Customer Reviews

With this Kiss

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A strong, intelligent, independent-minded, scandal-touched, reformist heroine needs to avoid some seriously skanky suitors being pressed upon her by her stingy, selfish uncle. Her chosen candidate for a husband: A fire-scarred hunk of a peer, a previous rake, a bit of a snob, but a man in need of a good woman, a man whose fiance dumped him for the hero's best friend after the hero nearly lost his life--and a good portion of his epidermis-- in a fatal blaze. The who-done-it is great fun and the romance certainly satisfies. I only have minor quibbles with some story details, which I won't even bother to list. Trust me: A fun read for lovers of romance, and CERTAINLY for lovers of the Beauty/Beast type story (which *I* am).This is the only book of Ms. Lynne's that I've read, but based on my enjoyment of this romance novel, I shall surely seek more.*Mir*

If you've read any of the other reviews, you'd know the basic plot line, so I won't rehash it. I only wanted to let everyone know that this is a really terrific novel. The two characters actually talk to and appreciate each other. None of the ridiculous misunderstandings that are so common in romance literature occur here. Even more refreshing and unusual are the main characters who are not the typical patronizing womanizer and an immature and petulant female. Definitely get your hands on this book.

Morgan St. James was horribly burned in the fire that destroyed his home. Although he had managed to rescue a great many people from the flames, he is burdened with grief over those he couldn't save from their fate. Scarred in body and spirit, he has become accustomed to hearing himself referred to as 'The Beast." Bitterly cyncical, he doesn't even disagree with the appellation. Imagine his surprise when he is sought out by Julia Prentisse, a beautiful woman who wants his scarred hand in matrimony! And he is even more surprised when she tries to convince him that her talents as a journalist can lead him to the arsonist who has set the fires that have destroyed so many lives. The subtext of Lazarus, the mysterious arsonist, is an edgy counterpoint to the love story. With Victorian era England as a backdrop, Victoria Lynne has created a perfectly wonderful retelling of the classic 'Beauty and the Beast' tale.

I could write a long review of this book, but I won't. I will sum it up in as few words as possible. This story contained two extremely likeable characters. The dialogue between them was so entertaining and well worded. I loved every encounter between them. The chemistry between the main characters was all the more exciting due to its realism. Every thing about this novel was real. I loved it, truly I can say it is one of my favorite novels.

I enjoyed this story. The characters were likable, the dialogue was good, and the plot and romance between the leads was well-paced and well-developed. The author did a good job describing setting as well.

On the negative side, the manuscript had amateur errors and the writing could have have been significantly tightened. Characters shrugged way too much. A shrug here or there, i.e. 3 or 4 times in the entire book, would have been okay. As it was, this repetitive (I lost count) and unnecessary motion grew distracting very quickly. Most of the time their dialogue was sufficient to convey their indifference.

The wording of many sentences could have been tightened and thoughts/information condensed. Many times, during a paragraph of exposition, I found myself thinking 'okay...I get it' about half way to 2/3 through. The sentences didn't repeat themselves exactly, but the same information could have been conveyed more concisely. There was also 'telling' at times when 'showing' would have been enough. A good editor or critique partner could have caught this. The author obviously has talent. Polished up, this could have been a killer of a novel.

Another thing that grew distracting was the formatting errors with the Kindle version. Sometimes margins would be indented too far for whole pages. In addition to that, the margins were justified on both sides and many words had been hyphenated--words that were obviously, originally at the end of a line. That's fine in print, but on Kindle (where the reader can adjust font size and thus page count) these hyphenated words, more often than not, appear mid-line and are a stumbling block.

**I don't know if Amazon tests the download (or gives the author the option to) before making it available to the general public. If not, they should.

Anyhow, bottom line, this book is worth your time to read if you can overlook the errors. It's a good, suspenseful wounded hero romance.

This was an extremely well written book, with believable, complex characters and an interesting plot. Because I haven't seen it mentioned in the other reviews, however, I should mention that some of the scenes are very graphic, one involving the death of a child by fire, and another the death of an older couple the same way. I had trouble getting the image of the child's death out of my mind, and stopped reading the book after the couple's death. (I peeked at the ending.) If you're sensitive to this sort of thing, you may want to avoid this book. I do plan to read the author's other books, though; she is very talented.

I recieved this book from my sister and thought it would prove to be just another trite formula romance. She said it was "really good", so I gave it a chance. She was right. It does have all of those necessary facets that make it a romance novel, but the writing is crisp and talented, the characters sizzle with a never flagging sexual tension, and the plot never sinks to feeling contrived or phoney. I enjoyed every page!

I don't remember what drew me into picking this book but somehow I got the sample and after reading that I just couldn't help but want to know how it continued.

I'll admit the reviews bothered me. When I see a book with majority 5 star (I'm talking 4/5) I immediately think I won't like it because I know I'm picky. Plus, with Amazon you just don't know. Authors friends review, people I'm sure get some kind of payment or gift for reviewing, etc. But I took a gamble and it played well because the reviews really ARE true! It's really that great of a book.

Color me surprised when I buy it and actually enjoy it. I'm so skeptical about books these days. What starts out good, slowly loses it's momentum and end up just plain awful. Or after a strong start, so so middle and just an up and down the overall view of the story is lackluster at best.

With This Kiss however was really good from beginning to end. One thing that ALWAYS makes for a great read for? A hero and heroine in a historical that get married EARLY in the book! A-freaking-men! Nothing annoys me more than them dancing around feelings of do I, don't I and a never-ending engagement from beginning to end then a choppy epilogue. I MUCH prefer them getting married THEN the back and forth of feelings because regardless, at the end of they day, they're stuck with each other.

Morgan St. James, the Viscount Barlowe is known as "The Beast" and thinks of himself that way too. A a horrific arson at his home left him scarred inside and out due to his attempt to rescue as many people as possible. Too many servants packed into too small a house made him beastly as an employer for not taking care of his servants. As cruel irony goes, Morgan was saved for the most part from the fire. Though he suffers gruesome scarring all over his back, sides and arms and wrists his face was remarkably sparred. So with the right covering of clothes, his scars remain hidden. But he knows they're there.

On a rare night out, the reclusive Morgan encounters Julia Prentise, a mysteriously beautiful women at a gambling hall. After watching Julia rebuff every man that approaches her, Morgan is baffled when he locks eyes with Julia and she gives him a nod of invitation to approach her. After doing so, Julia shocks him with her proposal. Marriage and giving him an heir in return for information about the arsonist who set his home afire and many other notorious fires around London.

Morgan finds Julia to be beautiful and overwhelmingly interesting. Julia challenges Morgan with her strong nature and quick wit. Julia on the other hand has a few secrets of her own and Morgan never stops to wonder just want made her allow HIM to approach her out of all the men at the gambling hall that night.

Throughout the beginning months of their marriage, Julia and Morgan struggle with the dance of their feelinsg for one another and in catching the mysterious Lazarus, who's obsession with Julia urges him to start as many fires as possible.

I loved the relationship between these two. Julia was a VERY likable heroine and Morgan was very sexy and a hero for the books. It's rare to enjoy both the hero and heroine because usually one of them grates on my nerves but not here. I liked the tit for tat banter between the two of them and watching their relationship grown from strangers attracted to one another to an odd sort of comfortable friendship to lovers.

There's no big explosion of falling in love here. It's very normal really. Just a gradual thing. Not a huge epiphany or overblown ILY type of thing but a culmination of their times together and becoming comfortable with each other.

The mystery around Lazarus keeps you on your toes as a side story. It's kind of confusing because really almost ANYONE other than Morgan could be Lazarus and you'll find yourself thinking that EVERYONE at one point or another is him convincingly then the next chapter will make you think it's someone else. I usually hate romance mystery books because 90% of the time the book is ALL about the mystery and the relationship between the hero and heroine takes a backseat and all of a sudden it's this BIG thing that they all of a sudden fall in love. Not here though. The mystery is evenly woven around the romance. It doesn't take over the book but drives it and the the heroine and hero closer together.

Overall: for $2.99 it's one to pick up. If not for the romance for the clueless mystery of whodunit. I give it 5 stars for a likable hero and heroine and a fast paced mystery that keeps you on your toes.

Take it from one VERY picky reader when I say it's one to pick up.

In 1855 London, Morgan St. James, Viscount Barlowe, arrives home, only to notice a fire in the servant's quarters. He shouts out a warning and enters the facility to try to rescue the trapped individuals. He manages to save a small child, but severely injures himself in the blaze that a serial arsonist set. Several children died in the blaze and Morgan is scarred (physically and emotionally) for life.

Two years later, Morgan, called the Beast, due to his visage, has virtually withdrawn from society. He has become obsessed with catching the serial arsonist, but has attained no leads. Meanwhile, Julia Prentiss anonymously authors the Tattler, a paper that highlights the plight of the poor. She tells Morgan that she receives a letter from the arsonist just before he sets a fire. She persuades Morgan to marry her. He gains knowledge on his quest to uncover the fire bug who has caused much destruction and death. She gains freedom. However, "Lazerus" as he calls himself will not sit idly by and watch his "Flame" be devoured by a sinner. Instead, he expects her to be at his side as he cleans the city with the wrath of his fire.

WITH THIS KISS is a well-designed Victorian romance that will thrill fans of the sub-genre plus those who take pleasure from a romantic intrigue. The story line combines authentic elements from the mid-nineteenth century and a who-done-it investigation that could have come from a mystery novel within a fairy tale romance. The lead protagonists are a daring duo, who bring much to the novel. The support cast adds period piece depth. Victoria Lynne provides historical romance fans with an entertaining tale worth reading.

Harriet Klausner

As a big fan of historical romances who's read many of them, after awhile they tend to all follow a familiar formula. So when a book shakes things up a bit it should be complimented. Thus is the case with Victoria Lynne's With This Kiss. As the hero and heroine struggle to admit their true feelings there's a serial arsonist on the loose who's left the hero scarred and has a deadly obsession with the heroine and sets fires in her honor.

The romance between Julia and Morgan was full of angst and evolved one painfully bittersweet step at a time. Morgan is self-conscious of his scars and Julia doesn't think she has anything to offer after the scandal her father caused. Neither has had an ideal upbringing, but whereas Julia remains optimistic Morgan questions everyone's motives. One of them has to take the first step and luckily as the story progresses Julia takes that leap. It's a very emotional moment and one I longed to see. Julia was a strong heroine with many admirable qualities. She stood her ground with her husband, was always honest with him, and fought for her principles. She was almost too perfect, ALMOST. Morgan was the typical shallow cad before the fire that left him with numerous scars. He's changed now and not confident in his sex appeal which made him rather cranky and sarcastic. At times I wanted to smack him for his bad behavior, but I was still drawn to him and and was rooting for him to accept the love Julia was offering him.

The mystery of Lazarus, the serial arsonist, was a well-kept secret with many believable red herrings along the way. The glimpses we get inside his head throughout the story are unsettling and make him a formidable villain. He's truly mad and his thought process makes his actions, and the book's storyline, very unpredictable. This had me on the edge of my seat and drew me in wholeheartedly as I tried to discern whodunit.

This was an enjoyably entertaining story with likable characters and a truly scary villain. There were many extremely memorable secondary characters as well that propelled the story along at a nice pace. This was my first time reading one of Ms. Lynne's books, but considering my great enjoyment of it, it won't be my last.