Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific., April 21, 2008
Robin Fitzvitry, the Earl of Huntersdown, is en route home from Versailles. When he spies a nun muttering curses, Robin cannot help but smell a mystery; and Robin loves a good mystery. The lady going by the outrageous name of Sister Immaculata needs to escape her traveling companion, Lady Sodworth, and the Lady's two spoiled brats. Seeing some amusement as he travels, Robin offers to help the Sister reach England as quickly as possible. During the ride, Robin intends to learn all the secrets the good Sister is hiding.
Petronilla "Petra" Maria d'Averio has spent years with her widowed mother in an Italian convent. Recently her mother has died, leaving Petra in danger. Her only hope is to reach England and locate her father, who has no idea she even exists. Her father is an English lord, so there is a chance he will not want anything to do with her. First, though, Petra must reach England. She is being pursued by a possessive and dangerous man. Therefore, she jumps at the offer from Robin. He clears does not believe Petra is a nun and has made it clear that during their travels he fully intends to coax all her secrets from her. The travel time should not be more than a few days, but Petra finds herself becoming attracted to the young aristocrat - whoever he really is. But Robin is her only hope.
***** Author Jo Beverley has a one of the best imaginations I have encountered in years! Those few days of journey for the main characters are filled with not only Petra's pursuers, but also unexpected dangers. Petra's secrets are neither blurted out from the start, nor kept hidden until the end of the story. Instead, they begin to slowly emerge during her travels with Robin. Once in England their adventures get even more complicated, involving a prayer book. Absolutely terrific! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshing, intrigueing, and thoroughly enjoyable, April 20, 2008
A Lady's Secret combined everything I like best about the romance genre, along with refreshingly new settings and plot twists. The typical features I expect - handsome hero, beautiful adventurous heroine, boy-meets-girl-loses-girl-finds-girl plot, a bit of mystery - were all there and comfortingly familiar.
Jo Beverley, however, added enough new elements to make this book stand apart. Her time period (Georgian) is a bit early than than the usual Regency period, allowing us to enjoy a new, but not drastically new, historical context. Part of the book takes place in the French countryside, rather than strictly in London and England, and her heroine hails from Italy. Again, this allows the author to introduce us to new perspectives and broader horizons, while still staying close to the genre I enjoy.
Her hero and heroine are both a delight. I liked them and sympathized with them. Both characters make mistakes and are quite human.
The "secret" referred to in the title is a realistic one, and something that certainly occurred yet is rarely addressed so openly. This is an intelligent book that an intelligent reader will take pleasure in reading.
I was especially delighted to reunite with the Malloren clan in this book. Rothgar is one of the most outstandingly unique characters in romance, and I was delighted at the plot twist that brought him into the story.
In fact, I wish there could have been more Malloren involvement in this book. I recommend all of the books in the Malloren family saga.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
JoBev in fine form, April 13, 2008
I really liked these two leads. Very nice combination and their chemistry was undeniable. There's definitely a love-at-first-sight thing going on, but really they seem so made for each other it's perfectly believable.
One complaint I have -- and this goes for a lot of books that are part of a 'world' or series -- is that when a character that is known from another book is mentioned, I really want to see that character and sooner rather than later. Several characters were mentioned here and we went through half the book before we ever got to see them. The reason this is a peeve of mine is that the knowledge we're going to see them or might see them is a distraction from the current story at hand. So it's best to get it out of the way in my opinion.
I would have liked to have seen more of the Mallorens. And a little more emotion on their part. They seemed to be lacking their usual spark. I would have liked for them to come in sooner so we could spend more time with them and see some things from their POV. As it was they seemed to be lifeless props. And some events that were important and would have been nice to actually see were handled with a quickie hindsight summary.
But as usual Jo Beverley wins me over and I give it four stars. I love the Malloren series, but whenever I pick up a new installment I want Mallorens. All of them. Please.
Looking forward to more books in this world. JoBev seems to be setting up an off-shoot with this hero and his friends. At least I hope that's what is happening because I always want more!
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