Customer Reviews

Whispers of the Night (Signet Eclipse)

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

 

 

This book almost rates 4 stars. I liked the plot twists. From the beginning there was a darkness to the book and my imagination really never had these two characters, Alcy and Dumitru von Severinor, Prince Constantinescu out in the sunlight. I always envisioned them in the dark Rumanian castle, in the dark woods, in dark rooms. Dumitru is likeable and understandable. He is facing poverty and like all good nobles of his time looks to marry for money. Alcy is not quite as likable as her husband. She tends to be frosty and unemotional and for claiming to be a rational person, she has severe emotional tantrums and acts rashly and dangerously. That part of her personality did not make sense. However, these two overcome many obstacles and their love for each other felt sincere. I like the setting. First time I have ever read a novel set in 19th century Transylvania where there are no vampires.

An unentertaining historical romance.
Beautiful, well-educated heiress, Alcyone Carter, is unable to secure an English Nobleman husband. Her merchant father brokers a marriage with Baron Janos Benedek, a Hungarian Noble. A man that she has only seen in a portrait miniature. She wears the miniature on her person.
She travels to what she believes is Castle Vlarachia to meet a man that she assumes is Baron Janos Benedek.
Before the reader can spell S-t-u-p-i-d, she has been introduced to her betrothed, converted to an unknown faith, and wedded to an imposter.
Rumanian nobleman, Dumitru Constantinescu, has stolen the heiress and dowry that his improvished estate requires.
Poor Dumitru feels deceived and cheated when he discovers that Alcyone's coveted bridal portion can be accessed only through her father's agent.
But not too worry, Dumitru takes immediate steps to forge what ever documents are necessary to transfer control of her money to him.
I found this thieving nobleman husband to be unredeemable. The author did a thorough job of making him totally repulsive.
The heroine, Alcyone, is inconsistent in her actions and emotions. We are supposed to believe that she is very intelligent and independent. She quickly exposes Dumitru's marital deception. After all, she has a portrait of the real Baron Janos. But Dumitru is so sexually proficient that she is content and happy to stay in her marriage. I didn't believe in the Lust At First Sight drivel. That made it more difficult for me to buy into the Heroine's hormonally induced stupidity.
Eventually, she overhears his plot to steal her bridal portion. Her actions become those of an overwrought, hysterical adolescent. She is distraught at his betrayal. Huh? When has the guy evidenced any morality?
She attempts to escape from deceitful Dumitru, he pursues her and they are both captured by Servian Hajduks. The adventure continues. Yawn.
Ultimately, they were such annoying characters that I didn't care if they were captured or rescued, or lived or died. What a waste of an interesting plot.
Not recommended.

Alcy has traveled from Britain to Hungary to marry Baron Janos Benedek. Although they have traded letters to get to know each other, they have never met. Alcy is more willful and less graceful than other women in English society leaving her still unmarried. Janos needs Alcy's money and so the marriage was arranged. Upon meeting Janos at his castle, they are immediately married.

While eating a private dinner after the ceremony, Alcy suddenly realizes that the man in front of her is not Baron Benedek. Alcy is really married to Count Dumitru Constantinescu instead. Dumitru explains to Alcy that he `stole' her from Janos because he needed her money as well.

Dumitru and Alcy are getting along surprisingly well. Dumitru is the first man that has acknowledged and encouraged Alcy's intelligence. Dumitru is surprised and immensely pleased with his attraction for Alcy.

Although Alcy knows her marriage to Dumitru was based on his need for her money, she has come to believe that he truly enjoys her company and is content with their match, but when then she discovers Dumitru's secret motives she is devastated and betrayed, so Alcy flees into the dangerous dark night.

Dumitru finds Alcy after an arduous search, but they are soon captured by Hajduk bandits and taken to their leader. Over the course of several weeks, Dumitru and Alcy are captured repeatedly. Just when they think their ordeal is finally over they are captured yet again. When it appears there will be no escape this time, Dumitru comes to accept that he will never see Alcy again once they are taken to Turkey, but Alcy will not accept their fate. Dumitru has done whatever it took thus far to get them out of trouble time after time, but now it's up to Alcy to save them.

Whispers Of The Night is a romance with a heavy political aspect. It is a detailed and complex story. Alcy is extremely intelligent and beautiful. Dumitru is proud, brave, and handsome. The long periods of distance, both self imposed and forced between Alcy and Dumitru had me continually longing for them to be together again. I found the political aspect of the book interesting, although at times slightly overwhelming. Dumitru and Alcy's repeated captivity was realistic but it became almost redundant and the story seemed to end rather abruptly as well. However, I feel that Whispers Of The Night is an articulately written story with a loving romance between the characters.

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This was a good book. I loved the characters and the way the story took off so quickly but then......it became labored....and the story started to slow down and quicken at the end with an abrupt wind up.
This was disappointing for me since this author is such an amazing writer and I enjoy her research....
I will certainly look forward to her next book to experience her writing and character development.

follow the plot's trail of crumbs and frequently you run smack into a sugar cookie of a plot twist. I almost gave up on this book two or three times because the characters are so few (basically male/female leads) even though many side characters appear, are interesting and then just disappear! The lead couple could have used helpers many times in their adventures.
However, that said this is still worthwhile because of the twists/turns (quite unexpected!) and the freshness of the ideas used in the story. Won't share any--those are the sugar cookies! The ending is quite abrupt and leaves many questions unanswered. Worth a read for originality--but no more from this author for me.

The daughter of an affluent tradesman, Alcyone Carter has failed to find a match after four seasons on the London marriage mart. Her father uses his contacts on the continent to arrange a marriage for his beloved daughter. However, Count Dumitru Constantinescu tricks Alcy into thinking he is her fiancé and marries her because he needs her dowry to help his people.

When she learns of his ruse, Alcy is outraged by his deception. However, as he showers her with kindness and sensuality, she falls in love with her husband. When she learns the full truth about her spouse, Alcy flees for Istanbul. Dumitru risks his life as his long time adversary resides in Istanbul, but he throws caution aside as he needs his beloved by his side.

Besides bringing to life the Ottoman Empire as a delightful side benefit, WHISPERS OF THE NIGHT is a superb historical romance that hooks the audience from the moment they arrive at remote Castle Vlararchia in Romania and never slows down as they flee Istanbul's Topkapi Palace. The strong story line contains dark gothic elements that turn into a deep abiding passion and love. Fans who value exotic locales away from the genre's norm will fully want to join the charming lead couple as they learn first hand with their lives at stake the Machiavellian principles that rule Eastern Europe.

Harriet Klausner

Frankly I tried reading this because the author gave "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" such a scathing review. Unfortunately I still don't know if she's got her Victoriana right as I couldn't get past the first chaper in any one of the three books I tried to read. Romance works only if the characters work, and hers do not. Turgid writing, overblown trite descriptions, wooden dialogue . . .simply awful IMO. A lot of readers seem to like her and more power to them. But, she's so bad I've decided to ignore her review and buy "what jane austen ate" so the experiment was worth the effort.

At first this book seemed rather similar to "Castle Of The Wolf" by Sandra Schwab: on-the-shelf spinster travels to central Europe to meet - and marry - a man she hasn't met before, a German-speaking man who is titled and has a castle. However the differences between these two books become apparent fairly quickly, although they're both equally good. The heroine of this book is the daughter of a Cit, a man who has made money through fabric making and wants to elevate his daughter to the aristocracy. Money can't buy everything, however, and despite Alcyone Carter being beautiful and with a huge dowry she smells too much of the shop for the English nobles. Thus her father arranges a marriage for her with Benedek János, a Baron from Austria, who can offer her six months of the year in Vienna as well as a title. Alcyone travels to meet him, expecting a slow courtship and eventual marriage when they know each other well enough; instead she finds herself rushed instantly into a marriage, most of which is unintelligible to her as it's performed in an unknown language. She also has to convert from Anglicanism as she had expected but, rather strangely, not to Roman Catholicism as had been discussed in the letters between her and her fiancé but to the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity.

There are many more unorthodox things taking place and our heroine is no fool - she very quickly realises that she hasn't in fact married the man she was expecting to. She soon discovers that she's not even in Austria but is now in Romania, a country ruled by the Turks, and through marriage has become a countess and princess too. What's nice about our heroine is that she tends to make the best of things and she is certainly not disappointed in her husband, Dumitru Constantinescu, even if he did trick her into marriage. Unfortunately for her there's more going on under the surface than she thought and her new husband needs money that he thought he would receive from her dowry - which has instead been ring-fenced for her safety by her father.

Of course Alcy discovers the deception and runs away from her husband who chases after her (of course) but unfortunately they are both captured by Servian bandits. There follows some very interesting writing as Alcy and Dumitru try to escape, face dangers and difficulties and also have to reconcile to each other despite their differences. The second half of the book, as they travel to the heart of the Ottoman empire, is very different from the first half at Severinor Castle, but the descriptions of the events and the people that they meet are fascinating. There is espionage, bribery, politics and danger as well as love and loss for our main characters.

This was a very enjoyable read and a change from the standard historical romance set in ballrooms in London although the title of the book wasn't particularly suggestive of an interesting story. The setting of Rumania was of great interest and the author's research has obviously been extensive. It needs a special kind of hero and heroine to work in this kind of book and Dumitru, with his 12 languages and his singleminded nature works as a very good, if flawed, hero; Alcy has finally found the person who can appreciate her intelligence and she has also learned her own strength through hardships. I very much recommend this book to those who like characterisation and great description of place and customs in their books, rather than just romance.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007

Alcyone Carter was beautiful, intelligent, and very, very wealthy. In four solemnly long "seasons," Alcyone never imagined she would fail to attract the hand of a titled, English gentleman; yet, she had failed miserably! Now, she appealed to a foreign nobleman. The arrangement was simple: Alcyone's sizable dowry for a title and distinction. However, something went terribly wrong! On the way to her Hungarian wedding, Alcyone landed in Rumania, married to a Rumanian (Romanian) count - a young, handsome, and very penniless count - Count Dumitru von Severinor, Prince Constantinescu, to be exact! He was a deceiver, a kidnapper, and Alcyone found herself very attracted to him.

Dumitru found his little English wife fascinating. He felt privileged to call her "wife." She was the perfect Princess for a Rumania Prince and diplomat. Yet, Alcyone did not spend her days playing piano, or practicing needlepoint, or making witty comments. Instead, Alcyone loved math and philosophy and she was the perfect companion for a Rumania spymaster.

Yet, Dumitru felt outrage. Alcyone's much needed dowry came with stipulations. Alcyone shared in the dowry! Dumitru refused to be a lapdog begging at his wife's table, dependent upon her every whim! He needed the money and angrily and deceptively, he set the wheels rolling to obtain it!

Two months into the marriage, Alcyone discovered Dumitru lies. Awkwardly, she was married and she would always be married to Dumitru . . . until one of them died. Those were the facts. Still, his betrayal hurt and she could not live with it or him! Erratically, Alcyone fled into the night and straight into the arms of political danger and diplomatic machinations!

Comments:
Welcome to the world of Ottoman history . . . No . . . welcome to the domain of Rumania (Romania) politics . . . NO . . . welcome to Lydia Joyce's WHISPERS OF THE NIGHT!

OR . . . top page 86 . . . "For centuries, maths ran behind or, at best, abreast of scientific knowledge, being employed to prove rules that were already in use or to describe behaviors that could already be measured. In this century, however, maths have acquired a level of abstraction independent of objective experience for the first time, and yet when a situation is later discovered that needs such advanced calculations, the groundwork is already in place. But that is the occupation of some other field . . ."

OR . . . How about this . . . top of page 188 . . . "If the properties of extracomplex numbers can be described by equations that are within the set of all real numbers of a given dimension, perhaps there is a way to separate each dimension and deal with it apart from the others. After all, a group of interacting forces can be broken down into two or three orthagonal components and calculated separately and simply. Why not extracomplex numbers, too? . . ."

Yup . . . welcome to Lydia Joyce's WHISPERS OF THE NIGHT! Oh . . . my . . . need I say more?

MaryGrace Meloche.