Customer Reviews

The Wild Marquis

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

 

 

This is the second novel from Miranda Neville and I thought the writing was quite good. I found the storyline to be interesting and definitely kept me looking forward to reading each chapter.

My biggest complaint is that the love story seemed to take a back seat to the mysteries the characters were trying to solve. While I found the book very enjoyable, when I thought back on it, I couldn't really remember why I was supposed to root for this couple (as opposed to them as individuals). They are strong and complicated characters...good characters...but if you are expecting a romance novel with a lot of courtship and lovey-dovey-ness then this won't be the book for you. However, if you care more about the story and the writing, then you'll probably enjoy it as I did.

If you've had it up to here with seeing the same plot and the same characters in every Regency-set Romance, check out Miranda Neville's latest.

She writes with a command of language that is refreshing and she knows her history. Her characters are believable and unlike what one commenter here complained about, I found the love story to be a reasonable compromise between the demands of the modern readership and respect for the time period.

The storytelling kept me turning pages the whole way through and I enjoyed the way she used the mystery involving the rare book trade to keep it going.

I'm looking forward to reading more from her!

I enjoyed Miranda Neville's regency romance. There's wonderful tension, a rake just waiting to be reformed and a smart book loving heroine who is searching for more than just rare books.

The Marquis of Chase, Cain is a young nobleman of twenty-four who has lived on his own since he was sixteen and thrown out of his father's house. He is glib and debonair, handsome too. He becomes interested in a rare manuscript and turns to bookseller Juliana Merton to act as his emissary.

Juliana is a widow and she truly loves books. Her guardian was an expert bibliophile so Juliana has an appreciation for these tomes beyond the average collector. She is grateful for the commission she will receive from Cain as her bookshop has suffered since her husband died.

These leads get off to a great start. Cain is irreverent and charming and so quick witted, his double entendres are entertaining. He is cut off from family but the reader recognizes that this had been difficult for him. His vulnerability with his family is moving. Cain is naturally fair-minded and kind and he extends these virtues to Juliana. He treats Juliana with professional respect but he also cannot help but notice how attractive she is.

Juliana is a cautious soul and initially she is reserved with Cain. However this changes when she intuitively feels that he is trustworthy with her secrets. There are mysteries that surround both Juliana and Cain, some of them deadly.

They work together to ferret out clues and to his credit Cain recognizes Juliana is too honorable for him yet he cannot help but admire and want her. She is indeed a smart woman, knowing the ins and outs of bookselling (btw the author does a great job of capturing the feel of a Sotheby's bidding war). She's not perfect though, she can be a little stubborn and she can lash out with some sharp words but fortunately she does not do so often.

Ms. Neville has written a romance novel that is out of the ordinary. Her characters are anything but run-of-the-mill and her story line is tight. The ending is sweetly satisfying too.

I wish I'd picked this up earlier!

I am an extremely picky reader of historical romance. Most books these days are nothing more than fluffy Americanised romps with no sense of time or place, and I passed on Miranda Neville's books more than once based on the trashy covers.

What a mistake that was.

Neville has a lot going for her. For starters, she is English, and it shows in both the dialogue and the creation of her characters. The heroes actually seem English, rather than sexed-up Fabio types so commonly created by other authors.
Secondly, her research is excellent. There's a big, engaging plot here beyond the romance and I felt like I was living in the world in which the book was set - this wasn't your standard wallpaper historical.

There is a huge power imbalance between our hero and heroine, and yet I felt that the steps they took to be together were realistic. Our heroine works for a living and is proud of it. Our hero cannot understand that. She wants independence. He wants a mistress. She refuses to be a mistress. He falls in love with her and has to find a way around their class differences.
The main theme of bookselling and book collectors was original - I didn't expect to find it interesting, and yet I did.

If I had to look for a fault, I'd say that the cover gives you the wrong idea. It is likely some readers will buy this expecting another fluffy Dukes and dances romp. This book certainly has the steam, but other than that, it is more serious in tone.

If you're looking for yet another Regency farce, you'll be buying the wrong book. For me? If more people wrote historical romance this way, I'd become an avid reader of the subgenre.

Known throughout the Ton for his rakish behavior the Marquis of Chase relishes chasing women but his ultimate objective is recovering a rare medieval manuscript Burgundy Hours once owned by his family. When he learns the artifact is being sold at auction as part of the Tarleton Collection, he hires rare book expert Juliana Merton as his purchasing agent.

Widower Juliana instructs her client on the care of a book collection and finds the rake has redeeming values he conceals from society. He is especially aware of his reputation as a rogue and how that could prevent him from becoming guardian to his beloved sixteen year old sister. At the same time he sees beneath the veneer of the bookworm widow to a warm caring heart. As they fall in love, Cain notices a pattern of accidents occurring with Juliana at the center. He believes someone wants her dead either because of her book knowledge or related to the death of her spouse whom Juliana believes was murdered.

The first Burgundy Hours Regency romance is a wonderful pairing of two people who the Ton would frown on them marrying but would encourage trysts. The lead couple makes the tale as they quickly learn not to judge a book by its cover. With the interweaving of rare book collection during the Napoleonic Era enhancing the fine story line, readers will enjoy the adventures in love and danger of the Wild Marquis.

Harriet Klausner

This was an enjoyable read. Our heroine was a tad two-dimensional for my liking, always putting her books as first. Our hero was actually very accepting, understanding, and likeable. Through out the book our hero reconciles with his family, loosely stated, while our heroine finds her legitimacy.

There seemed to be, as mentioned by some other reviewers, quiet a bit of dealings with the past and solving of mysteries. But I feel it is this aspect that actually drove the novel, for if it was just the romance I'd have yawned myself to sleep (primarily bcs of the heroine).

The one thing that I found utterly annoying was that our bookseller had not read that many books (at least that was my impression, regardless of not purchasing expensive books for the reading). How can that be? May be it was just me, as I said I found her two dimensional and that ruined the romance aspect of a romance novel.

This is my first book by this author. She has a unique story in The Wild Marquis. The characters are likable and well developed. If this author writes a book in the future maybe a little more traditionally, I think I would enjoy it more.

****MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS BELOW. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!****

Now I guess for my complaints. Does anyone realize our heroine Juliana never interacts with any of our hero Cain's staff or family on page? Juliana never steps into Cain's "world" so to speak. I think that was the major aspect of the book that bothered me. In a way this book seemed very one sided- meaning that most of this book takes place at the auction, Juliana's bookshop, or a neutral place such as a carriage, an inn etc.

Another thing that really bothered me was Juliana is supposed to be a rare book seller/buyer and yet her shop is filthy. It mentions multiple times the windows are grimy and that the floor is dusty. That can only lead me, as a reader, to assume all the books in her shop have a layer of dust on them as well. Which presents the problem (to me) that she isn't trying too hard to be seen as a successful tradeswoman. Admittedly she is a one woman shopkeeper and must do everything herself, however how can she expect noblemen to patronize her shop if its constantly unkempt.

I, also, found it quite hard to believe that she'd fall so quickly into bed with Cain, even if he is a Marquis. Juliana admits she didn't like sex with her husband, but jumps into bed with Cain in less than a week(?). For a widow who owns her own shop(with the stigma that has at the time) and is trying to gain prominence into the book selling world you would think she would have more concern for her reputation.

One last item, I think the book could have used a little more story. Meaning if at the end we could have seen Juliana and Cain attempting the noble lifestyle with all that that entailed, that might have changed my rating. Even as an epilogue. Instead it ends with them fiancees, with not much else settled.
*****END SPOILERS*****
All in all this book just wasn't a keeper for me. As another reviewer mentioned if your looking for a seduction story, this isn't it, if your looking for more of a mystery as the main story this might be for you. Hope this helps.

I couldn't understand the high ratings for this book. Although it wasn't a horrible book, it just wasn't compelling or real enough to hold my interest.

Juliana Merton is a widow bookseller. She comes into contact with the Marquis of Chase who develops an interest in her and thus starts their relationship. Chase is currently investigating a mystery related to books and booksellers and seeks out someone who he thinks can help him - Juliana. Although I can understand his interest in Juliana initially (because he wanted some information from her), it later becomes that he is more intimately interested in her, but it seemed to me that his interest was simply that of a rake and superficial. He was attracted to her because she was the only female bookseller he encountered and thus unique. He lusted after her because she was not of his class. He wanted her because she resisted him. All things that I've seen and read in other books. Call me a cynic if you must. For me, strong and compelling relationships drive my interest in historical romances and unfortunately, the relationship in this book seemed very forced and formulaic leading to a very lukewarm, lackluster, and average romantic tale.

I got this book at the recent Romance Writers conference in NYC and I'm glad I picked it up. I love Neville's writing. It's witty, clever and the sex is warm and passionate. Furthermore, I learned something. The Wild Marquis' backdrop of rare books and auctions was a new and very intriguing setting. After reading it, I was happy to find her Never Resist Temptation in my RWA swag. Nevile is a new favorite mine and I'm looking forward to actually buying her next book.

Cain, the Marquis of Chase, comes across an advertisement for the auction of Sir Thomas Tarleton's book collection, and discovers that a family heirloom, the Burgundy Book of Hours, has somehow found its way into Sir Thomas's collection. He decides that purchasing the book may help him win his way back into his family's favor. Knowing nothing about book auctions, he approaches bookseller J.M. Merton to act as his representative and discovers J.M. is a woman. Cain likes women and has no objection to hiring Juliana. Little does he realize how this act will put an end to his life as a rake and bring him friends and acceptance within the ton.

Juliana Merton's husband, Joseph, was murdered less than a year ago and since then she has struggled to carry on his bookseller's business and establish herself as a credible bookseller in a business dominated by men. She needs the commission Cain will pay so she can recover a set of books that Sir Thomas bought from her guardian's collection. One of these book belonged to the woman she believes was her mother. But purchasing these books at auction is not easy. Others want them, in particular, Sir Thomas's heir apparent.

From this beginning, Ms Neville led me through fast-paced chapters and scenes involving sexual attraction, mystery, suspense and possibly murder as Juliana searches for the true identity of her parents and Cain takes on his family and the ton, and changes from a rake into an acceptable aristocrat. The odds were high against Cain and Juliana finding happiness together and every time their relationship moved forward, something or someone intervened to set it back--which kept me turning pages.

This book focuses less on sexual scenes and gives more attention to the setting, the business of book auctions and bookselling, and the mystery surrounding Juliana's origins. I had only one disappointment. I hoped this would be a true Cinderella story, but alas Juliana rose in status at the end, which is a too-predictable ending in Regency Romance. Fans of Shakespeare's `Romeo and Juliet' will like that this book figures large in this story. Miranda Neville clearly knows and loves books, and I look forward to her taking me into the world of book collectors in the future.