everyone in this book is so darned wonderful, perfect, good, honorable, noble, understanding, etc. and everything works out so perfectly, well, honorably and nobly, etc. Should one dislike a book because of this? Not if you're needing inspiration and the feeling that all is right with the world and that most people are intrinsically good, I guess.
As for the story, it's been done before and often. Hero rescues damsel in distress and they marry to keep her safe. They know each other (not well) from the previous book and the hero has always felt an attraction to the heroine. She, on the other hand, is skittish about love and sex because of the violent past of her first marriage. In spite of this he manages consensual sex with her by page 160, making the reader wonder how she could block out so easily all that violation and physical abuse by her first husband. I think even the hero was surprised at how soon he managed to bed her, when all she had agreed to was a white marriage. And all the other problems that the H and H have to confront together are solved just as easily. Bad guy defeated, mean Earl turned nicer, heroine back to her rightful place in society (she's a member of the upper class, living in hiding as a midwife in a small village at the beginning of the story), illegitimate son of her evil, deceased husband found and cared for, and many other HEA tie-ups.
The problem for me, with this book, wasn't the writing ability of Putney. It's the fact that the book has no edge, no spice, no unpredictable moments. It's so sweet I may have even gained a few pounds reading it. Now I have to go out looking for a book to read with a really rakish, devilish, maybe even boorish alpha male hero and a pain-in-the-neck, feisty heroine to get rid of those extra pounds.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Something seems missing, April 29, 2010
This review is from: Never Less Than A Lady (Lost Lords) (Paperback)
Something seemed missing here. I've read all of Ms. Putney's books except the few dealing with magic. Almost all are on my keeper shelf. I don't think this one will be.
This one did not have the great historical details of the Fallen Angels series or the Silk Trilogy. This seemed like a plain old regency anyone could have written by throwing in a carriage, a long dress and a trip to Gretna Green. The characters seemed static not growing or changing realistically. Alexander was a grump in the last book, but here that was dealt with by a few sentences saying "That was just because I didn't want you to know I liked you." I would have liked to see him change before my eyes.
SPOILERS!!!
Julia has a fear of men from having an abusive first husband bad enough that she demands the ability to divorce Alexander after a year. Yet she is over it almost the first time they get together. Whoops non issue. It seemed there were too many irons in the fire. Was it the story of woman learning to trust again? The story of him saving her from bad guys? No real sense of danger was ever developed. Introducing her to society? We skipped most of the only ball/social outing. None of these issues was developed fully, leaving them all feeling underdone.
It was really only when they went to find her first husband's bastard son that I got interested. I liked that kid. I could have used a lot more of the three of them learning to be a family. And it would have been a stronger story if Julia had indeed been barren, making this part of the story more important.
Most of the book was formulaic and predictable. Of course Julia is really the daughter of a duke. Of course the boy was decent. Of course her brother didn't hate her. Of course the Earl of Daventry had a daughter and of course Julia, who thought she was barren, ended up pregnant.
This was just missing the depth of emotion that I have become accustomed to in Ms. Putney's works. Most of her works get 4 or 5 glowing stars from me. Sadly not this one. I will read the next one though because everyone is entitled to a not so good book now and then and Ms. Putney has long been one of my favorite authors.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Whew! So much better than the first., July 10, 2010
This review is from: Never Less Than A Lady (Lost Lords) (Paperback)
If you read my review of the first book in this series, Loving a Lost Lord, you'll see that I was afraid my favorite author had run away forever! But, no, she is back, thank goodness.
Her warm, multi-dimensional characters have returned and are refreshingly pleasant. I don't understand why people complain when the hero and heroine are kind people who treat each other well. In this book, both characters have dark pasts, but at this stage of their lives, they have exorcised most of their demons on their own. They enter their marriage as mature people, looking for someone deep and well-seasoned who will be a good companion. I like the fact that they are honest with each other and grow to love each other visibly throughout the story. I'm sick of books where the h/h misunderstand each other or are antagonistic or insecure all the way until the huge reveal in the last chapter. What's wrong with having a simple story where two strong people come together and fill in the missing blanks in each other's lives?
Still, I only rate this 4 stars because Putney has done so much better. If you are looking for the 5 (and to be honest, it's more like 10) star experience, go to her backlist and dig out Thunder and Roses or Silk and Secrets. Nicholas and Ross are two of the most amazing heroes you will ever meet, and they will ruin you for all others. :] And Clare and Juliet are fascinating women I wish were real, because we would be great friends.
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