Katherine Kingsley - Once Upon a Dream

I'm so far behind in my comments, I can't even joke about it. The past days have been really busy, but I feel frustrated because most times i wasn't with things I couldn't fix, it was due more to the fact it takes time to solve stuff and I work afternoons and nights and have to adjust my free time to the time I have to leave for work..it's much worse to think about meeting a deadline than to leave a place and to use the rest of the time in a way we need..

Anyway, I'll try to go back to normal, although Christmas will make me lose more time again...

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Lucy Kincaid endures a life of loneliness and drudgery in her stepmother's house on Ireland's windswept coast. All she has to sustain her are her dreams, until the day the golden stranger appears on a cliff-- a stranger who gazes at her with love in his eyes and poetry on his lips. Lucy's heart is lost--until she realizes that he is the enemy: a despised Englishman, the man whose family stole her birthright.

Raphael Montagu, eight Duke of Southwell, searches futility for the mysterious Irish beauty he'd loved at first sight, certain that only she can heal his wounded heart. But when fate finally returns her to him at a London ball, she denies ever having seen him before. And when he claims her with a kiss and avow of eternal love, she vanishes once again, leaving him with no clue as to her identity. His only hope is to travel back to Ireland to uncover the mystery that drove her from his side-- and finally claim her for his own. . . 

Comment: I've read this book last month and I got it in the first place because I've read somewhere that it was a Cinderella like story and it would be sweet.

I enjoy this type of stories because, come on, which girl doesn't dream - even if never acknowledges - about being found for her true beauty and beating those who don't treat others right?

The book is set in Ireland and London. In Ireland, Lucy is like a maid in her stepmother's house, which isn't really the stepmother's house, it's more of a cabin in the property that belonged to Lucy's father. Lucy feels guilty for her father's death and she works as a maid to her stepmother and stepsisters like a penance and because she doesn't have anywhere to go.

Raphael is a duke and inherited the property. When he travels there to check things he finds many strange things and a decaying main house. He also sees a young lady, falls for her at first sight but doesn't get to know who she is. He then meets Lucy's stepmother and thinks she was a victim and takes her to London with her daughters, starting there the whole action.

I enjoyed the book for the most part. I still think some characters could have used a little more polishing because sometimes they didn't seem to e acting the best way according to their personalities.

Everything that happened between Lucy and Rafe was funny because Lucy didn't admit who she really was and when Rafe finds out it's well into the story. At some point, the Cinderella plot is solved but Lucy still doesn't accept Rafe because she feels guilty her father was betrayed by an Englishman and she feels guilty. She says she couldn't ever trust an Englishman although she is in love with Rafe. I thought this wasn't as bad as it looks, because for many people different origins is still such a point of conflict, why shouldn't it in an historical, especially in a country where even today people are fighting for an identity?

Still, it's a romance and I can't help but think she could have given up a bit sooner about the whole idea of having to be apart.

There are many scenes I liked in the story. The stepsisters are so funny and stupid, it's hilarious to follow their scenes. Some characters were interesting and I liked how Rafe's mother was always on Lucy's side.

I think the romance was cute, many times goes by before they get intimate and that part could have been excused...I don't think the sex did much to make the romance better, I think the sexual tension, the mystery was done in such a way that it was enough to make the book good. The sex was easily put aside, to me at least.

I still enjoyed the book, the writing is fluid and interesting and I had a good time. Not the best thing in the world, but very good comparing to others.

I know there's a previous book and a sequel. I might try the sequel one day, but the previous one doesn't appeal to me. Still, an author to keep in mind.