Customer Reviews

Never Less Than A Lady (Lost Lords)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

"Never Less Than A Lady" was much, much better than "Loving A Lost Lord." The first book in the series was so unlike MJP's classic style that I was actually concerned. This book is more like classic MJP, but with a larger dash of sugar than her usual pound of spice (pardon the pun).

This book is engaging for the first few chapters, has some occasional flashes of greatness, but has a lot of strange plot holes and some unexplained characters. The main issue that I had with this book is that the plot line is so recycled. Independent heroine, abused, genophobic, and being pursued. Cue emotionally wounded, still-waters-run-deep, awkwardly positioned hero. MJP has used this plot line several times in different stories and different ways, but I was mostly disappointed that she didn't make the characters as multi-dimensional as she has in other books.

On the positive side, Julia is an indomitable woman and the most fully-developed character in the book. Her genophobia wasn't explored as much as I expected (in fact, as another reviewer noted, I was shocked at how quickly she overcame her fears, and I think the hero was, too), but she had some surprising qualities. This book is more "old school" MJP than her other recent books; yes, she's returned to regencies and has left out the magic aspects, but "Never Less Than A Lady" is a very light, sweet read. Simultaneously contains and lacks some of her usual dark elements, but has a very sweet romance story when you erase the other plot points. Definitely worth reading, although I'll leave it up to you if it will remain on the shelf. It's staying on mine!

Never Less Than A Lady is an ok read if it was written by a new author, it became a boring read because it was written by Mary Jo Putney. At times I could not believe MJP wrote this book. I kept looking at the cover to verify the authors name. If you have been reading historical romance for some time I'm sure you are familiar with the forced marriage to a psychopath theme where the h has to flee her tortured life because she accidentally killed her brute of a husband. The h is rescued from her new life of genteel poverty by a H that is also scarred in some way. Fast forward... they heal old wounds, conquer old enemies and discover they are wealthy beyond their imaginations. MJP cut her eye teeth on this type of theme in the 80's, my question is why is she still writing this type of book. Is it a lack of imagination or the pressure to create new and interesting themes while under a publishers deadline.

I read very few new releases because they all seem to be the same unoriginal plots with sex added as a filler to hide a poorly developed story. I wished I liked this book more because Ms Putney use to be on my auto buy list years ago, this book reminded me of why I no longer have an auto buy list. Earlier books by MJP are worth reading I recommend her Signet regencies and Silk Trilogy books along with her Fallen Angel series.

I read this book before "Loving a Lost Lord" and thought maybe I had missed something by skipping that book. The characters were boring, flat, and one dimentional; I really didn't care much what happend to them. I went back and read the first book and realized I didn't miss much. Maybe it's because I expect more from MJP than most writers based on her previous books (like the ones in the Fallen Angel series), but I had a hard time finishing this one. This book didn't pull me in, make me forget that at 2 in the morning I should just put it down. As far as historical romances go it's par for the course - heroine and hero with storied pasts that color how they see and interact with each other, textbook villans, boistrious friends, happily married couples from books past - the list goes on. I know that one needs to suspend reality a bit when reading historical romance, but this was pushing the limits for me (though not as much as "Loving a Lost Lord" did). I'm just glad I didn't pay full price for this.

Better to make a graceful exit off into the sunset of your literary career...
Than to persist doggedly in the absence of all inspiration, and the apparently absolute desertion of your muse.

The reviews crying mediocrity, lack of originality, continuity, consistency, and most devastating of all, inspiration, are tragically, true.
I am saddened beyond words.

I waited through two Lost Lord novels to do a review, hoping there would be a miraculous improvement...after all, everyone has a bad day once in awhile.
Alas. This doesn't look good for MJP's literary future, or for her devoted fans. My disappointment is deep and my chagrin is vast. I ask, as so many others have - who wrote this? What have you done with our Mary Jo? I am absolutely perplexed...mystified.

Is the MJP of old gone...forever?

There's just nothing in this series (so far, and I, for one, will go no further) to redeem this previously gifted writer. How sad.

I haven't read any of the previous Lost Lords series but found this book easy to follow and very much enjoyed it. Our hero, Major Alexander Randall, sells out from the army in order to find a wife and settle down as he has unexpectedly become the heir to an Earldom. He just needs to find the right wife.

But Alexander has to come to the rescue of midwife Julia Bancroft, a woman he met the previous year and to whom he felt an unexpected attraction. There's a lot more to Julia than meets the eye, and he quickly decides they should marry.

But Julia's past marriage threatens their happiness, as do the people who seem to be trying to kill her. Can she and Randall find some sort of balance in their life?

The author had a good grasp of the historical setting but she did make a rather amusing mistake, saying that someone had a 'slice of shepherd's pie' when shepherd's pie isn't something with pastry but is minced lamb with mashed potato on the top, not something one can slice but has to be served with a spoon. There were a few Americanisms that slipped in but overall the setting felt realistic and the characters true to their time.

What I liked about this book was that both Randall and Julia were very engaging characters, people who thought about others rather than being selfish aristocrats that one so often reads about. I was slightly irritated by a plot thread where Randall worried Julia didn't want to remain married to him, for which there was no apparent evidence in her behaviour following their marriage, but overall the story was well written and I will enjoy reading other books in this series.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010

Never Less than a Lady is a fairly average good book, but it is not a great book. The thing with this book, is that it had all the ingredients for it to be a great book, two wounded h/h who are both very likable. The problem is that this book lacked a certain emotional punch. And I felt that their first full blown intimate scene came too quickly, and lacked the emotional momentum that was expected.

Julia is a midwife and Randall is the cousin of the heir to an earldom. After the death of his cousin, he receives a letter in the army that he is to leave immediately because he is now the heir to the earldom.

Julia gets kidnapped, and Randall who happens to be in the area rushes to her rescue. Then when he realizes that one of Julia's abusive ex-husband's men is trying to kill her, he grabs the opportunity to make her his, by offering to marry her hence offering her the protection she needs, since he's always had strong feelings for her (he doesn't admit it's love at this point, but he does want her to be his forever). And so the story starts.

The things I really liked about this story is that both Randall and Julia communicated clearly for the most part, aside from a small portion at the end of the book. I liked how Julia trusted him with her story after he saved her life (no misunderstandings), because he had a right to know of the danger. I really liked how Randall knew what he wanted and went after it, and how he showed devotion and love for Julia from the beginning. He is a hero who is very protective and kind hearted at the same time. And I liked that you felt that they always loved each other throughout, even though they didn't admit it until the end.

The things I didn't like, well for starters like I said I felt that this book was somewhat flat. The h/h's first full intimate scene together came too quickly, and again lacked the emotional and climatic momentum that should have been there. Too much time is spent on introducing new characters which we all know will get to star in their own books, like Mackenzie, Ballard, the street runner (I forget his name), and Benjamin. And lastly I didn't mind that Julia turned out to be of some high-class origins, but I felt that the author was pushing too much. I felt like the author was one step away from making her the long lost daughter of the king of England. Julia was a good likable character. She doesn't need to be the "golden duchess" to give her character worth, completely unneccessary.

In the end this was an average read, it had all the ingredients to be great, but it wasn't. But I am interested in reading the next book, in what I'm assuming will be a series, hopefully it will be better.

For the majority of the book I was intrigued with the story line, unfortunately there were many slow parts. Usually if I like a book I have a hard time putting it down or I stay up late until I literally fall asleep, with this particular book it had a good beginning and ending but the middle was lacking something. I'm not sure, it was sort of predticable or slower. The ending of the book was what saved it. The characters were well explained and the emotions were there but I think the middle was too drab. I would give it a C+.