Customer Reviews

Vixens (Skye's Legacy)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love Small's earlier works, and even some of her more recent books. But I've also thought she should have hung up her writing jock strap the moment Skye's Legacy was conceived. Vixens is an awful ending to an empty and disappointing series. And you know, out of twelve books about Skye and her decendants, Jasmine has a virtually starring role in seven. Whose legacy is it again?

Anyway, onto Vixens. The characters were so one-dimensional as to be blown over by a small gust of wind. Nobody had any real values or personality other than "fiery" or "sweet". The complex geneaology at this point in time is so ridiculous which is bad enough, but keeps getting recapped which is even worse. We have Fancy "oh, I don't want a husband, so I'll become the king's mistress", Siren "the real catch (Mick) is right in front of me but I'll entertain these twin dorks anyway", and Cyn "if you can't tell I'm the bad girl you've the brains of suet pudding".

Please. I'm glad I didn't pay for this drivel.

This book pretty much wraps up the Skye books. This last one involves three cousins, each descended from Skye O Malley and bearing a striking resemblence to her.

First, there is Fancy,who is Fortune's daughter and a grand daughter of Jasmine.Fancy is a colonial who's husband has recently died under mysterious circumstances.The family has sent Fancy to her grandmother. Did Fancy have a hand in his death? Read and find out.

Next, there is Diana. She is a descendant of Skye through the Scottish part of the family, namely Jasmine's son Patrick and his wife(whose story is told in Just Beyond Tomorrow). Diana is the good cousin, a sweet girl, who sends her suitors away, with little damage done. She can not seem to pick which man she wants to marry, and pressure from her family(her father in particular) doesn't help matters much. It's a fun story.

Finally, there is Cynara, or Cyn. her father, Charles Stuart, jasmine's son by Prince Henry, wants her married, and soon, before she gets herself in trouble. Cyn already has her husband picked out, but he is reluntant to marry, so, she attempts to convince him that they are a perfect match for each other. Which could lead to diffculties if her family finds out.

All in all, a good book. not as detailed as Ms.Small's previous work, but then, that doesn't matter. This group of cousins are a delightful finish to a series that has fans everywhere.

In all honesty, I was disappointed in this book. I have been an enormous fan of Ms. Small's for nearly 20 years and have followed the exploits of the O'Malley and Leslie families with exhuberance. Unfortunately, I felt this book was very disjointed and inconsistant.

The three heroines were clearly 'labeled' at the beginning: the 'sad one', the 'nice one' and the 'spoiled one'. However, none of them bore any resemblance to their given labels. All seemed very shallow and very much alike. I was disappointed at how one-dimensional these characters were. It's very much unlike Ms. Small's usual captivating writing style.

If you have read the whole O'Malley series, then it does make sense to have some closure with this book, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a first time Bertrice Small reader.

Having diligently followed these families over the years it was very sad to see it come to an end. But it was a necessary end. These families have been strung so far out you take up half the book reciting the family ties. I think it was bizarre to write this in a 3-n-1 book. I don't know why it wasn't just one story line. Its not like all Bertrice Smalls other books didn't have multiple story lines and we managed to follow along. I thought Fancy's story was the strongest and most interesting and should have been the main story in the book with the other cousins as the sub stories. Not a bad read strong start, boring middle, rushed ending but good closure for the story line.

I am always desparate for a new title from Ms. Small, and because this is a new title, I am grateful. It wraps up many ties to the past of Syke O'Malley and her great grand-daughters with some style and class, however, it is lacking in raw passion of Ms. Small's early works, and some of her latest ei...The Love Slave and Rosemund...can we all just forget about The Duchess? The first part devoted to Fancy Devers just is not enough, she (Ms. Small) could have written an entire book of Fancy, her first husband and his depravity, her royal lover and the consequences and I would have been very please. The second part of the book held my interest well enough with Diana and the twin brothers, but the later half of "Cyn and Wickedness"
was predictable. All in all a fair book I just wish for more substance, and Ms. Small is one author I expect it from.

Bertrice Small's latest of the O'Malley books is a sorry end to a wonderful legacy. I am a fan of Ms. Small's and have been for many years. Her writing style, obvious knowledge of grammar and ability to weave complex plots have always made her books enjoyable to read. Up until the last few years, I considered her one of the top historic romance authors writing today. It has been apparent to me for a while that she no longer hears the "voice" of her characters in the O'Malley series. Their demise is long overdue and I applaud her for ending it so that she could move forward with fresh projects.

That being said - Vixens is poorly plotted. Separating the three story lines was distracting and unnecessary. In the first story, Ms. Small (or the lack of an adequate editor, or the lack of thoroughly reviewing the galleys) committed one of my top five unforgivable writing errors. DO NOT place a character in a location they do not belong. In Fancy's story, Ms. Small makes much "to do" about two ancient servants staying behind because of their age only to have them "magically appear" in an insignificant scene in London. This not only forced me to go back and re-read the story because I thought I had missed something, but it also caused me to lose interest and skim the other two cousins' stories. I was not impressed with the gist of these either.

If you are a collector of certain authors and Ms. Small is one of them, you will want to add this novel to your library. If you are a writer, you will want to add this novel to your library as a comparison to one of Ms. Small's earlier works in order to understand what is good writing and what is not. If you are looking for a good well-written book to read, buy one of Ms. Small's earlier works.

"The King's Fancy" (1667-68). Frances "Fancy" Devers thought she had everything when Parker Randolph, a son of one of Virginia's leading families married her. When she was suspected of murdering her husband, she was sent to stay at the English home of her grandmother Jasmine Leslie. Through her family connections, she meets King Charles II, which eventually ends in a friendship in spite of His Highness playing matchmaker to find a husband for his former mistress over her objections.

"Sweet Siren" (1667-68). Diana "Siren" Leslie falls in love with the Roxley twins, Damien and Darius Esmund. However, she cannot decide which one is right for her so Siren decides to test the siblings to ascertain which one loves her above her wealth and prestige.

"Cyn and Wickedness" (1669-70). Cynara "Cyn" Stuart loves Harry "Wickeness" Summers. However, though he dreams of her all the time, and she pulls out all the stops to gain his attention, his ugly childhood caused by his parents make marriage impossible for him. However, when Cyn makes up her mind even the most wicked will find her hard to resist.

After a dozen novels and what seems like 98% of the English-Scottish sixteenth and seventeenth century populace, Bertrice Small says VIXENS is her final O'Malley novel. The book consists of three novellas each starring a descendent from Skye who are cousins, but the trio appears in each story. All three contributions are well written but very typical of the O'Malley universe so those fans of the mythos will read the entire book in one sitting while newcomers will probably take three days.

Harriet Klausner

Thanks to my favorite author for writing such a wonderful farewell story about my all time favorite families: The O'Malleys, The Gordons, The Hays and the Leslies!!! This final tale helps bring to a close the stories of the families I've been following since the 1970's in 15 awesome books. Thank you, Bertrice, for all the years of wonderful reading!!!

Ms. Small has certainly kept us
enthralled with her truly splendid
characters and storylines in this
series and I am saddened that she
has decided to conclude this highly
entertaining Legacy. I certainly enjoyed
Vixens however and it a MUST READ for Skye
fans. One slight criticism each of these
stories would undoubtably have been
extraordinary as full length novels, selfish
thought perhaps but I just did not want
the saga to end. I anxiously await new
works by this author ( perhaps in later time
periods she may decide to give us the pleasure
of meeting and enjoying some of Sky's descendents
and their loves and antics).

I liked this book because it did not contain an overwhelming number of sex scenes, the first novella was my favorite and the second one didn't have any sex at all. How disorienting for a Small. Lots of descriptions of what was worn to King Charles II's court and many descriptions of lunch usually ending with a wheel of hard cheese and a jug of brown ale. Holds up very well to the entire Small genre. Oh and um the book is about three cousins who can only be distinquished by a mole or lack of mole beneath the right or left nostril, all granddaughters of Jasmine the Moghul's daughter.