Customer Reviews

Whisper Always

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ms. Hagen Lee has crafted a captivating tale of love and ambition in "Whisper Always." Christina Fairfax makes her debut before the Queen in a gown nothing short of dreadful, yet the ballroom is buzzing with her name. Slipping off to another room to rid herself of the cumbersome embellishments on her gown, Christina finds herself before Lord Blake Ashford. He sparks her thoughts and she whirls from the room only to find herself in the arms of Crown Prince Rudolph of Hapsburg-Lorraine. The Crown Prince is arrogant and Christina, not realizing who she waltzes with, speaks her mind, offending him. Only to find herself being swept away by Lord Blake Ashford. He has been her savior twice in one evening and she finds it difficult to get thoughts of him out of her mind.

Christina's upwardly mobile, thoughtlessly manipulative mother sells her daughter to the highest bidder - Crown Prince Rudolph - at auction, leaving her in need of rescuing once again. With the knowledge that Christina has been purchased by Prince Rudolph for a necklace, Lord Ashford devises a plan to rescue her once again. He rescues Christina and takes her to his house where she will be safe from her mother and the Crown Prince - but Christina and Lord Ashford are not safe from the feelings they begin to feel for one another.

Lord Ashford wars between conflicting emotions as Christina fights the attraction they both feel. But, as the passion grows between Christina and Lord Ashton, a secret from his past could destroy their hopes of future happiness. As Christina flees to Austria with Crown Prince Rudolph, Lord Blake Ashton must find a way to get through to Christina and prove his love for her is true before it is too late.

This marvelously written tale is full of well crafted characters and plot twists. A wonderful read.

This book is wonderfully written!The emotions you feel for Blake and Cristina are incredible.You laugh with them,cry with them, pull for them and rejoice with them.I think the author did a great job of making you fall in love with these two characters.It's my absolute favorite of Mrs. Lee's books.I stayed up late every night to finish it.

Blake and Cristina's story is an interesting tale that tries to expand the traditional Victorian age story. Ms. Lee portrays a very realistic political arena in Europe during the late nineteenth century. Diplomats scrounging between powers, forming alliances and always trying to maintain the utmost in proper etiquette. An unhealthy climate, where diplomats try to attain a "balance of power", which ultimately backfires with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. (But enough with the history lesson).

This is a love story that is very well written and a pleasure to read. Ambitions abound at every corner, yet our hero and heroine try desperately to overcome these. Blake has a tortured past, and almost isn't capable of overcoming it. Fortunately for Cristina, he does, and early enough in the story so as to not render this plot with a "typical" climatic ending (Blake finding his love for Cristina). Cristina on the other hand is young, but determined. No milksop miss here. After rising above an atrocious relationship with her mother, and apparent abandonment of her father, Cristina finds friendship and comfort in some interesting places.

It is great to watch as Cristina and Blake build their love together through all the obstacles they face. In Victorian England, Cristina probably would not have had the freedoms or done many of the things she ultimately did, but this is a minor criticism in the overall story. Pick up and enjoy Whisper Always.

All I can say is "Wow!" I read a lot of romance, but this plot and setting felt incredibly fresh to me. The book is witty and sophisticated, yet resonates with emotional depth. I was rooting for Blake and Cristina from the very first page. I loved the crisp writing, and found myself wanting to stay up all night and finish it. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to anyone who savors a wonderful and incredibly well written romance!

Ms. Hagan Lee has penned an amazing romance that is not only complex, but also very detailed and romantic.

Cristina Fairfax makes her debut to Queen Victoria and she does it with élan despite the horrid dress her capricious and thoughtless mother has dressed her in. A handsome gentleman helps her divest herself of the added trapping of the dress and they share a nice moment together. Cristina has no idea who the man and returns to the ball only to find herself the object of desire of Crown Prince of Hapsburg-Lorraine. She is over her head and knows it and her rescuer Lord Blake Ashford informs her who she has just insulted she wonders what she is going to do. Well, her mother has plans for her daughter and when she sells her daughter to the highest bidder, Blake steps up to protect her again.

Blake does not believe in fairy tales and he is surprised to find he is not all that reluctant to keep Cristina Fairfax safe. What starts of an act of chivalry ends up leading to more then Blake ever thought possible. Will these two people be able to find their happy ending or will lust and avarice and danger keep them apart?

This was not a simple read by any stretch of the imagination. Ms. Hagan Lee has crafted a very detailed romance populated by a wonderful cast of primary and secondary characters. I was thrilled by the historical details that were included in this read and the fact that it is correct and a wonderful addition to this story. Ms. Hagan Lee is a very talented author and one that I highly recommend.

Setting - London and Vienna 1878-1880 --- Set in a period using actual historical events the author again weaves for the reader a glorious love story of great emotional depth. Our heroine, the season's incomparable, Christina Fairfax is about to make her debut before the Queen in gown that she finds totally detestable. Trying to adjust said gown, in what she assumed was an empty chamber she is discovered by Lord Blake Ashford who amusingly helps the young chit make the adjustments. His arrogance, black looks, and amusement at her predicament did nothing to endure him to her yet sparks did fly between them. Returning to the ball, she is captured in the arms of Rupert, the Crown Prince of Hapsburg-Lorraine. Unaware of who he was, and still smarting from the set-down Lord Blake had given her she was anything but charming to her waltz partner and returned his over friendly overtures with sarcasm. Days later her avaricious and immoral mother would attend a private party and sell her Christina's innocence to the highest bidder - that bidder being none other than the Crown Prince. Lord Blake, a witness to the event was fuming.

Her mother, after having Christina daughter beaten and drugged, had her delivered to the residence to be complete the deal, only Christina was not about to succumb so easily. Left in the bedroom of the prince, she tore his sheets into strips and attempted to escape through the window when rescue came in the guise of Lord Blake. After hearing of the transaction, Lord Blake was planning to rescue Christina once again and had been making plans to switch Cristina for a similar looking [prostitute]. What follows is a series of adventures, misconceptions, and miscommunications as the two keep crossing paths until the they both give in to the undeniable attraction that had sparks flying the moment they met.

For those who think that this was a simple love story, let me put your mind at rest...the road to pure happy bliss for these two was paved with, danger, madness, lust, and unbelievable betrayals! This is a story that will have you laughing, crying, and sitting on the edge of your seat in this FULL BODIED romantic adventure. Twists and turns were adeptly played in a wonderfully crafted novel. The secondary characters were portrayed wonderfully for both humor and malicious aspects. I have been reading a series of Ms. Hagan Lees earlier novels and so far have been more than pleased with her accurate and painstaking attention to the historical detail of her settings and can only say that I've yet to be disappointed. This author has become an automatic buy for me for delivering what I love best, beautifully romantic love stories that touch my heart. --- Marilyn Rondeau, Official Reviewer for www.historicromancewriters.com ---

I had a depressing feeling after I read this book. It had the requisite HEA but oh the road to get there. Lots and lots of stuff happened in this book--some of it heartbreaking. It had a lot of historical stuff in it which I felt took away from the romance.
Long story short--maybe it was the time of day I read this book--maybe it was my mood, but this book didn't impress me, had some stuff in it I didn't like, so, it will go to the used book store.
I have read other Hagan Lee books and, for the most part, I have liked them. This one had a little too much angst in it for me.

This book is one of the best romances I've ever read! The story is exciting and the writing is fast-paced. Blake and Cristina's story captured my heart and my imagination from the very first page. They deserve to be happy. I recommend this book to everyone who loves romance!