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36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies!, October 30, 2007
This review is from: Untouched (Mass Market Paperback)
Anna Campbell's second release is set to be as stunning as her first. In UNTOUCHED, readers will meet an unlikely hero, Matthew Sheene, and the woman with whom he falls in love, widow Grace Paget.
Matthew, the Marquess of Sheene has been supposedly and certifiably mad since he was fourteen years old and became the ward of his uncle, Sir John. A virtual prisoner on his estate, he is unable to escape - anyone that attempts to help him either is harmed, transported as a convict, or winds up dead Matthew spends his days puttering with his garden and writing scientific articles. A lonely existence for sure, but things are about to get a bit complicated.
Grace Paget has been widowed for only a few weeks. Traveling alone to her cousin's home, upon her arrival by train she is accosted by two footpads, drugged, and kidnapped. Waking up tied down and informed she is to be the mistress of the mad man intently watching her, Grace doesn't know what to do. Grace, after a futile escape attempt, is brought back to Matthew's cottage where she is told in no uncertain terms that she will seduce the Marquess of Sheene or forfeit her life.
Grace's need to survive is the catalyst that begins the seduction, but it is her hidden feelings for Matthew, the man she realizes is not emotionally disturbed, that keeps her on her path. Matthew fights her gentle seduction until his need for her wears him down. Once the two unlikely lovers come together, their feelings for each other continue to grow. What happens if Matthew is finally able to leave his estate a free man? Grace knows that the only reason he thinks he loves her is because she is all he has known.
Anna Campbell writes a breathtaking historical romance! UNTOUCHED is magnificent. The plot is suspenseful, the sensuality is wickedly naughty, and the character's emotions are realistic and often times breathtaking. Matthew has been a prisoner of his uncle's for years and the only reason he stays is to protect others from harm. This self sacrificing characterization is unique and made me love Matthew all the more. Grace's character is totally in sync with the historical time period in which UNTOUCHED takes place. Women are only thought of on good terms if they avoided scandal. Grace's instructions to be a mistress to Matthew go against everything she has ever been taught growing up. I really enjoyed watching the internal struggle with her conscience, all the while hoping she'd give in to passion and dismiss societal rules. I was not disappointed!
UNTOUCHED is well written and well worth waiting for. So many historical romances are similar to each other and I am happy to say that the plot of UNTOUCHED is something I have never before read about. This uniqueness is very much appreciated and Anna Campbell definitely has one more fan.
UNTOUCHED releases November 27, 2007 from Avon Books.
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41 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An original and breathtaking historical romance!, November 26, 2007
This review is from: Untouched (Mass Market Paperback)
Awaking from a laudanum induced sleep to find oneself bound to a table in a room with a strange man is enough to frighten any woman out of her wits. Especially when the stranger she is locked up with professes his own madness at every turn. But something about the odd Lord Sheene touches Grace Paget in a way her late husband never truly did, and she soon realizes they are both victims in a diabolical plot against the lonely young Lord.
Matthew Sheene refuses to play into his greedy Uncle's latest nefarious scheme, starring the beautiful but surely devious woman that has been delivered to him for his `use'. The winsome Grace must surely be an actress of the highest caliber, as he finds himself almost believing her story of being kidnapped off the street and ordered by her abductors to play the part of his strumpet.
But if Grace fails to seduce the reluctant Lord Sheene, her captors will punish her with torture and death. And her time is running out...
Australian author Anna Campbell blew me away with her first novel, Claiming the Courtesan (Avon Romantic Treasures). With a no-holds-barred approach to romance and story-telling, she quickly made a name for herself as a writer who delivers a story as she sees it, no catering to what she thinks the public wants, no apologies. Guess what? It worked. She continues in that same vein with her newest release, Untouched, bringing her fans a story that is just as unforgettable and heart-rending as her previous book.
Heart-rending is something else that Ms. Campbell does very well. This author knows how to run every emotion the reader has through the wringer. I defy anyone to say they finished one of her novels with dry eyes. That said, she also knows just how to kiss and make it better with happy endings that are all the more meaningful because of the trials her hero and heroine have suffered along the road to true love and happiness.
Matthew is something quite unexpected - a man who has been a victim most of his life, but nevertheless rises to the lofty position of stalwart hero when the situation calls for it. He is noble, intelligent, and caring, despite the maltreatment he has endured for the last decade at the hands of his uncle and his uncle's henchmen. Although resigned to his own unfortunate situation, everything within him demands he take action when Grace's life is threatened.
There could be no woman more perfect for Matthew than Grace Paget. With valor and honor equal to his and a situation no less tragic, she becomes a bright spot in his bleak existence, offering warmth and friendship when he had no expectations of ever enjoying such gifts. When that friendship soon blossoms into passion and love, Matthew is spurred into becoming the man he really is. But as much as her love and compassion aid in healing him, his love proves just as therapeutic to our tragic heroine as hers is for him.
At the end, Campbell reveals some twists that make for a riveting conclusion to a breathtaking historical romance. Untouchable is a truly compelling story that fans will enjoy reading and rediscovering for years to come. Anna Campbell has done more than written a story - she's created something sure to become a cherished memory for all of her readers.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Realms Shooting Star Review!, January 3, 2008
This review is from: Untouched (Mass Market Paperback)
While waiting for a family member Grace ends up at the wrong part of the docks and she gets hurled away against her will to a secluded cottage. Waking up fear trickles up her spine as Monk and Filey eagerly glare at her body and she comes to understand what she is here for. She is a present from Lord John Sheen to his nephew Matthew, she must entertain him with passionate encounters in the bedchambers.
When Grace meets Matthew he is a distant almost rigged and silent man whom is often found in the garden with his dog. In the seclusion of the cottage and garden they come to know one another a bit and with the passing of the days there blooms something more than plants and flowers. Their soul and heart Untouched and tried for with the arrival of darkness, something Matthew is all too acquainted with!
When the heart yearns, when the soul hungers, when the one sacrifices so the other may live a love ignites which will light up the night skies if given the chance....
Anna Campbell knows how to celebrate love with Matthew and Grace as she whisked me away into a riveting story that kept me one track minded! The need to know how this dynamic pair would fare, succumbed me in to this novel and kept me def for my surroundings as I got comfortable on my couch with the central heat snoring and outside a powdery white world.
The chemistry between Grace and Matthew is one of superb quality, she's a widow finding herself in frightening and new circumstances that ask her to find a little of that bold spirit again that she once possessed. Matthew, what can I say of Matthew that does him justice, he's all I want in a tortured hero. As a child he had a few seizures that gave free way for his uncle to declare him a lunatic, and with Anna Campbell's writing skill it provides some heart wrenching moments as I read what he has suffered through. It also makes me empathize with Grace so much, seeing Matthew through her eyes as new feelings blossom.
What I enjoyed so tremendously was Matthew, Anna Campbell gave me exactly what I wanted, a tortured hero but still strong, defiant of his fate, capable of caring as the awakening of his feelings is so beautifully and grippingly told that the combination of, and interaction between Matthew and Grace barely needs something more for emotions to soar high in this novel. The sensual tension between them builds up in a courtship of feelings while Matthew and Grace learn to answer the calling of a beautiful erotic dance...swirling together and with their hearts blazing from a passion that captivated me as a reader and rendered my breathless.
Also the supporting cast of diabolical men enhances the impact of the main couples emotions and story and speaks of a time which makes me hope the good will victor of the bad. I so wanted and moreover needed, the good to victor because with Lord John Sheen my inner voice cried out for justice, he was such a chilling, selfish and calculated man, but this story wouldn't have been the same without him!
The choices Matthew and Grace have to make in order to survive the greed of one man strikes a chord with me and makes this novel such a powerful love story. With great character development, page melting passion and an ending that made me devour the pages while my romantic heart pounded o so fast as to find out how it all ended. Untouched became an instant favorite of mine! While there are many authors that shape and give voice to the much beloved Regency subgenre I was not an avid reader of it since my teenage years and all I can say is that Anna Campbell lured me back giving me a Regency Historical novel that, in my opinion, will become a classic of the 21st century!
If you desire a novel that speaks of trials of the soul, celebration of love, laced with passion and emotion, Untouched is one you have to read!
4,5 stars ( Awarded the Realms Shooting Star)
Reviewed by Leontine
Courtesy of Realms on our Bookshelves
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