Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not very convincing follow-up to More Than A Mistress, July 7, 2002
This review is from: No Man's Mistress (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the sequel to Balogh's wonderful More Than A Mistress, and is the story of Tresham's younger brother, Lord Ferdinand Dudley. In MTAM, Ferdinand was portrayed as a loyal, somewhat timid and frequently hapless young man whose lack of ducal title wasn't the only thing he was missing in contrast to his brother. Having won a country estate in a card game, Ferdinand sets out to view Pinewood. However, to his shock he finds it already occupied, and by a young-ish (ie mid-20s) single lady, Miss Viola Thornhill, who claims that it is her own, that she was left it as a bequest by the father of the current Earl of Bamber, from whom Ferdinand won it. Since neither is prepared to yield, we have stalemate. In order to try to force her to leave, though, Ferdinand insists on moving in. Viola responds by massing the staff and the local inhabitants to make Ferdinand's life miserable: cold meals, smoking chimneys, inhospitable local pubs and so on. But Ferdinand is a charming man with not much in the way of aristocratic hauteur, and he quickly begins to win people over... everyone except Viola, although she can't forget the memory of their kiss. And then Tresham arrives and recognises Viola from her infamous life in London, a life she's been trying to escape for the past two years. The revelations here change Viola and Ferdinand's relationship completely. I've been looking forward to this book for a year, since I read More Than A Mistress, which is quite possibly the best long Regency Mary Balogh has ever written. Unfortunately, for me, No Man's Mistress doesn't live up to the promise. I suppose it was starting from a disadvantage in the first place, as Ferdinand is no Tresham, although I did like Ferdinand a lot. Part of the problem is that I simply cannot believe in the rehabilitation of 'Lilian Talbot'. It's not that I can't believe that Viola could reform - since she'd never wanted that life in the first place, this isn't a problem at all. I just cannot suspend disbelief so far as to accept that the ton, as prudish as they were during Regency times, would accept into their midst a woman who had been a notorious courtesan. Even though Viola was accepted by the powerful and influential Duke of Tresham, I cannot see that as being enough. What I liked most about this book, though, was renewing my acquaintance with Jocelyn and Jane from More Than A Mistress; and also getting to know Angeline, the female Dudley sibling. At some time in the not too distant future, Balogh intends to write the story of Angeline and Hayward, her husband, as a prequel to the Mistress books; I'll look forward to that one and hope that it's better than No Man's Mistress.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating! If I could give it more than 5 Stars..., August 16, 2001
In NO MAN'S MISTRESS Lord Ferdinand Dudley wins Pinewood Manor in a card game from the Earl of Bamber. He arrives at Pinewood Manor to find Viola Thornhill living there, believing she owns Pinewood. The late Earl of Bamber promised to leave it to her in his will, so when he died 2 years before, she assumed she was the new owner. With neither one of them willing to concede ownership to the other, they decide to both live there for the week it will take to get a copy of the late Bamber's will sent down to Pinewood. While this is happening, Ferdinand and Viola begin to fall in love. About halfway through the book the plot changes. We find out more about Viola and Ferdinand. I don't want to give away the plot change, beyond to say that it's different than what you get in a typical historical romance novel. The characters in this book are human. In the end, it is so much more rewarding when they end up together, because you believed them so much and you believed their pain and what they each went through to get to that point (that's not giving anything away, it is a romance novel - you know they'll be together in the end). It's a credit to Ms. Balogh that they do come off as people, rather than as "characters." If the change of plot hadn't worked, I would still commend this book for taking a chance and being a little different from so many others. But it works so well I don't have to commend the effort, I can wholeheartedly recommend the result. This book follows MORE THAN A MISTRESS the only other Mary Balogh book I've read. I liked MORE THAN A MISTRESS enough to get this book right away. What I feel about NO MAN'S MISTRESS is different. I more than liked this book. It moved me. I've written a few negative reviews to warn off other readers from making some mistakes I made. This is the first book that inspired me to write a positive review. To encourage people I don't even know to that they have to read this book!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
insulting to the reader's intelligence, March 15, 2011
This review is from: No Man's Mistress (Mass Market Paperback)
I agree with the reviewer who said they would give this a 0 if possible and let me qualify that by adding I am (was) a Mary Balogh fan.
The entire plot and characters were completely ludicrous. I won't rehash it; I'll just touch on the major objections. The heroine is a bastard and that alone would be very difficult if not impossible to overcome in gaining acceptance into the ton of Regency England. But beyond that she worked as a prostitute in London for four years yet we are asked to believe that she is now to be accepted into their midst with admiration for her courage! Really? And her former clients, now outraged at learning she was forced into it (that would've made a difference?) are to be her champions and friends, and have her socialize with their wives. Really?? This happens in part at a reception given by her brother in law the duke who had treated her like scum and referred to her as a "whore". But after learning she was a prostitute because she was trying to help her family, he is now sponsoring her respectable entrance into society and his family. What??? Not to mention her mental and emotional problems, briefly mentioned earlier as deeply suppressed self loathing, are now completely gone and she has no problems doing this.
Many of the other characters' actions were inexplicable in addition to the duke's. The heroine's for example: Why didn't she turn for help earlier to her father, or her uncle, or accept it from the hero when offered, or agree to be someone's mistress (like that would have been worse than a different man every night)? Her mother's behavior also was, both before and after learning about her daughter. And the hero's. He "watches her talking and laughing with gentlemen who had known her in her other persona" at the reception with "pride", takes a deep breath and decides it doesn't bother him. SERIOUSLY??? What normal man would have this reaction even today??? But then?-- when women were held to such a terrible double standard of acceptable behavior?? Impossible to swallow.
I like romances but I still have a brain and an education and this insults both. Did anyone at the publishing house read this thing? It is possible to do a "fallen" woman story well--try Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase. Do not waste your time or money on this one.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
