Thursday, January 9, 2014

Amanda Quick - Ravished

From the cozy confines of a tiny seaside village to the glittering crush of the a fashionable London
soiree comes an enthralling tale of a thoroughly mismatched couple . . . poised to discover the rapture of love.
There was no doubt about it. What Miss Harriet Pomeroy needed was a man. Someone powerful and clever who could help her rout the unscrupulous thieves who were using her beloved caves to hide their loot. But when Harriet summoned Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. Justin, to her aid, she could not know that she was summoning the devil himself. . . .
Dubbed the Beast of Blackthorne Hall for his scarred face and lecherous past, Gideon was strong and fierce and notoriously menacing. Yet Harriet could not find it in her heart to fear him. For in his tawny gaze she sensed a savage pain she longed to soothe . . . and a searing passion she yearned to answer. Now, caught up in the Beast’s clutches, Harriet must find a way to win his heart–and evade the deadly trap of a scheming villain who would see them parted for all time.


Comment: This is another book by the author I had to read. I still have a trilogy and some titles form one of her series left to read but I'll get to those later on or probably next yeas, as far away as it seems now. I'll just take a time from the author right now unless something makes me change my mind.

Anyway, this is the story of Harriet, she's very interested in fossils and she lives near some caves where she found out interesting fossils but she also saw thieves hiding jewels and other things in there. She calls for St Justin, the responsible for the lands to help her and catch the thieves so she can have the caves for herself once more. While dealing with this, St Justin also sees Harriet for who she is, a loyal and down to earth young lady who isn't afraid of him despite his scar and the rumors about his past. In an adventure to look for the thieves they also embark on an adventure of their own, will they have happiness as a result?

I liked the story. I've seen around that many readers consider this one of the authors best books and I've started it with that expectation. I wasn't as surprised about it because to this day I still consider The River Knows the best book by her I've ever read, but this one isn't bad, it's just that, at this point, after so many books, I didn't see anything to make it especially different from all the others. I suppose the detail of Gideon St Justin having a scar and having a past others fear can make him into a sort of monster to Harriet's beauty, but I didn't see that as an obvious thing. Their relationship did work around that idea, his appearance isn't easily taken well by others whereas Harriet thins him to be beautiful, but the dynamics between them and in particular Harriet's personalty didn't convince me this theme was the key point to work with. I think Harriet was too much aloof to deal with this with the proper beauty and the best trope. So, for me, I wouldn't say it's a beauty and the best story. He just happens to be a man many don't enjoy looking at.

The plot is something already seen too much in the author's stories. Somehow I didn't find this such an obvious thing in my favorite book by her although it's there. But perhaps because I've been reading many of her books in the past year, currently it seems the main idea is always the same. I guess it bothered me a bit here because I had those said high expectations. In the other books it was something I liked but here I wanted more, in a weird way, because I know her style.

The romance was cute of course, how wonderful to see them find that special person that likes you despite your faults and who stands by you no matter what. The romance was good I think. I enjoyed seeing them together and even the silly parts were fun because it showed them interact more and it made their relationship more solid at the same time.

The secondary characters played their part and I have to confess the bad guy was someone I didn't see coming although I could say some clues pointed out to him...but I think I was to distracted at the time to really pay attention to it. Well, it did allow me a surprise in the end!

The story was cute, yes. I liked being in a familiar environment, being with those kind of characters for a while. The best of these books is exactly their known actions and personalities. Although I wanted more of this one I can't say it was bad or that it lacked anything one might want from a book with this author's trademark ideas and prose. 
I hope any books by her I might read in the future are also interesting and comforting to be with.
Grade: 7/10 

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this book, but you are right - the author tends to repeat herself. I think it's not the tropes but the kind of characters. In this case it worked for me (3 stars out of 5), but I know her books shouldn't be read back-to-back, because then they blurr and you cannot distinguish one from the other.

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    1. Hello, thank you for commenting!

      Yes, I've realized her way of writing never changes from book to book. At times it seemed to work best than in others. My favorite book by her is still very much cherished though!

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