Author: Laurel McKee
ISBN-13: 978-0446544771
Publication Date: June, 2011
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Length: 384 Pages
Acquired by Me: NetGalley
Description Courtesy of Goodreads:
“It's a mad, ill-advised journey that leads the usually sensible Lady Caroline Blacknall to the legendary isle of Muirin Inish, off the windswept coast of Ireland. Even so, she doesn't expect to find herself shipwrecked and then rescued by a man she believed she would never see again. A man who, long ago, held her life in his hands . . . and with it, her heart.
Reformed rake Sir Grant Dunmore knew he could never forget the beautiful woman he once endangered nor will he ever forgive himself. But history seems doomed to repeat itself, for as long as Caroline stays on the island, she is trapped in a secret plot that could forever free Ireland-or turn deadly for all. And yet, now that she is in his arms again, how can he dream of ever letting her go?”
My Thoughts:
Books are meant to swing a reader’s emotions up and down as they follow along with the story. Suspense and drama tease our minds, committing us to the characters on the page. Lady of Seduction doesn’t hold anything back from the first page forward. The opening scene is rather dramatic as we first meet our heroine in the midst of being shipwrecked and almost drowned at sea. Fortunately for Lady Caroline, she’s pointed herself in enough of the right direction to land in the arms of Sir Grant – the man she is searching for. For brevity, I won’t go into why she’s looking for him, but it factors in to some extent with the story’s ending.
From there we jump straight into a relationship that has its foundations in the first two books of Laurel McKee’s Daughters of Erin series. I haven’t read either of those books, but it didn’t detract from this story. McKee developed enough of a background to Caroline and Grant’s previous history that it made complete sense in regard to the familiar way they had with one another when they were reunited.
I was able to determine that Grant must have been quite a villain prior to Lady of Seduction. He burned a lot of bridges as they relate to Caroline’s family. Apparently, he tried to force her sister to marry him at one time – kidnapped Caroline by mistake – got horribly scarred in a building fire then disappeared from society all together. Horrid man…but wait, all this time he’s been gone, he’s spent trying to find redemption for his evil actions.
Which brings us to the twist of the book: he’s up to something and Caroline wants to know what it is. He’s determined to hide certain truths from her, but she’s equally determined to uncover them. There’s no hope for it. He’s a lost cause to her stubbornness and perseverance!
Much of the relationship between the two covers Grants feelings of unworthiness in regard to Caroline. He’s done her family such a bad turn that it doesn’t feel like he can ever recover from that. I am glad, however, that Caroline forces the matter and gets her happily ever after. They had a great sense of chemistry towards one another and it would have been a waste to see Grant throw it away.
Besides the relationship between Caroline and Grant, this story is chock full of espionage and intrigue. The Irish rebellion is a character unto itself, as is the dark and foreboding Isle of Muirin Inish. There are some good historical accounts woven through the framework of the book. That is the best kind of story, isn’t it? Where you capture a glimpse into a historical event through a cozy love story?
I gladly recommend this Regency for its suspenseful setting, along with McKee’s creation of characters with a good deal of history and depth --scars and all.
The thoughts expressed in this post are solely based on my personal opinion and have not been influenced by any other entity or being. Use of my statements may not be reproduced without permission from me, the author of Fall In Love With Books.
-
0 comments:
Post a Comment