25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, a smart, sexy romp of a romance in Surrender to a Scoundrel, January 14, 2007
After I had finished Julianne MacLean's previous novel to this one, Portrait of a Lover, I was pretty disappointed. Some authors start with a few really great titles, but then the quality decreases. Other build up steadily to some good titles, but somewhere along the way run off the rails. A few just plain can't write, or endlessly grind out formula stories that leave a sour taste behind and a strong urge to avoid them at all costs. And then there are those funny, quirky few who write novels that tend to leapfrog each other in quality, much like Star Trek movies.
Julianne MacLean is one of those authors who fall into that final category. Continuing on in her late Victorian milieu, she has taken a different direction than most authors in the historical romance genre. For one, the heroine isn't the usual sort, all blonde, slightly dense and of course beautiful.
The story opens in 1881, and a teenager is about to sneak off into an exclusive boy's school to slip a note avowing her true love to a boy. Her friend, Evelyn, isn't so sure that the scheme is about to work, and is reluctant to say the least. Their target, Lord Martin, the younger son of a duke already has a less than perfect reputation, and when they find him in bed with another girl, Evelyn resists the urge to tell her friend, I told you so.
And now the story picks up ten years later. A lot has happened to Evelyn -- she's been married, widowed, and has come to the Isle of Wight to find herself a suitable husband among the aristocracy as they gather for Cowes Week, a time of parties, and watching the fastest yachts in the world race for the America's Cup.
But Evelyn is a realist. She's grown up in a home with a cold, emotionally abusive father, and her marriage was also an arranged one that has left her no doubt what it is that men want of her. It's not her looks, which are ordinary -- but rather that she's a very wealthy widow. They are after her money, and she knows it.
But old emotions are about to return when she meets Lord Martin again. He's matured into a reckless man, known best for his skill at racing, and also for seducing the more than willing women who pant after him continually. And he's interested in her, especially when a racing rival, Lord Beckinridge, is making it plain that he intends to marry the lovely widow himself.
Will Lord Martin and Evelyn find each other? Will the reader care by the end?
Well, yes, yes, I did care by the end.
That's what surprised me by this novel. It's a plot full of romance, yacht racing, summer parties, and a particular sensual session of lovemaking on a beach. It's also a tale that isn't silly in the least; both of the main characters have emotional issues of their past that MacLean handles well, and not just in the deus ex machina way that most authors resort to when they write themselves into a corner. Instead, she has them work things out together or go and grow up a bit, and time passes. I like that, especially when she does it in a sensible way that doesn't insult the reader.
Silly dialogue is kept to a minimum, there are plenty of little details about sailing -- a sport that I enjoy learning about, the lives of the rich, a few appearances by actual folks who lived in the time, and finally, several characters from her earlier novels in this series make a return, but don't hog the story. The sexual encounters never sink into dreary smut that relies more on shock, but rather has the mood of a lovely impressionist painting, or that tingly feel of falling in love with someone that you've never really seen before.
Finally, our heroine, wears glasses. At last. Someone notices that the world does not have perfect vision. What a nice touch.
In short, this is one of those novels that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and sighed a bit when I put it down. Yes, it is a romance novel, but it's a smart novel, and there are just too few of them out there.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Winner!, January 2, 2007
Julianne MacLean has a bona fide winner on her hands. SURRENDER TO A SCOUNDREL is easy to read and easy to enjoy! By using her remarkable talent fully, Ms. MacLean gives every scene genuine life! I don't give it often, but I am giving it here - the sacred 10.
As a girl, Evelyn Foster was awkward, wore glasses, and was considered a bluestocking. As a woman, Mrs. Evelyn Wheaton was wealthy, knew all about rejection, and was prudishly uptight. She was at the Royal Yacht Races, in Cowes, to find a potential fiancé.
Not long ago, when Evelyn had fallen through the ice, Lord Martin Langdon had pulled her to safety. From that moment on, she admired him . . . from afar. Outrageously, the mischievous Martin Langdon grew into the "Catch of Eton." Now, he was the famed racing champion of Britain and had turned into a scandalous rake. He was daring and had a passionate zest for life. He was a thrill seeker and he made Evelyn want to break free from her dull life. Martin Langdon was a very bad influence. When he teased her, when he charmed her, when he made sexual overtures, he heightened a dangerous excitement in her. Could Evelyn Wheaton partake in a wild and wicked affair with her childhood hero? Just . . . this once!
He was the Duke of Wentworth's younger brother and Martin Langdon was amusingly dreadful. He lived life for the moment, felt nothing too deeply, and had come to Cowes for nothing but superficial amusement! Evelyn Wheaton knew that. She knew the rules when she entered their affair. He had never made promises! The last thing Martin wanted was a wife and children. Evidently, Evelyn required love and wanted babies. It seemed, Evelyn Wheaton wanted forever and Martin Langdon wanted nothing.
Reviewer's Comments:
Julianne MacLean grabbed me with her zany opening and managed to keep me right to the end. How? By using snappy dialogue and smooth prose. Remarkably, Ms. MacLean has found her "niche" in the late Victorian era and gratefully, I found myself vicariously involved in SURRENDER TO A SCOUNDREL. I hobnobbed with the rich and famous; drank afternoon tea with the well-bred; and sailed adventurously around the Isle of Wight. Why? Because Julianne MacLean made me believe. Well done!
Grade: A+
MaryGrace Meloche.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, but not a must read, April 24, 2007
Surrender to a Scoundrel is the first book I've read by Julianne MacLean, and while I liked it, I didn't love it. The story was interesting enough: a womanizing duke's son sets out to win the attention of a much-favored, and rumored to be "unflirtable" widow. The two meet up again after ten years apart and each finds that the other is much changed. The heroine, Evelyn, is no longer the shy, contemptuous girl the hero met in her youth, though she does put on a haughty air in his presence. The hero, Martin, is still the same rake he's always been, only Evelyn finds that he's still irresistable to her despite this. Over the course of the novel, the two fall in love (naturally), only to be kept apart by the hero's refusal to let go of his past. Eventually he gets over it and they live happily ever after. Not the most original plot ever, but I've read worse. Still, there was nothing spectacular about this story that would make me recommend it to a friend or want to read it again. Nothing sticks out in my mind and, doubtless, within a week I'll have forgotten about it entirely. That being said, I enjoyed it while I was reading it. I'd recommend Surrender to a Scoundrel if you're in the mood for romance and can't find anything better, but it's most certainly not a must read.
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