Customer Reviews

The Taming

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I just finished reading this book, and it has quickly become my second favourite Jude Deveraux book, A Knight In Shining Armor is number one.

In this book, wealthy Liana has agreed to marry the pig of a man, Rogan. She thinks that she can change his horrible ways (lying, cheating, adultry, going weeks without bathing, ect), he just wants to marry her for her money.

As the weeks pass, Liana finally begins to change her husband's cheating ways by throwing a flaming torch in his bed while he is sleeping with another woman. Rogan quickly learns that Liana is no woman to be messed with. She gets the servants to clean out the castle, she begins to cook properly, and gets the men to bathe.

One day she is kidnapped by an enemy of Rogan. She is taken prisoner in his castle, with word that Rogan cares nothing for her, and has no plans to rescue her. Or, so they say.

Anyway, wonderful book about Medieval England. I just love historical romances! I can't wait to read the sequal. If you also love historical romances you should read this book.

``Katrina

One of Jude's more overlooked books, 'The Taming' is classic Deveraux, and you definitely won't be disappointed. Yes, boys and girls, it's even better (in this gal's opinion) than 'Knight in Shining Armor' (though it's a close second).

'The Taming' starts out as your typical medieval romance. Liana Neville is a heiress in need of a husband, but she won't marry just anyone. She actually sets her sights on Sir Rogan Peregrine, who happens to be the realm's most filthy knight. Yep, you heard me -- he's dirty and dirt poor. He's also handsome and smart and treats plain-faced Liana differently than everyone else has -- so she marries him. Of course, it doesn't turn out just how naive Liana expects it to, and you'll find yourself utterly surprised at this storyline.

I suppose the reason that I love this Deveraux book so much is that it's definitely a twist away from the normal. The castle that poor Liana is shipped off to live in with her husband is an absolute pig-sty (described to a tee, I might add), and the way warlike Rogan treats his silly, gentle wife made me smile--he has NO idea of what to do with her.

The other thing I really liked about this book is Liana herself. Rogan is fairly one-dimensional overall, but Liana is so very NORMAL compared to most romance novel heroines that I found myself loving her. She's no ravishing beauty or dashing vixen or witty conversationalist. She's just herself -- naive, a bit spoiled, and head over heels in love with a husband that ignores her. She reacts exactly as I feel that I might react myself to a lot of situations -- she's very much an 'Everygirl' for those of you that are tired of the too-perfect heroines of other novels.

I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy this book (it remains on the top of my list of all time favorites).

I love Ms. Deveraux's writing, and this novel was in my opinion one of her best.

Rogan marries Liana for all of the wrong reasons. He wants her dowry not her. Liana, against all protests of her step-mother decides that this is the one of the many suitors she will wed. Liana wants love and is determined to get it, while Rogan wants nothing of the sort, and is determined not to give it. Who will win?

Ms. Deveraux has outdone herself. Her characters are easy to believe in. She weaves a fantastic tale of the trials and tribulations of love, and heroism. I couldn't put this novel down. You won't be dissapointed.

I read the Conquest first and really enjoyed it so I decided that I had to read the prequel, the Taming. From the comments I have read by other people it was just what I expected. The hero is a real pig and really needed domesticating as well as taming! He's not my type of hero at all. How could he rape his bride (to avoid an annulment of the marriage) and then spend his honeymoon nights with other women, leaving his new bride alone. I really couldn't see why Liana was attracted to him. As for discovering that Rogan already had millions of offspring (from his "Days") running around the village, I found that a right turn off. I preferred the Conquest but feel that the Peregrines are filled with too much hatred.

I had a hard time getting into this book at first. I almost gave up on it a few times. The story wasn't the problem, it was the hero. Rogan Peregrine struck me as one of the nastiest, cruelest, vilest heroes I'd ever read. In fact, as I read the first few chapters of the novel, I forced myself to continue reading, for I knew JD had a point to make with his behavior. And she did! But more on that later. The year is 1445 in England. The Peregrines and the Howards have been feuding for generations over lands and money. Rogan Peregrine needs money to gather weapons and knights to start a war against Oliver Howard and regain the lands and estates that had been taken from them. The only way to do this is by marrying an heiress. And in comes Liana Neville, who falls in love with him the moment she sees him sleeping half-naked one day. The spirited, intelligent heroine hopes to win him over when they marry by being docile and obedient, but he doesn't even look at her or seek her out at night. So she takes desperate measures. Not only will she be herself and not some ninny, but she will take matters into her own hands and fix his destroyed, flea- and lice-infested castle, help the peasants get better treatment and win over Rogan's heart at all cost. There are many twists throughout the novel.

This novel held my interest because I knew there had to be a way for Rogan to redeem himself. That was the point of the story, wasn't it? As said earlier, he is one infuriating man. I mean, he not only ignores Liana and sleeps with other women in the beginning, but he doesn't remember her name and has seven lovers named after the days of the week that he sleeps with them and one retainer for when one of his lovers has her period. (I thought the seven days thing was hilarious though.) He has over a dozen of his bastard children running around his estate as peasants. And on top of that he never bathes, his clothes have lice, and is a barbarian to boot. Ick! I hated him for a large portion of the book. This book was a wallbanger for most of the story, and I thought nothing in the world could redeem this anti-hero. But redeemed he was! I won't go into details so as not to spoil the potential reader, but I was almost in tears in the last pages of this book. Rogan is completely transformed, and the transformation is very realistic with no abrupt, over the top changes. I grew to love him. Jude Deveraux took the whole redeemed hero storyline in full force and added some unique, interesting twists to boot! I also love Liana. She is such a strong heroine that not only refuses to go unnoticed, but is a woman who takes action and makes quick decisions. She wants her man to love and respect her and she stops at nothing to achieve that. There were times that I wanted to shout, "You go girl!" as I read the novel, even during the times when I wondered if Rogan was worth all the trouble. However, she is also proud and spoiled, and vulnerable and sensitive as well, which makes her a heroine with many layers and nuances. Some people may consider this type of strong heroine unrealistic in a Medieval-set novel, but the whole battle of the sexes thing is addressed here in quite an insightful way. Also, the author explains the heroine's independence in the form of Liana's father, who sits idle while his daughter has the freedom to run his estate and his peasants. Speaking of the time period, Deveraux does a great job describing the setting, and I felt like I'd been transported to Medieval England. The purpose of the story is quite clear and the moral of the story is enlightening and hilarious at the same time. Once again, Deveraux writes with great humor that borders on satire. The many twists and turns will keep you riveted till the end. I love The Taming. This novel is a cross between The Heiress, Eternity and The Velvet Promise, with its own unique story to tell. This novel also kind of reminds me of Judith McNaught's Once and Always. Anyway, I cannot recommend this novel enough and I cannot wait to read The Conquest. Jude Deveraux has done it again! To the potential reader: if the hero frustrates you in the beginning and you feel like you want to give up, I suggest you continue reading. Believe me, it'll be worth it.

I was bored this past weekend and happened to see this on my bookcase ~~ and naturally, since I love reading Deveraux's books ~~ I picked this one up. And again, she carries me away! This one is no different from her other books ~~ and I love her books when set in medival times!

This one is of Liana, a wealthy Neville heiress who has been courted ~~ for her dowry, not for herself. Rogan is a Peregine, bitter about the Howards who are feuding with them all this time ~~ and never takes notice of Liana after their wedding. Determined to get Rogan to fall in love with her, Liana made his home and life so comfortable that he couldn't resist her.

This one rated a three just because the last few chapters felt like the author was rushing through to get to the end. I hate being rushed ~~ especially by stories like this! But all in all ~~ I love this book and love how Deveraux has always managed to carry me away!

10-24-05

He lived in filth, he smelled terrible, he slept around and had a whole lot of kids he didn't care about not to even mention he couldn't remember her name. Also, the story of the Lady and the castle was never resolved, she just left it and never bothered to do anything with it. This was one sorry book all around. I could not get around the fact that he smelled and that she would even let him touch her. This book made me sick.

I have been reading romance novels longer than I can remember. But never have a read a book that was this disgusting. I hated the fact that he slept with other woman, had all these children running around, the filth he lived in and he could not even remember his own brides name and we almost at the end of the book! What!! This was my first Jude Deveraux book and I was highly disappointed. Who writes about things like that? I am afraid to say that giving this book 1-star is still too good. TRASH FOR SURE!

We have to face it as readers that various genres have annoying cliches and characters that pop up ALL the time. One of my many pet peeves has been the scholarly sensitive viking/warrior. So the man has been taught to fight all his life, but he's a kind intellectual deep down. I didn't have that problem with this book at all. Rogan is very definatly not a sensitive intellectual. In modern times he would be a real bastard, but considering the times...

At the same time Liana is not a shrinking flower. Once she realizes she has to be firm with Rogan she pushes and prods and is a very strong heroine in her own right. Rogans horror at her affection and cleaning is funny to watch. And her exasperation at his inablilty to remember her name is equally amusing.

Of course the book isn't perfect, but it is definatly one of my favorites.

The most important thing in romance novels is that I like the hero. In this case, it wasn't so. The beginning was so promising. I love the arranged marriage theme. But here, the hero was and stayed an ogre, a brute, an idiot. An ignorant idiot. He never understood why Liana was sad or what he did wrong. He couldn't remember anyone's name. He even didn't remember the heroine's name. He had seven mistresses and named them by days. He was supposed to be beautiful, but he was such a brute that I simply couldn't imagine him as a beautiful man. He was violent. He was cruel. He had his tenants flogged. And he starved them. And had like 12 illegitimate children. And he didn't even remember he was married. He was so cold blooded. There was absolutely nothing likable about him. He didn't bathe. He stank. There was lice in his clothes. He didn't even mind. God, he was awful!
As for the heroine, in the beginning I liked her, her spirit, her insecurities. But then she married the hero just because he was 'beautiful'. Well, they belonged together - he married her for her money, she married him for his looks. But for some time, she had some backbone, sense of humor and determination. Towards the end, she lost all personality. She was so very sad when she thought he didn't like the way she looked, but all he had to do was say he liked her, and everything was just fine. Please, can you be more shallow?
Oh, and one more thing - I hate the brackets. Can't the writer write without them?? I had the feeling that the book wasn't completely finished. You simply CAN'T write this way!!!!
The ending was, of course, rushed. And he suddenly realized he loved her. Yeah, right. Well, at least he managed to remember her name.
I'm never reading another book by this writer! I'm glad I only borrowed this one from the library! Don't waste your money on this one! Or your time. There are so many good books to choose from, skip this one!