Lucinda Brant - Salt Redux

Jane and Salt—four years of Happily Ever After
Sir Antony Templestowe—four years of Exile
Lady Caroline—four years of Heartache
Diana St. John—four years plotting Revenge
The time has come...
How does a brother cope with life knowing his sister is a murderess? How can a nobleman have the life he has always wanted when a lurking evil consumes his thoughts and haunts his dreams? What will it take for good to triumph over evil? For readers who enjoyed Salt Bride, the story continues…

Comment: Another buddy read for me and my friend Hannah!

This book is

the sequel to another one I've read last month by author Lucinda Brant - and that I enjoyed a lot. I expected this to be another great success, although the way the previous book ended was good enough for me. What we call "loose ends" were explained enough and no one would need to read more but I expected this story to be marvelous as well.

This book starts four years after the end of the previous book. We learn how all the characters we followed before are now and we see glimpses of their happiness and life developments.

We also learn the villain, Diana, has been plotting her escape and return.

But this time, for the heroes to be certain life won't present a new and more dangerous Diana again, more extreme measures have to be done. Anthony, the protagonist of this book and Diana's brother, has to find a permanent solution that won't make him and his family as awful as Diana is but at the same time he needs to protect others from his sister's influence and plans. Can he do it?

The book starts with a prologue showing how Diana, the villain, has come up with a plan to escape the prison where she's been at and how she accomplishes that. Her characters, I have to say, is what truly captives people to read this. At the same time I was wishing for the good guys to understand her plans and find a way to stop her, I was being led to believe Diana had a wit and cleverness many real people wouldn't imagine ever to possess. But I also think in this novel, things a bit more unrealistic and despite the lack of technology how could everyone in London not suspect something was wrong with her sudden reappearance?

I liked seeing the family scenes, especially the domestic aspect of Salt and Jane's lives. It does reinforce the idea happiness is possible and HEAs are goals to want to achieve and see happen.

Of course Diana wanted to destroy any happiness of others and the ways she imagined to do so are repulsive and offensive. But I also think part of her mental process was more obviously crazy than what it was in the previous book.

The main couple here is Caroline and Anthony, people we've met in the first book and whose happiness seemed set in stone but after all, we learn their lives went different routes but now they are being reunited again to finally have their HEA.

I really dislike lovers reunited books...and although Caroline and Anthony were never together like that, they do have to deal with the time they were apart and the feelings they had between them before. I found their story boring and annoying, mostly because of Caroline.

Ok, so she was angry, she was young, she was playing a game, but I really hated how she decided to get revenge (of sorts) on Anthony by letting herself be seduced so she could punish him eventually. Both acted wrong and everyone makes mistakes, but then she has a behavior I think didn't suit her previous personality and it seemed to me it was something the author invented so she could have a story to develop now. But I feel annoyed because it matters. Because now that she and Anthony are together again and willing to play for keeps and finally admitting what was obvious to anyone - themselves included which is more than annoying - they no longer can be the same people they were and, to me, that's not a positive thing, despite the growing up they both had in the meantime.

Anthony was more assertive now but he also went through a bad experience that frightened him and now he's a different person. He learned he was a drunk and is trying his best to not give in anymore. Interesting methods to achieve that. I liked how he took the reins of deciding important things and how good he was to Caroline, how understandable. I also understand how normal it was for men like him to have mistresses and so on but that practice is so vile, even if there are warm feelings between the couple. But I digress...

I liked Anthony for the most part, i just don't think he and Caroline were a good couple anymore and their scenes seemed childish and not up to what they changed. Besides their scenes were boring and I saw myself skipping some here and there.

In this book there's a final destiny to Diana and her evil behavior. I totally understand why and it's deserved but the way it happened, I think I'd change...

Anthony and Caroline end up happy but I don't care much about them. I preferred to see Salt and Jane happy and with their family close together. It's so good to see HEAs matter even after the characters are done with their story.

Some little things weren't as easy to swallow now as they were int he other book like when a character helped Diana without knowing and we, as a reader, couldn't do anything to stop...I felt like putting common sense in the character's head. But I suppose this is more personal taste than author's fault.

All in all, a good portray of a villain, of a happy family but bad new romance development.

Grade: 7/10

Lucinda Brant - Salt Bride

When the Earl of Salt Hendon marries squire’s daughter Jane Despard, Society is aghast. But Jane and Lord Salt share a secret past of mistrust, heartache and misery. Four years on, they are forced into a marriage neither wants; the Earl to honor a dying man’s wish; Jane to save her stepbrother from financial ruin. Beautiful inside and out, the patient and ever optimistic Jane believes love conquers all; the Earl will take some convincing. Enter Diana St. John, who has been living in a fool’s paradise believing she would be the next Countess of Salt Hendon. She will go to extreme lengths, even murder, to hold the Earl’s attention. Can the newlyweds overcome past prejudices and sinister opposition to fall in love all over again?

Comment: This is my buddy read for the month. I don't know why it caught our attention but since it was in the list of books we would want to try, here it is, read and enjoyed already. I'm very glad I read this book because I really liked it.

In this story we meet Jane Despard, a squire's daughter in Georgian England, and how she is feeling worried and like she doesn't have a choice by accepting the proposal of the man that ruined her but who she never stopped loving. Her father disowned her because of that but a clause in the will of the uncle who took her on makes her accept the proposal otherwise her cousin Tom wouldn't inherit. 

Lord Salt Hendon also proposes because he made a promise a long time ago, but he feels contempt and anger towards Jane for he thinks she didn't wait for him and was the guilty one of their breaking up. But now that they are going to be husband and wife, can they mend their issues? What about the person who has done everything to separate them...?

I had such a great time reading this book, I didn't want to put it down and I managed to finish it in one day! I liked the heroine, which was what made me want to keep reading and, for the first book I've tried by this author, I was impressed by her "voice". 

This is a lovers reunited story, which I usually can't stand, but the author did this so well I really wanted to see them together again. It helped that their relationship from the past didn't end well, so they didn't spend all their time thinking about it. They talked, agreed on the marriage and moved forward. I liked the pace a lot and even more how the heroine got more and more confident, even when there was a villain always trying to bring her down.

This story is quite interesting and much of the focus is on the villain, Diana, someone who wants lord salt for herself and she does anything to stop him from running from her. I usually get so annoyed when we have to read the villains plans in the page, detailed descriptions of their deeds and thoughts but the narrative was third person, without much inner thoughts, so I could maintain a certain detachment from her. She was evil, she used and manipulated and controlled things to such extent that, for instance, even Salt's previous mistresses had a deadline to be considered such after one year. Diana is quite mad, but there's refinement and coldness to her mental processes.

This story is set on some misunderstandings from Salt and Jane's past and relationship. We slowly learn of how it was possible for them to grow apart so much, the communication isn't always fluid but neither is nowadays...I know some things seemed too far-fetched but looking at this with fantasy eyes, which always has to exist in romances somehow, I can understand why the problems between them would have made them reluctant to talk and discuss their past.. the feelings they had changed but then they could move forward, especially after they learned about all that has kept them away.

Salt and Jane start up their marriage with some issues, not communicating much but everything that brought them together in the past happens again, proving their love was real. I liked the development in their relationship, how step by step is was but how they became happier as time went by and everything started to work out between them.

I liked Jane a lot, she is a quiet heroine but with poise, elegance, patience and even the bad things from her past changed her warm and caring personality. She's not perfect in her behavior, she can be annoying here and there but that even made me like her more. She's not some silly young girl that only sees unicorns or something...

Salt starts very angry with Jane but they fall in love again. I also liked how responsible he is and how attentive he becomes when Jane is around. He believed a lot of lies but when he starts to realize how things are he doesn't let circumstances or appearances change his mind. I liked that about him.

The secondary characters offer enough interaction to make the story move forward, some of them really help in the plot development and it was quite good to see the main couple wasn't an "island" and had people to help them too, in a way.

The end was perfect, the villain unmasked, the main couple happy and I finished the book with the feeling I spent a good time with all those characters. Sure the story isn't perfect, some situations got on my nerves and more romantic moments or scenes could have existed, I think, but overall, this was a successful story for me.

I'll look for to try something else by the author to see if it's someone I should become a fan of or if this is one of those "one hit" chances.

Grade: 9/10