5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fitting climax to a strong trilogy, June 4, 2007
This review is from: The Viscount in Her Bedroom (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
Lord Wade is the toast of society until a riding accident blinds him. Unable to listen to the sounds of so called sympathy and "seeing" the pity in their eyes, Simon becomes a recluse, living a quiet life with his shy sister and grandmother.
In 1845, Simon's grandmother hires a companion Louisa Shelby without consulting him. Louisa and her sisters saw their world end when their father committed suicide; with her siblings settled in happy marriages, she looks forward to the single life as elderly Lady Wade's companion. To her amazement, Louise is attracted to Simon and him to her as she brings him back to life with her élan and enthusiasm helping his sister in turning more comfortable with men as well; but he assumes it is pity on her part not a passionate love like he feels so he ends their relationship abruptly. He is already hearing nasty rumors about her.
The third and final tale in the Sisters of Willow Pond miniseries (see the other Shelby siblings' tales, THE LORD NEXT DOOR and The Duke in Disguise) is an incredibly deep Victorian romance that focuses on the impact of blindness on more than just the individual as each member of his family feels the effect immensely especially since he was their leader. Readers will feel for Simon as he comes out of his self imposed shell due to Louisa although he ahs doubts about his beloved's motives. This is a fitting climax to a strong trilogy with a powerful cast that makes for a terrific historical.
Harriet Klausner
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31 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Viscounts are people too, May 31, 2007
This review is from: The Viscount in Her Bedroom (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
I may be a man, and not just a man, but a revolutionary man, proud of my common origins, and I would sooner die a common death than bow my head to any duke, lord, or nobleman, but when I am not cleaning my musket, sharpening my guillotine, or practicing my close-quarter fighting formations, I am reading the Victorian romances of Gayle Callen and the struggles of the Shelby sisters, commoners who may be poor in pocket, but not poor in spirit.
"The Viscount in Her Bedroom" closes the "Sisters of Willow Pond Trilogy" with the story of Viscount Simon Wade, once London's most eligible bachelor and a man of the ladies. As a man of the people, I would have sooner run Simon through with my pike than allow him to oppress us common folk, but a terrible riding accident leaves him blind and shunned from society, reducing a once proud man to a shell of his former self.
Simon finds refuge at his grandmother's estate, and there meets Louisa Shelby, former London socialite and daughter of a wealthy merchant, but now reduced to poverty after her father's ruin and suicide. Simon's grandmother, the dowager Viscountess, ostensibly hired Louisa as her companion, but the wise old dowager might have had other motives for bringing Louisa into her home. Had the dowager brought me into her home, I would have led a revolt and spread the raging fires of liberty all across the beautiful, green countryside. Georgie, Simon's sister, also comes to stay with her grandmother the Viscountess after a disastrous coming out at the court and the balls, and rounds out the household of social castaways.
Within the circumscribed world of the Lady Wade's estate, Simon learns to overcome his physical limitations but not the societal prejudices that he feels separates him from family and friends. Louisa knew the man that Simon once was and sees what he could be, but will Simon allow himself a little humility, see past the rumors of Louisa's reputation, and learn to accept her help and even love? He better, because the love of a common woman may be the only thing that saves him from the bloody judgment of revolutionary terror.
Callen draws her characters with fine detail and loving sympathy, allowing the reader to feel the tug of every heartstring of pain and desire. I string my crossbow with whipcord and the desire to spread freedom at the pain of a sharpened bolt, but after reading Callen's moving portrayal of two characters struggling against both society and themselves, only to find refuge in each other, I am moved to sympathize with a man whose humanity overcomes the titles and privileges of his birth. I never thought I would say this, but if I ever came across Simon, the Lord Wade, sneaking into Louisa's private chambers, I would put down my pike and allow the man to live as, dare I say it, the Viscount in her bedroom.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good read with a twist, July 20, 2007
This review is from: The Viscount in Her Bedroom (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the first book that I read in this time in which a man has such an obvious deformity. I have not read the previous books in this series, but I don't think that it made the book any less enjoyable and I did not feel lost at all. It is a good book though the author's writing style was a bit plain and forced. The story was great and you could see the couple slowly fall in love. Though the viscount was blind, I love that he was not portrayed as weak (only in rare occasions) and that he was able to hold his own. Though he was blind, you could not help but o fall in love with him and I loved the way their romance slowly unraveled. Definitely recommend it. This was my first Gayle Callen book, and I will be in search of others.
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