For years, Melisande Fleming has loved Lord Vale from afar . . . watching him seduce a succession of lovers, and once catching a glimpse of heartbreaking depths beneath his roguish veneer. When he's jilted on his wedding day, she boldly offers to be his.
TO THE ONE WOMAN HE MOST DESIRES
Vale gladly weds Melisande, if only to produce an heir. But he's pleasantly surprised: A shy and proper Lady by day, she's a wanton at night, giving him her body-though not her heart.
IS HIS DEEPEST NEED . . .
Determined to learn her secrets, this sinner starts to woo his seductive new wife-while hiding the nightmares from his soldiering days in the Colonies that still haunt him. Yet when a deadly betrayal from the past threatens to tear them apart, Lord Vale must bare his soul to the woman he married . . . or risk losing her forever.
Comment: This is the second installment in the Legend of the Four Soldiers series by author Elizabeth Hoyt. I've read the first book last year and I must say I only barely remembered the main characters, practically no idea anymore of the plot. Thankfully, there are enough references to those things in this book and that helped to get an idea about what this is all about.
As a whole, this was as interesting and easy to read as all the other books by the author I've read so far. However, by the same comparison, it was also a little less appealing to me, because I found the main couple's dynamics to be not very intriguing and the heroine's personality a bit inconsistent.
The plot is simple, these two marry and must deal with that decision, while Melisande tries to have the life she hoped for, and Jasper is entertained with his investigations. Part of the reason why this works for so long is that the PTSD he suffers is not instantly cured by marriage and his personality was intriguing: he is a happy man on the outside, carefree and apparently not very responsible, but hides a heart of gold and a ambition to solve the mystery of who betrayed him and his friends, and why.
In fact, this aspect of the story was quite interesting, even though it seems the author wants to prolong this as far as to book #4, and there is so much delay one can endure without things looking too farcical in the end. I surely hope this doesn't end being one of those issues that could have been easily solved in one book alone... Nevertheless, what we learn is intriguing but confusing when what seemed to be one things, turns out to be related to another, and without much obvious resolution.
The romance between Jasper and Melisande is a little unlikely, considering the premise. She proposes to him, which already hard to believe, but I could go with it because of how that scene played out. My problem is with Melisande's motivation... we are told she is in love with him right on chapter 1 because she saw a considerate action of his towards someone going through a bad moment. This, along with some physical attraction, was pretty much reason enough to tell her he would be a good husband and since she was in love with him and so quickly available, she took her chance.
As a plot device, how fortuitous, but I've struggled to imagine this would be good enough. Now, I know and many readers have certainly read plenty of books with the marriage of convenience trope too, which this one sort of resembles, that this is something that can work. However, often the need to discover and fall in love with one's spouse is something to happen slowly and with wariness sometimes from both sides, even if there's practicality involved as well. I just felt that Melisande's actions made no sense.
I have this impression for a simple reason: why would a woman who doesn't have the financial nor the social need to marry act this impulsively, if she is so practical and sensible regarding all aspects of her life? I also found it hard to understand how she would feel so carefree with her physical reactions to him, especially once we learn she had been in love and engaged with someone else. I suppose this is my personal preference at hand - I like it better when a marriage of convenience is a slow discover for both at the same time, so Melisande's attitude, while surprising, felt unnecessary... why couldn't they have interacted more before deciding to marry? Socially, this could have happened.
I have this series--in print, too--and I know I've read them, and sadly, I remember nothing about them. It's weird, because I loved this author's work in the Maiden Lane series--or at least, the first few books on that series.
ReplyDeleteAhh yes.... I've enjoyed the Maiden Lane series immensely too, and you know, my least favorite in that series was the last novella. What a disappointing end to the series in my opinion!
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