Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not as bad as the reviews, June 27, 2004
This review is from: Secrets Of The Heart (Mass Market Paperback)
First the criticisms. Yes, this book is sometimes quite slow, with Camp doing a lot of telling. It is an unfortunate necessity since the protagonists have lived with a sham marriage for 7 years. The reader needs to know their history, and there is no easy way to convey all that. So the first half of the book is a bit slow while the author gives the reader all the necessary info. In addition, if you've read the other books (or either) recently, the redundancy is annoying. Read some other things in between to alleviate that problem. Michael and Rachel have indeed built their own individual prisons that keep them from recognizing the truth about their relationship, their feelings, and each other. Indeed, they do not know each other at all. Their oh-so-polite marriage is something both want changed, but they feel helpless to do anything about it after so many years. But then rumors crop up, misunderstandings are set up, and the pursuit of truth leads to an untenable situation in which Michael must pretend he's his illegitimate half-brother, and Rachel must find an inner reserve of strength and struggle with what she thinks are adulterous feelings. Her "revenge" when she finds out that Michael's been deceiving her is priceless! I found the mystery in this book to be interesting and slightly surprising. I like it when I don't have it totally figured out well before the villain is revealed. The book also features a decent cast of secondary characters. Rachel grows a lot in the book, discovering inner depths and suppressed dreams. Michael shows that he's more than a kind but distant gentleman; he's also a highly intelligent investigator and talented master of disguise who has loved her since the day he met her. Get through the first 1/3 or so of the book, and the pace really picks up. As for the far-fetched idea that Rachel doesn't recognize her husband: they live apart most of the year, they really don't know each other well, they've never consummated the marriage, Michael is a master of disguise, Rachel hardly expects him to be doing what he's doing, and people tend to believe what they want to believe. Put all that together, and it's not quite so far-fetched for the short time that she's hoodwinked. She is still rather naive at that point in the story, after all. It's a 3 & 1/2 star book, but I'm giving it 4 stars to help its overall rating. It's really not a bad book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much better than any reviewer indicated!!, March 12, 2005
This review is from: Secrets Of The Heart (Mass Market Paperback)
I am so glad I do not select my books by some of the negative reviews given here. I had just completed Devin and Miranda's story and was so happy I had already purchased the book on Michael and Rachel. First off, I love series books, if done well, and the characters are able to be developed so thoroughly that one really comes to care about them in depth. Just enough of Michael and Rachel was in the first book that you immediately loved and cared about both of them and so wanted them to have the love that other siblings had.
This couple just got off on the wrong foot so to speak, and neither seemed gusty enough to break out from the pattern they had established. On the eve of her wedding to Michael Trent, the Earl of Westhampton, Rachel Aincourt tried to elope with another man. Her plan failed and she was returned to Michael but she refused to accept this man as her husband for real. Rachel just felt this now was her life and what she deserved, trapped in a loveless marriage. Michael hides so much from his wife and this contributes severely to them ever becoming close. He doesn't even tell her that he works as a Bow Street Runner, which of course becomes a major part of the story.
A pattern of stilted awkwardness had developed when either got to close or things became too intimate and both were so wanting this to change but seemed locked into their own prisons, refusing to bend or recognize the potential for love in their relationship. Rachel had become much less afraid and more gutsy, perhaps because of her sisters influence.
The interesting twist that Michael had a double life and really was able to be a totally different person. When Rachel suddenly stumbled on this other person, James, and found Michael's alter ego, the man she always wanted to love and desperately wanted to make love to things really do heat up. Finally the ice melts for this couple and seven long years later they have blissful passion.
The mystery that surrounded their lives was just enough to intrigue the reader without taking away from what was the main story, their developing love story. I don't really understand how anyone could feel this a dull read. As part of this overall series I could only, happily give it five wonderful stars.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Uneven writing -- needed a good editor, June 24, 2006
I like Candace Camp, and I like the general plot of this book--two married people finding unexpected love with each other. But this book was really wooden in parts. I agree with the other reviewer who said Ms. Camp does a lot of "telling." I found the parts where she tells the reader what happened in the other books in the trilogy especially unnecessary and dull. Why didn't Ms. Camp's editor cut out the superfluous material (like a page on what Rachel is embroidering on a christening gown)?
Rachel's and Michael's characters aren't very believable, either. On the one hand, Rachel's a naive socialite who enjoys her life of fashion criticism and gossip; on the other, an assertive detective who yearns for meaningful work? And Michael: a passionate investigator and master of disguise with successful relationships at many social levels; but a diffident bookish type who won't approach his own wife over -seven years- and can't discover she'd welcome him? I'll try another Camp book, but this is not her best work.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
