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Casebook of Barnaby Adair #5
Loving Rose: The Redemption of Malcolm Sinclair
Miraculously spared from death, Malcolm Sinclair erases the notorious man he once was. Reinventing himself as thomas Glendower, he strives to make amends for his past, yet he never imagines penance might come via a secretive lady he discovers living in his secluded manor.
Rose has a plausible explanation for why she and her children are residing in thomas's house, but she quickly realizes he's far too intelligent to fool. Revealing the truth is impossibly dangerous, yet day by day he wins her trust, and then her heart.
But then her enemy closes in, and Rose turns to thomas as the only man who can protect her and the children. And when she asks for his help, thomas finally understands his true purpose, and with unwavering commitment, he seeks his redemption in the only way he can - through living the reality of loving Rose.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns with another mysterious tale of the London underworld from the Casebook of Barnaby Adair. In the haut ton, reputation is everything. So when crime strikes at society, there is a certain ... discretion required. Barnaby Adair is the gentleman sleuth who can move in all social circles. First seen in Where the Heart Leads, Barnaby is a firm fan favourite. Loving Rose follows on from The Masterful Mr Montague and is another searing tale of love and passion, daring and adventure.
Rose has a plausible explanation for why she and her children are residing in thomas's house, but she quickly realizes he's far too intelligent to fool. Revealing the truth is impossibly dangerous, yet day by day he wins her trust, and then her heart.
But then her enemy closes in, and Rose turns to thomas as the only man who can protect her and the children. And when she asks for his help, thomas finally understands his true purpose, and with unwavering commitment, he seeks his redemption in the only way he can - through living the reality of loving Rose.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns with another mysterious tale of the London underworld from the Casebook of Barnaby Adair. In the haut ton, reputation is everything. So when crime strikes at society, there is a certain ... discretion required. Barnaby Adair is the gentleman sleuth who can move in all social circles. First seen in Where the Heart Leads, Barnaby is a firm fan favourite. Loving Rose follows on from The Masterful Mr Montague and is another searing tale of love and passion, daring and adventure.
384 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 2014
199 people are currently reading
1123 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Laurens
206 books5,586 followersStephanie Laurens was born in Sri Lanka, which was at the time the British colony of Ceylon. When she was 5, her family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where she was raised. After continuing through school and earning a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in Australia, Stephanie and her husband moved to Great Britain, taking one of the last true overland journeys from Katmandu to London.
Once in London, Stephanie and her husband both began work as research scientists in Kent. They lived in an area surrounded by history. Their own cottage was built in the 16th century, while next door were the protected ruins of an early Roman villa, and nearby was a 14th century castle.
After four years in England, Stephanie and her husband returned to Australia, where she continued to work in cancer research, eventually heading her own research laboratory. One evening Stephanie realized that she did not have any more of her favorite romance novels to read. After years of thinking about writing her own novel, during nights and weekends for the next several months, she began crafting her own story. That manuscript, Tangled Reins, was the first of her books to be published. After achieving a level of success with her novels, Stephanie "retired" from scientific research and became a full-time novelist. Her novels are primarily historical romances set in the Regency time period.
Stephanie and her husband live on peaceful acreage on the outskirts of Melbourne. If she isn't writing, she's reading, and if she's not reading, she's tending her garden.
Once in London, Stephanie and her husband both began work as research scientists in Kent. They lived in an area surrounded by history. Their own cottage was built in the 16th century, while next door were the protected ruins of an early Roman villa, and nearby was a 14th century castle.
After four years in England, Stephanie and her husband returned to Australia, where she continued to work in cancer research, eventually heading her own research laboratory. One evening Stephanie realized that she did not have any more of her favorite romance novels to read. After years of thinking about writing her own novel, during nights and weekends for the next several months, she began crafting her own story. That manuscript, Tangled Reins, was the first of her books to be published. After achieving a level of success with her novels, Stephanie "retired" from scientific research and became a full-time novelist. Her novels are primarily historical romances set in the Regency time period.
Stephanie and her husband live on peaceful acreage on the outskirts of Melbourne. If she isn't writing, she's reading, and if she's not reading, she's tending her garden.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
July 31, 2014
As promised, after my review of The Masterful Mr. Montague: A Casebook of Barnaby Adair Novel, which I found lacking, I’m back with reviewing Loving Rose and I’m not just going to recommend it. I am going to ask you to read it. Please! It is now officially my favorite Stephanie Laurens book.
When I read the title and found out that Malcolm Sinclair gets introduced in To Distraction (Bastion Club), then shows up again in The Taste of Innocence (Cynster Novels), I ran to my SL Keeper shelf and dug those two books up, so I can do the character justice and get to know why he needed this redemption. Boy was I happy to do that! Honestly, if you don’t read these two books, you’ll miss out on two great stories and on characterization of Malcolm.
That said, if you can’t track those two books down, it’s okay to read this one. SL does a great job of ....thanks for jumping to b2b to finish reading the rest of my review ...
http://bookworm2bookworm.wordpress.co...
Melanie for b2b
Complimentary copy provided by the publisher
When I read the title and found out that Malcolm Sinclair gets introduced in To Distraction (Bastion Club), then shows up again in The Taste of Innocence (Cynster Novels), I ran to my SL Keeper shelf and dug those two books up, so I can do the character justice and get to know why he needed this redemption. Boy was I happy to do that! Honestly, if you don’t read these two books, you’ll miss out on two great stories and on characterization of Malcolm.
That said, if you can’t track those two books down, it’s okay to read this one. SL does a great job of ....thanks for jumping to b2b to finish reading the rest of my review ...
http://bookworm2bookworm.wordpress.co...
Melanie for b2b
Complimentary copy provided by the publisher
January 30, 2018
I dunno, maybe I was reading too much Anne Stuart when I read this, Mal was just kind meh after all his uber evilness in the other books. Not a bad book, but I waited a loong time to get here and was a bit disappointed.
November 1, 2016
1/11 - It's November, it's the Melbourne Cup long weekend, it's the day after Halloween (which was a complete non-event in my street, with a diabetic in the house we've never celebrated and we didn't see any sign of trick-or-treaters roaming the streets yesterday, don't know what we're going to do with a pack of funsize Bounties) and this is my first review for the second last month of 2016 (I can't believe I'm saying that already!).
This was the best of a bunch of bad Laurens books I've read over the last couple of years. The sex was still pretty rubbish (after reading the first scene to confirm that they hadn't gotten better, I skipped them altogether), but at least I liked the lead characters. I liked that Thomas was an 'older' man who was looking for redemption and letting fate lead him to it and at the same time he was paying for the sins of his past life through both his pain and deeds. I liked the way Thomas was with the kids, especially Homer, tutoring him and giving him more difficult books to read to keep him busy and out of the kind of mischief that could lead to the kind of troubled life Thomas used to live.
After the sex the main problem with this book was that the 'mystery' wasn't all that mysterious. It wasn't exactly clear who the villain might be, I will likely continue borrowing and reading these books, always hoping for a return to the good old days of Stephanie Laurens.
This was the best of a bunch of bad Laurens books I've read over the last couple of years. The sex was still pretty rubbish (after reading the first scene to confirm that they hadn't gotten better, I skipped them altogether), but at least I liked the lead characters. I liked that Thomas was an 'older' man who was looking for redemption and letting fate lead him to it and at the same time he was paying for the sins of his past life through both his pain and deeds. I liked the way Thomas was with the kids, especially Homer, tutoring him and giving him more difficult books to read to keep him busy and out of the kind of mischief that could lead to the kind of troubled life Thomas used to live.
After the sex the main problem with this book was that the 'mystery' wasn't all that mysterious. It wasn't exactly clear who the villain might be, I will likely continue borrowing and reading these books, always hoping for a return to the good old days of Stephanie Laurens.
September 7, 2016
I’m going to admit right off the bat that I’ve only read a couple of books by Ms Laurens, and that the last one I read was such a disappointment that I’ve not read her since. Her writing style is too flowery and repetitive for my taste, and I found the characterisation severely lacking. That said, she’s an incredibly popular author and there is obviously a reason for that, so just because those books didn’t work for me doesn’t mean they won’t work for others. Having heard that her series of
Barnaby Adair
mysteries were a little different from her usual fayre, when this book came up for review, I thought I’d give her another chance.
The story revolves around a character who appeared as a villain in some of the author’s other books, one Malcolm Sinclair, a man with no moral compass whose selfish actions have either directly or indirectly caused much misery and hardship to others. I haven’t read any of those books, but sufficient information is given at the outset to set the scene. At the beginning of this book, a severely injured man is washed up on the seashore close to a monastery, and gives his name as Thomas Glendower before the monks convey him to their infirmary. He spends five years there altogether – the first couple recovering from his injuries and convalescing, the remaining three because he wants to be there, and because he’s trying to work out exactly what he’s going to do with his second chance at life. During his time at the monastery, he takes over the management of their funds, and because of his talent for knowing which investments will be the most profitable, he increases their income significantly while setting up and endowing numerous charitable organisations. He wants desperately to atone for his murky past, and – in financial terms, anyway – does so admirably.
But he is still without a purpose in life, and eventually realises that he needs to go out to seek it, rather than to wait for it to find him, and heads off to Breage Manor in Cornwall, a property he purchased some time ago, and which his solicitor has ensured has been maintained over the years.
Upon arrival, he is surprised to find that the elderly couple he had previously employed as housekeepers are no longer there, and in their place is a much younger (and attractive) woman with two children. She explains that she had originally been taken on in order to help the previous incumbents, and when the task of looking after the house had become too onerous for them, they had retired and left her to run it. (Which she does surprisingly well, considering there is no other staff for such a large house!)
Thomas and Rose are attracted to each other, and while he senses that she is not what she seems – for one thing, she’s obviously from a well-to-do family – he doesn’t push her to tell him more than she is comfortable with. As their relationship develops, they form a strong bond of trust which allows both of them to divulge the information about their pasts – and Thomas determines to keep Rose and the children safe, no matter what.
As this is a mystery, I’m not going to say any more about the plot. It’s well-done, there’s a nice twist towards the end; most importantly, the writing doesn’t suffer so badly from the same problems as I found in the more romantic aspects of the story. The opening chapters which deal with Thomas’ life with the monks and his initial meetings with Rose are very readable and kept me turning the pages, but the romance – such as it is – is poorly developed and the characterisation fairly thin.
Not having read any of the books which featured Malcolm/Thomas before, I couldn’t make any judgments as to the nature of his past deeds and personality. If you have read those books, then you may well feel rather less at sea than I did. I understand that he had expected to die (in fact, had arranged his own death) and now wants to grasp his second chance with both hands and do something good with it – but he still seems too saintly, and more as though he’s had a complete personality transplant rather than being someone who’s reformed and is perhaps struggling with some aspects of that reformation.
Unfortunately, Rose is bland and uninteresting. She’s supposed to be resourceful, but her being able to keep the children hidden for the past five years has been more due to luck than any resourcefulness on her part. And the romance… well, to be honest, the book would have worked better without it. I liked the trust that built up between Thomas and Rose, but the sex scenes are just unreadable. In fact, once I’d reminded myself of why I hadn’t liked them in the last book I read by this author, I skim-read them. Half the time I had no idea what the characters were doing – one of my Goodreads updates says:
“Spiralling… sweeping… fracturing … fusing… Either the H/h just had sex or a day out at the local metalworks. I’m not completely sure.”
It’s not that I want “put tab B into slot A” sex scenes, but the language here is ridiculously overblown and so full of unnecessary imagery that I just couldn’t bear it. What I did want (and didn’t get) was a well-developed romance – I’d have been happy with no bedroom scenes at all if I’d felt any spark between the protagonists.
Another language-based issue is Ms Laurens’ habit of repetition; she makes a point and then proceeds to re-inforce it using a sledgehammer:
"Living the rest of his life with her, growing old with her – having children with her – was not his most yearned-for dream.
A dream he was certain he would not live to make real. Would not, one way or another, be allowed to commit to.”
I marked up a number of similar instances on my Kindle, but that was where my finger stopped in the list!
When it comes down to it, my first thoughts on finishing the book were that it worked much better as a mystery than a romance. I’m sure Ms Laurens’ many fans will read and enjoy this, but she’s clearly not for me. I’m giving this a C based on the fact that the mystery worked quite well; had it been “just” a romance, I’d have given it a much lower grade.
The story revolves around a character who appeared as a villain in some of the author’s other books, one Malcolm Sinclair, a man with no moral compass whose selfish actions have either directly or indirectly caused much misery and hardship to others. I haven’t read any of those books, but sufficient information is given at the outset to set the scene. At the beginning of this book, a severely injured man is washed up on the seashore close to a monastery, and gives his name as Thomas Glendower before the monks convey him to their infirmary. He spends five years there altogether – the first couple recovering from his injuries and convalescing, the remaining three because he wants to be there, and because he’s trying to work out exactly what he’s going to do with his second chance at life. During his time at the monastery, he takes over the management of their funds, and because of his talent for knowing which investments will be the most profitable, he increases their income significantly while setting up and endowing numerous charitable organisations. He wants desperately to atone for his murky past, and – in financial terms, anyway – does so admirably.
But he is still without a purpose in life, and eventually realises that he needs to go out to seek it, rather than to wait for it to find him, and heads off to Breage Manor in Cornwall, a property he purchased some time ago, and which his solicitor has ensured has been maintained over the years.
Upon arrival, he is surprised to find that the elderly couple he had previously employed as housekeepers are no longer there, and in their place is a much younger (and attractive) woman with two children. She explains that she had originally been taken on in order to help the previous incumbents, and when the task of looking after the house had become too onerous for them, they had retired and left her to run it. (Which she does surprisingly well, considering there is no other staff for such a large house!)
Thomas and Rose are attracted to each other, and while he senses that she is not what she seems – for one thing, she’s obviously from a well-to-do family – he doesn’t push her to tell him more than she is comfortable with. As their relationship develops, they form a strong bond of trust which allows both of them to divulge the information about their pasts – and Thomas determines to keep Rose and the children safe, no matter what.
As this is a mystery, I’m not going to say any more about the plot. It’s well-done, there’s a nice twist towards the end; most importantly, the writing doesn’t suffer so badly from the same problems as I found in the more romantic aspects of the story. The opening chapters which deal with Thomas’ life with the monks and his initial meetings with Rose are very readable and kept me turning the pages, but the romance – such as it is – is poorly developed and the characterisation fairly thin.
Not having read any of the books which featured Malcolm/Thomas before, I couldn’t make any judgments as to the nature of his past deeds and personality. If you have read those books, then you may well feel rather less at sea than I did. I understand that he had expected to die (in fact, had arranged his own death) and now wants to grasp his second chance with both hands and do something good with it – but he still seems too saintly, and more as though he’s had a complete personality transplant rather than being someone who’s reformed and is perhaps struggling with some aspects of that reformation.
Unfortunately, Rose is bland and uninteresting. She’s supposed to be resourceful, but her being able to keep the children hidden for the past five years has been more due to luck than any resourcefulness on her part. And the romance… well, to be honest, the book would have worked better without it. I liked the trust that built up between Thomas and Rose, but the sex scenes are just unreadable. In fact, once I’d reminded myself of why I hadn’t liked them in the last book I read by this author, I skim-read them. Half the time I had no idea what the characters were doing – one of my Goodreads updates says:
“Spiralling… sweeping… fracturing … fusing… Either the H/h just had sex or a day out at the local metalworks. I’m not completely sure.”
It’s not that I want “put tab B into slot A” sex scenes, but the language here is ridiculously overblown and so full of unnecessary imagery that I just couldn’t bear it. What I did want (and didn’t get) was a well-developed romance – I’d have been happy with no bedroom scenes at all if I’d felt any spark between the protagonists.
Another language-based issue is Ms Laurens’ habit of repetition; she makes a point and then proceeds to re-inforce it using a sledgehammer:
"Living the rest of his life with her, growing old with her – having children with her – was not his most yearned-for dream.
A dream he was certain he would not live to make real. Would not, one way or another, be allowed to commit to.”
I marked up a number of similar instances on my Kindle, but that was where my finger stopped in the list!
When it comes down to it, my first thoughts on finishing the book were that it worked much better as a mystery than a romance. I’m sure Ms Laurens’ many fans will read and enjoy this, but she’s clearly not for me. I’m giving this a C based on the fact that the mystery worked quite well; had it been “just” a romance, I’d have given it a much lower grade.
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February 26, 2020Le doy un 3,5/5.
¡Hola a todos!
Este mes recibí gracias a Harlequin Ibérica Cumpliendo su objetivo, la tercera entrega de la serie Los casos de Barnaby Adair una serie derivada de la famosa saga Los Cynster de Stephanie Laurens.
Debo decir que la verdad es que no he leído ningún libro de esta autora, sí ya sé que tengo mucho delito ya que es una de las grandes en la literatura romántica y que deberían quitarme el carnet y expulsarme del club de lectoras románticas solo por eso😅, así que me hizo mucha ilusión su llegada.
Un hombre es encontrado casi muerto y con el cuerpo totalmente destrozado en la orilla del río, los monjes que lo encuentran lo curan y salvan su vida. Durante su estancia en el monasterio y mientras dura su recuperación Thomas deja atrás al hombre que fue anteriormente para centrarse en el que va a ser en el futuro y en el por qué Dios le ha salvado la vida, por lo que decide dedicar su vida a encontrar el propósito que Dios tenga reservado para él.
Cinco años después y totalmente restablecido aunque con secuelas que le acompañarán toda la vida decide volver a la sociedad para esperar que la misión de Dios le encuentre, por lo que abandona la seguridad de la abadía para volver a casa. Thomas se avergüenza del hombre que fue y que ha dado por muerto, ahora rehace su vida como Thomas Glendower.
Al llegar a casa se encuentra que la pareja que cuidaba la casa se ha retirado y en su lugar se encuentra con Rose una viuda, que se encarga de la propiedad junto a sus dos hijos, Homer y Pippin. La actitud de ella desde el comienzo le causa inquietud a Thomas, pues es muy desconfiada y reservada. Pronto Thomas empieza a deducir que su nueva ama de llaves no es quién dice ser, y también que ella puede ser la misión que Dios le tenía reservada para empezar a purgar sus pecados. Aunque la atracción es fuerte entre ambos, Thomas intentará resistirse a ella con todas sus fuerzas ya que él solo está ahí para cumplir la voluntad de Dios y no es merecedor de amor ni de rehacer su vida.
Por un lado tenemos a Thomas, un hombre que decide reinventarse a sí mismo en su camino en pos de la redención que el destino le tenga preparada, y por otro a Rose una mujer fuerte e inteligente, decidida a todo para salvar a los que más quiere.
Durante el desarrollo de la historia la autora nos mantiene en vilo sobre lo que ha podido ocurrir en el pasado de ambos protagonistas, sabemos que Thomas no es su verdadero nombre, pues desde el comienzo él da por muerto al hombre que fue, pero no sabemos exactamente qué es lo que le ha pasado hasta llegar a esa orilla en un estado más próximo a la muerte que a la vida, no sé si es que este episodio de la vida de Thomas es narrado en algún libro anterior o que la autora no ha considerado importante entrar en detalles sobre el hombre que fue anteriormente para centrarse solamente en el hombre que será de ese momento en adelante.
Sabemos que Rose también tiene un secreto, vive sola con sus hijos en la casa de Thomas trabajando como ama de llaves, pero conforme van pasando los días sabemos que las cosas no son como aparentan, pero tampoco se nos cuenta cuál es la situación de la que huye o se esconde Rose por lo que la autora te mantiene en vilo con respecto a la situación de ambos hasta bien adelantada la trama.
El misterio sobre de quién se esconden Rose y los niños es algo que se desarrolla con lentitud al comienzo de la historia, para una vez más avanzada progresar a un ritmo mucho más ligero.
A lo largo de la historia irán apareciendo los personajes de los anteriores libros de esta serie ya que en todos los libros los personajes recurren a ellos para ayudarles de alguna manera o en alguna investigación, como yo no he leído ninguno de esos libros no me son familiares estos personajes, pero tampoco afecta a la lectura de la historia salvo porque te apetece leer sus libros y conocer sus historias. Para las que sí hayáis leído los anteriores libros vais a volver a reencontraros con Barnaby y Penelope, Montague y Violet, y Stoke y Griselda.
El libro tiene trescientas ochenta y dos páginas divididas en prólogo y diecisiete capítulos. La narración es en tercera persona por un narrador omnisciente.
Aunque no he leído ningún libro de esta autora he estado investigando sobre el personaje masculino que es el que más dudas e incógnitas me ha dejado sobre su anterior vida. Sé que Malcolm Sinclair, el alter ego de Thomas, aparece en varios de sus otros libros. Tiene apariciones en El sabor de la inocencia, el libro 14 de la serie Cynster, también aparece en Un amor sorprendente y No solo es seducción, el 5º y 6º libro de la serie Bastion. Al no haberlos leído no sé muy bien si el leer estos libros aporta la información que me da la sensación que me faltaba saber sobre el personaje.
Aunque este libro sí me ha dejado conocer algunas cosas sobre él, ya que Malcolm Sinclair es la encarnación del antihéroe, un hombre egoísta, carente de moral ni escrúpulos, que hacía cualquier cosa para salirse con la suya y conseguir lo que quería y ha hecho cosas malas que indirectamente han hecho mucho daño e incluso causando la muerte de algunas personas. Al no haber leído los libros en los que aparece con anterioridad no sé exactamente qué es lo que pasó en su vida para que tuviera ese enorme cambio y eso es algo que en este libro tampoco se nos cuenta. En este libro vamos a ver como se ha convertido en una persona muy distinta decidida a resarcir en lo posible el daño que causó en el pasado y proteger incluso con su vida a aquellos que empiezan a ser una muy importante de su vida.
Cumpliendo su destino es una maravillosa historia sobre la redención y segundas oportunidades, con un toque de suspense y misterio que le dará el punto de acción a la trama y una historia de amor y entrega maravillosa.
Reseña en: https://bibliotecariarecomienda.blogs...
¡Hola a todos!
Este mes recibí gracias a Harlequin Ibérica Cumpliendo su objetivo, la tercera entrega de la serie Los casos de Barnaby Adair una serie derivada de la famosa saga Los Cynster de Stephanie Laurens.
Debo decir que la verdad es que no he leído ningún libro de esta autora, sí ya sé que tengo mucho delito ya que es una de las grandes en la literatura romántica y que deberían quitarme el carnet y expulsarme del club de lectoras románticas solo por eso😅, así que me hizo mucha ilusión su llegada.
Un hombre es encontrado casi muerto y con el cuerpo totalmente destrozado en la orilla del río, los monjes que lo encuentran lo curan y salvan su vida. Durante su estancia en el monasterio y mientras dura su recuperación Thomas deja atrás al hombre que fue anteriormente para centrarse en el que va a ser en el futuro y en el por qué Dios le ha salvado la vida, por lo que decide dedicar su vida a encontrar el propósito que Dios tenga reservado para él.
Cinco años después y totalmente restablecido aunque con secuelas que le acompañarán toda la vida decide volver a la sociedad para esperar que la misión de Dios le encuentre, por lo que abandona la seguridad de la abadía para volver a casa. Thomas se avergüenza del hombre que fue y que ha dado por muerto, ahora rehace su vida como Thomas Glendower.
«—Mi intención era, y sigue siendo, contemplar mi muerte, la muerte verdadera y final del hombre que fui, como el ineludible pago por mis pecados, por los pecados que cometí siendo ese hombre. En ese contexto, el haber sido salvado para realizar una tarea que solo yo puedo realizar… encaja.»
Al llegar a casa se encuentra que la pareja que cuidaba la casa se ha retirado y en su lugar se encuentra con Rose una viuda, que se encarga de la propiedad junto a sus dos hijos, Homer y Pippin. La actitud de ella desde el comienzo le causa inquietud a Thomas, pues es muy desconfiada y reservada. Pronto Thomas empieza a deducir que su nueva ama de llaves no es quién dice ser, y también que ella puede ser la misión que Dios le tenía reservada para empezar a purgar sus pecados. Aunque la atracción es fuerte entre ambos, Thomas intentará resistirse a ella con todas sus fuerzas ya que él solo está ahí para cumplir la voluntad de Dios y no es merecedor de amor ni de rehacer su vida.
Por un lado tenemos a Thomas, un hombre que decide reinventarse a sí mismo en su camino en pos de la redención que el destino le tenga preparada, y por otro a Rose una mujer fuerte e inteligente, decidida a todo para salvar a los que más quiere.
«—Una cosa que nunca me dijiste, aunque estoy seguro de que lo sabías, es que el amor es sin duda el poder transformador más grande que existe entre el cielo y la tierra.»
Durante el desarrollo de la historia la autora nos mantiene en vilo sobre lo que ha podido ocurrir en el pasado de ambos protagonistas, sabemos que Thomas no es su verdadero nombre, pues desde el comienzo él da por muerto al hombre que fue, pero no sabemos exactamente qué es lo que le ha pasado hasta llegar a esa orilla en un estado más próximo a la muerte que a la vida, no sé si es que este episodio de la vida de Thomas es narrado en algún libro anterior o que la autora no ha considerado importante entrar en detalles sobre el hombre que fue anteriormente para centrarse solamente en el hombre que será de ese momento en adelante.
Sabemos que Rose también tiene un secreto, vive sola con sus hijos en la casa de Thomas trabajando como ama de llaves, pero conforme van pasando los días sabemos que las cosas no son como aparentan, pero tampoco se nos cuenta cuál es la situación de la que huye o se esconde Rose por lo que la autora te mantiene en vilo con respecto a la situación de ambos hasta bien adelantada la trama.
«Cierto que su pasado seguía siendo un secreto, y podría ser tan oscuro como él lo había dibujado, pero ella también tenía su secreto y, más concretamente, tanto ella como él tenían que enfrentarse con el aquí y ahora, con el hombre que él era en esos momentos y con la mujer en la que ella se había convertido.»
El misterio sobre de quién se esconden Rose y los niños es algo que se desarrolla con lentitud al comienzo de la historia, para una vez más avanzada progresar a un ritmo mucho más ligero.
A lo largo de la historia irán apareciendo los personajes de los anteriores libros de esta serie ya que en todos los libros los personajes recurren a ellos para ayudarles de alguna manera o en alguna investigación, como yo no he leído ninguno de esos libros no me son familiares estos personajes, pero tampoco afecta a la lectura de la historia salvo porque te apetece leer sus libros y conocer sus historias. Para las que sí hayáis leído los anteriores libros vais a volver a reencontraros con Barnaby y Penelope, Montague y Violet, y Stoke y Griselda.
El libro tiene trescientas ochenta y dos páginas divididas en prólogo y diecisiete capítulos. La narración es en tercera persona por un narrador omnisciente.
Aunque no he leído ningún libro de esta autora he estado investigando sobre el personaje masculino que es el que más dudas e incógnitas me ha dejado sobre su anterior vida. Sé que Malcolm Sinclair, el alter ego de Thomas, aparece en varios de sus otros libros. Tiene apariciones en El sabor de la inocencia, el libro 14 de la serie Cynster, también aparece en Un amor sorprendente y No solo es seducción, el 5º y 6º libro de la serie Bastion. Al no haberlos leído no sé muy bien si el leer estos libros aporta la información que me da la sensación que me faltaba saber sobre el personaje.
Aunque este libro sí me ha dejado conocer algunas cosas sobre él, ya que Malcolm Sinclair es la encarnación del antihéroe, un hombre egoísta, carente de moral ni escrúpulos, que hacía cualquier cosa para salirse con la suya y conseguir lo que quería y ha hecho cosas malas que indirectamente han hecho mucho daño e incluso causando la muerte de algunas personas. Al no haber leído los libros en los que aparece con anterioridad no sé exactamente qué es lo que pasó en su vida para que tuviera ese enorme cambio y eso es algo que en este libro tampoco se nos cuenta. En este libro vamos a ver como se ha convertido en una persona muy distinta decidida a resarcir en lo posible el daño que causó en el pasado y proteger incluso con su vida a aquellos que empiezan a ser una muy importante de su vida.
Cumpliendo su destino es una maravillosa historia sobre la redención y segundas oportunidades, con un toque de suspense y misterio que le dará el punto de acción a la trama y una historia de amor y entrega maravillosa.
Reseña en: https://bibliotecariarecomienda.blogs...
October 4, 2020
Sólo a mi se me ocurre empezar a leer una serie de libros por el tercero y obviamente aunque conocía muchos personajes por sus otros libros como los de la saga Cynster, había parte de la historia que no se cuenta y que no se llega a contar. Entonces, obviamente, no entendía nada.
En este contexto sólo puedo decir que ha sido un libro sin más, me ha gustado en general y me ha entretenido, pero me ha faltado saber o conocer un poco más de los anteriores crímenes del protagonista masculino, a los que se hace mención brevemente, pero poco más.
En este contexto sólo puedo decir que ha sido un libro sin más, me ha gustado en general y me ha entretenido, pero me ha faltado saber o conocer un poco más de los anteriores crímenes del protagonista masculino, a los que se hace mención brevemente, pero poco más.
March 10, 2020
En realidad es un 4'5
Una novela donde el amor será la única cura para las cicatrices del pasado.
Cumpliendo su destino de Stephanie Laurens es una historia de redención, un romance donde la pasión y el deseo llevarán a una pareja a descubrir un amor intenso, capaz de llevarlos al límite y el cual les dará una nueva oportunidad para ser felices y dejar atrás el sombrío pasado que los persigue.
Link de la reseña completa: http://florecilladecereza.blogspot.co...
Una novela donde el amor será la única cura para las cicatrices del pasado.
Cumpliendo su destino de Stephanie Laurens es una historia de redención, un romance donde la pasión y el deseo llevarán a una pareja a descubrir un amor intenso, capaz de llevarlos al límite y el cual les dará una nueva oportunidad para ser felices y dejar atrás el sombrío pasado que los persigue.
Link de la reseña completa: http://florecilladecereza.blogspot.co...
January 2, 2015
In this book Malcolm Sinclair, the villain from The Taste of Innocence, is saved from death and takes the opportunity to become a new and better man. In that book our last sight of him is as he is falling to his death from a bridge over a waterfall. At the beginning of this one, his mangled, nearly dead self is discovered on a Somerset beach by a group of monks. They take him in and he begins the long, slow process of healing.
At the end of the other book, Malcolm had realized what he had done and taken steps to right the wrongs he had committed. Now that he is not dead, he has to make a decision on what to do with is life. He decides to leave Malcolm where he was, and become Thomas Glendower, an alias he had set up many years before. As Thomas, he begins to learn how to be a better man, thinking of others rather than himself. He takes his talent for making money and uses it to help the monastery become self-sufficient. His injuries were so severe that it takes him five years to recover. At that point, it is suggested to him that he was saved because God/Fate has something in mind for him to do, and that staying in the monastery isn't going to help him discover what that is. So he sets out for the home he bought as Thomas, to finish his recovery and wait for Fate to find him.
Arriving in Cornwall he discovers that the elderly couple he left in charge of his home has retired, and been replaced by a young widow with two children. He senses right away that she has secrets, but having plenty of his own he doesn't pester her for answers. He settles in to his home and continues his financial work, but feels the lack of something more meaningful. Being accustomed to doing many physical things with the monks, he starts doing work around the manor too. He also begins to get to know Rose and the two children. He develops a strong attraction to Rose, but because of his past feels that he is completely unworthy of her and tries to resist doing anything about the attraction.
Rose has been in hiding with the children for the past four years. Thomas's home has been the perfect place because of its isolation and they have felt safe there. Thomas's arrival worries her at the beginning, but his acceptance of her and her story reassures her. Thomas himself intrigues her. She sees a deep sadness in him, but he doesn't talk about his past, other than to tell her he hasn't been a good man. But everything she sees in him contradicts that. She is surprised by his down to earth behavior and moved by his kindness to the children. She is also attracted to him, but because of her secrets doesn't see a future for them. However, the attraction wins out, and they begin a relationship with the intention of taking just one day at a time.
When Rose's past catches up to her, she knows she needs to tell Thomas the truth before taking the children and fleeing again. What she doesn't expect is for him to take command of the problem and work to fix it. Thomas convinces her that it's time to face up to it and that with his help it will be fine. Rose gets a good look at Thomas the champion and the attraction she feels begins to turn to love. I loved the protectiveness that Thomas has toward Rose and the kids. He will do anything to keep them safe and ensure their future safety, even give himself up to pay for his crimes.
I really loved Thomas and his efforts to pay for the sins of his past. He is well aware of his faults and his efforts to overcome them don't always go smoothly. He has to really work at thinking about how his actions will affect other people. When he arrives at the manor house, I really enjoyed seeing the way he fit in so easily with Rose and the children. I loved his times with the children and how wonderful he was with them. The part with Homer and the books, and with Pippin and the apple tree, showed that he had a good heart when he allowed himself to listen to it. I also loved Rose's ability to look past Thomas's scars to the man he was now. Even after he told her about his past, she still saw the good man he became.
There are glimpses throughout the book of the person who is looking for Rose and the children. Thomas brings them to London, and enlists the help of Barnaby Adair and others to discover the truth. As more information is uncovered, there are some inconsistencies in the background of the suspect that throw the investigation into some confusion. As they learn more about him I suspected that there was more to the story than they thought. The final confrontation was intense, with an interesting twist on the culprit. The outcome for Thomas was not what he expected, and I loved seeing what he did with it.
At the end of the other book, Malcolm had realized what he had done and taken steps to right the wrongs he had committed. Now that he is not dead, he has to make a decision on what to do with is life. He decides to leave Malcolm where he was, and become Thomas Glendower, an alias he had set up many years before. As Thomas, he begins to learn how to be a better man, thinking of others rather than himself. He takes his talent for making money and uses it to help the monastery become self-sufficient. His injuries were so severe that it takes him five years to recover. At that point, it is suggested to him that he was saved because God/Fate has something in mind for him to do, and that staying in the monastery isn't going to help him discover what that is. So he sets out for the home he bought as Thomas, to finish his recovery and wait for Fate to find him.
Arriving in Cornwall he discovers that the elderly couple he left in charge of his home has retired, and been replaced by a young widow with two children. He senses right away that she has secrets, but having plenty of his own he doesn't pester her for answers. He settles in to his home and continues his financial work, but feels the lack of something more meaningful. Being accustomed to doing many physical things with the monks, he starts doing work around the manor too. He also begins to get to know Rose and the two children. He develops a strong attraction to Rose, but because of his past feels that he is completely unworthy of her and tries to resist doing anything about the attraction.
Rose has been in hiding with the children for the past four years. Thomas's home has been the perfect place because of its isolation and they have felt safe there. Thomas's arrival worries her at the beginning, but his acceptance of her and her story reassures her. Thomas himself intrigues her. She sees a deep sadness in him, but he doesn't talk about his past, other than to tell her he hasn't been a good man. But everything she sees in him contradicts that. She is surprised by his down to earth behavior and moved by his kindness to the children. She is also attracted to him, but because of her secrets doesn't see a future for them. However, the attraction wins out, and they begin a relationship with the intention of taking just one day at a time.
When Rose's past catches up to her, she knows she needs to tell Thomas the truth before taking the children and fleeing again. What she doesn't expect is for him to take command of the problem and work to fix it. Thomas convinces her that it's time to face up to it and that with his help it will be fine. Rose gets a good look at Thomas the champion and the attraction she feels begins to turn to love. I loved the protectiveness that Thomas has toward Rose and the kids. He will do anything to keep them safe and ensure their future safety, even give himself up to pay for his crimes.
I really loved Thomas and his efforts to pay for the sins of his past. He is well aware of his faults and his efforts to overcome them don't always go smoothly. He has to really work at thinking about how his actions will affect other people. When he arrives at the manor house, I really enjoyed seeing the way he fit in so easily with Rose and the children. I loved his times with the children and how wonderful he was with them. The part with Homer and the books, and with Pippin and the apple tree, showed that he had a good heart when he allowed himself to listen to it. I also loved Rose's ability to look past Thomas's scars to the man he was now. Even after he told her about his past, she still saw the good man he became.
There are glimpses throughout the book of the person who is looking for Rose and the children. Thomas brings them to London, and enlists the help of Barnaby Adair and others to discover the truth. As more information is uncovered, there are some inconsistencies in the background of the suspect that throw the investigation into some confusion. As they learn more about him I suspected that there was more to the story than they thought. The final confrontation was intense, with an interesting twist on the culprit. The outcome for Thomas was not what he expected, and I loved seeing what he did with it.
January 31, 2015
I love this series!
Although I've only read 2 books in this series, I feel I've come to immensely appreciate this author's writing style. She takes me back in time into high society, the ton, and makes me feel as if I am moving within that inner social circle. I've come to respect the main character, Thomas Glendower as he's transformed from a self-centered villain, Malcolm Sinclair, into a humble reclusive philanthropist, protector of his housekeeper, Rose and her two children. I swooned with Rose as she fell in love with Thomas and the safe haven he provides. She was able to see beyond his scarred body and into his heart. Thomas' disfigured features only seemed to magnify his attractiveness to Rose and she demonstrates this by touching and exploring his marred and twisted body without hesitation in their most intimate moments together. I found myself falling for this intriguing man myself! I will definitely be reading more from this gifted writer!
Although I've only read 2 books in this series, I feel I've come to immensely appreciate this author's writing style. She takes me back in time into high society, the ton, and makes me feel as if I am moving within that inner social circle. I've come to respect the main character, Thomas Glendower as he's transformed from a self-centered villain, Malcolm Sinclair, into a humble reclusive philanthropist, protector of his housekeeper, Rose and her two children. I swooned with Rose as she fell in love with Thomas and the safe haven he provides. She was able to see beyond his scarred body and into his heart. Thomas' disfigured features only seemed to magnify his attractiveness to Rose and she demonstrates this by touching and exploring his marred and twisted body without hesitation in their most intimate moments together. I found myself falling for this intriguing man myself! I will definitely be reading more from this gifted writer!
August 12, 2014
I love this author's older HR, The Reasons For Marriage, but this book doesn't compare, IMO. So I didn't finish.
It started well, though, and I was initially engaged. His close encounter with death. His decision to reform, become a better man. His years in the monastery. The time he spent with the kids, Homer (about 9 years old) and Pippin (7-ish).
But I got nearly nonexistent relationship development between Thomas and Rose before -- bam!! -- precipitous sex. And more sex.
Then the mystery takes over, because before the 50-yard-line, the lovebirds are deeply involved.
See status updates for more thoughts.
Made it almost halfway through.
Loved the narrator, Napoleon Ryan.
It started well, though, and I was initially engaged. His close encounter with death. His decision to reform, become a better man. His years in the monastery. The time he spent with the kids, Homer (about 9 years old) and Pippin (7-ish).
But I got nearly nonexistent relationship development between Thomas and Rose before -- bam!! -- precipitous sex. And more sex.
Then the mystery takes over, because before the 50-yard-line, the lovebirds are deeply involved.
See status updates for more thoughts.
Made it almost halfway through.
Loved the narrator, Napoleon Ryan.
July 7, 2015
Ok, buddy read time, here we go, fingers crossed :p
3.75 Stars though I'll round up because it's Malcolm/Thomas :) Review on the way, I swear!
3.75 Stars though I'll round up because it's Malcolm/Thomas :) Review on the way, I swear!
April 17, 2015
A nice idea, but too wordy and too many logic fails.
June 17, 2023
Loving Rose: The Redemption of Malcolm Sinclair
3.5 Stars
***Beware: Spoilers Ahead***
Series note: The hero, Thomas Glendower aka Malcolm Sinclair, appears in books #5 and #6 of the Bastion Club and in book #14 of the Cynsters series. While the information presented therein is not crucial to the plot, these previous books provide significant and important backstory for Thomas's character.
After his near-fatal fall, Malcolm Sinclair reinvents himself as Thomas Glendower. Thomas is convinced that fate has spared his life for a reason, and he returns to his home on the Cornwall coast only to find a young woman and her two children in residence. Who is Rose Sheridan and what secrets is she concealing? Thomas is determined to earn his redemption and vows to keep Rose and the children safe from the threat closing in even if it means his life.
Bar one or two minor issues, Malcolm's redemption story is quite satisfying. The narrative is divided into two parts with the first focusing on Thomas and Rose's relationship, and the second revolving around the mystery of Rose's true identity.
Thomas and Rose's romance starts out well but eventually loses momentum once the mystery takes precedence. Nevertheless, they are a sweet couple and Thomas's interactions with the children are particularly endearing.
In terms of the suspense plot, Laurens weaves a compelling tale with an intriguing, if somewhat predictable twist, and the resolution is intense and exciting. The characters of Barnaby, Stokes, Montague, and their respective spouses, are smoothly integrated within the storyline, which is especially entertaining considering Thomas's murky past. There is also an extra bonus appearance by .
Overall, this is a solid ending to Malcolm's tale and the best book in the Barnaby Adair series.
3.5 Stars
***Beware: Spoilers Ahead***
Series note: The hero, Thomas Glendower aka Malcolm Sinclair, appears in books #5 and #6 of the Bastion Club and in book #14 of the Cynsters series. While the information presented therein is not crucial to the plot, these previous books provide significant and important backstory for Thomas's character.
After his near-fatal fall, Malcolm Sinclair reinvents himself as Thomas Glendower. Thomas is convinced that fate has spared his life for a reason, and he returns to his home on the Cornwall coast only to find a young woman and her two children in residence. Who is Rose Sheridan and what secrets is she concealing? Thomas is determined to earn his redemption and vows to keep Rose and the children safe from the threat closing in even if it means his life.
Bar one or two minor issues, Malcolm's redemption story is quite satisfying. The narrative is divided into two parts with the first focusing on Thomas and Rose's relationship, and the second revolving around the mystery of Rose's true identity.
Thomas and Rose's romance starts out well but eventually loses momentum once the mystery takes precedence. Nevertheless, they are a sweet couple and Thomas's interactions with the children are particularly endearing.
In terms of the suspense plot, Laurens weaves a compelling tale with an intriguing, if somewhat predictable twist, and the resolution is intense and exciting. The characters of Barnaby, Stokes, Montague, and their respective spouses, are smoothly integrated within the storyline, which is especially entertaining considering Thomas's murky past. There is also an extra bonus appearance by .
Overall, this is a solid ending to Malcolm's tale and the best book in the Barnaby Adair series.
April 24, 2025
Loved it! So much better than the Masterful Mr. Montague. I thought I might have to quit the series, but I shouldn’t have worried. Stephanie Laurens does occasionally disappoint but she always comes back strong. In case you don’t know, you can read this on its own, but Malcolm Sinclair’s story begins in To Distraction in the Bastion Club series and continues in The Taste of Innocence, Cynster #14. You’ll get a lot more enjoyment from this story if you’ve read those two first. This is a beautiful redemption story that had me in tears.
July 29, 2014
Ties Up Many Story Threads
LOVING ROSE: THE REDEMPTION OF MALCOLM SINCLAIR is the third book in the Barnaby Adair series which deals with the investigations of Barnaby Adair and his wife Penelope. They have been joined by several friends who now investigate as a team. While placed in this series, this book is actually a sequel to the Cynster series book, THE TASTE OF INNOCENCE. In that book, the villain Malcolm Sinclair falls to his apparent death at the end of the book. In LOVING ROSE Sinclair has barely survived and comes through the five years of recuperation a changed man. He has taken up his alter ego Thomas Glendower and goes out to discover what penance he must satisfy for his prior misdeeds.
When Thomas arrives at his home, he discovers that a widow and her two children. Rose is his new housekeeper but Thomas soon realizes that she has some dark secret that she is hiding. That secret brings the two together, brings them to London and to the attention of Adair and his investigative group and ultimately requires Thomas to confront his past.
I loved this story of Malcolm Sinclair's redemption. The story does not rush the transformation of Malcolm into Thomas. It also clearly demonstrates that Thomas feels remorse for his past. I believe this book works better after reading THE TASTE OF INNOCENCE because in truth the transformation begins in that book. In this book Thomas is really the star. While Rose has a plant character, she is really more of a catalyst for Thomas and I felt the real drama of the book was Thomas's journey.
Rose's secret provides the mystery that Adair and his cohorts investigate. While it was nice to see these characters again, once again, they seemed to really serve to demonstrate the transformation of Thomas. I was much more interested in that then the mystery.
For fans of Laurens this book is a great treat. Malcolm Sinclair had been present in several novels and it was satisfying to have the loose ends of Malcolm Sinclair's life so well resolved.
I'd rate this one a 4.25 on the strength of the redemption story.
LOVING ROSE: THE REDEMPTION OF MALCOLM SINCLAIR is the third book in the Barnaby Adair series which deals with the investigations of Barnaby Adair and his wife Penelope. They have been joined by several friends who now investigate as a team. While placed in this series, this book is actually a sequel to the Cynster series book, THE TASTE OF INNOCENCE. In that book, the villain Malcolm Sinclair falls to his apparent death at the end of the book. In LOVING ROSE Sinclair has barely survived and comes through the five years of recuperation a changed man. He has taken up his alter ego Thomas Glendower and goes out to discover what penance he must satisfy for his prior misdeeds.
When Thomas arrives at his home, he discovers that a widow and her two children. Rose is his new housekeeper but Thomas soon realizes that she has some dark secret that she is hiding. That secret brings the two together, brings them to London and to the attention of Adair and his investigative group and ultimately requires Thomas to confront his past.
I loved this story of Malcolm Sinclair's redemption. The story does not rush the transformation of Malcolm into Thomas. It also clearly demonstrates that Thomas feels remorse for his past. I believe this book works better after reading THE TASTE OF INNOCENCE because in truth the transformation begins in that book. In this book Thomas is really the star. While Rose has a plant character, she is really more of a catalyst for Thomas and I felt the real drama of the book was Thomas's journey.
Rose's secret provides the mystery that Adair and his cohorts investigate. While it was nice to see these characters again, once again, they seemed to really serve to demonstrate the transformation of Thomas. I was much more interested in that then the mystery.
For fans of Laurens this book is a great treat. Malcolm Sinclair had been present in several novels and it was satisfying to have the loose ends of Malcolm Sinclair's life so well resolved.
I'd rate this one a 4.25 on the strength of the redemption story.
July 31, 2014
Loving Rose can be termed an original work for Ms. Laurens. This is the first time that she’s taken a villain, Malcolm Sinclair initially from A Taste of Innocence, and transformed him into a hero – Thomas Glendower. And it wasn’t a rapid transformation, but rather well done as most of this novel seems to be about Thomas. This is a romance where the hero is front and centre, which makes it different from the norm. As a reader, we are taken in a journey of transformation and redemption along with Thomas. Rose, who is an important character in this novel, serves as a reason for that change, but it is nonetheless Thomas who carries the weight of this story.
That isn’t to say that the mystery and romance aspects of Loving Rose are not explored or well-portrayed, they are but they are not as important to the story as Thomas/Malcolm’s journey. This novel is a romantic tribute to the hero’s journey of old.
And of course, we get cameos from some old friends and new!
My only quibbles with this novel were that I wanted a more dastardly villain, especially since Malcolm had been such a good villain in his own novel, but a true evil mastermind was sadly lacking in this novel and I also wanted to see Malcolm’s new identity as Thomas Glendower challenged in some way, but it never was to my satisfaction.
Yet, overall this novel was fun enough to make me dread the wait until 2018 for the next one! :(
For those of you lucky enough to just be starting the Casebook of Barnaby Adair series, you have three amazing novels to tide your over for the next three years. But, of course, Ms. Laurens never sits idle so, while we may not be getting another installment in this particular series any time soon, she is returning to her beloved Cynsters for the next batch of novels.
That isn’t to say that the mystery and romance aspects of Loving Rose are not explored or well-portrayed, they are but they are not as important to the story as Thomas/Malcolm’s journey. This novel is a romantic tribute to the hero’s journey of old.
And of course, we get cameos from some old friends and new!
My only quibbles with this novel were that I wanted a more dastardly villain, especially since Malcolm had been such a good villain in his own novel, but a true evil mastermind was sadly lacking in this novel and I also wanted to see Malcolm’s new identity as Thomas Glendower challenged in some way, but it never was to my satisfaction.
Yet, overall this novel was fun enough to make me dread the wait until 2018 for the next one! :(
For those of you lucky enough to just be starting the Casebook of Barnaby Adair series, you have three amazing novels to tide your over for the next three years. But, of course, Ms. Laurens never sits idle so, while we may not be getting another installment in this particular series any time soon, she is returning to her beloved Cynsters for the next batch of novels.
August 8, 2014
LOVING ROSE: The Redemption of Malcolm Sinclair by Stephanie Laurens is an interesting Historical Romance. #3 in the "Casebook of Barnaby Adair, but can be read as a stand alone. What a thrilling and somewhat intriguing story from the Casebook of Barnaby Adair!
This Malcolm Sinclair's story. Believed to be dead, he re-invents himself as, Thomas Glendower. In his previous life he was a notorious man spared from death. He is on a mission to meet his fate, and make amends.
Enter...Rose,living in his secluded manor with her two children. Thomas is instantly attracted to her, as she is to him. Thomas, is a tortured soul and scarred terribly. But is he lovable? Oh, but Rose has on own secrets to tell or not tell as the case may be. And determined to tame the wild beast within Thomas.
Filled with a bit of intrigue, lots of passion, two delightful young children, redemption, healing, forgiveness,the power of true love and friendship. An enjoyable read! I was mesmerized by the rightness of wrongs done, and the determination to protect those weaker. Well done! Received for an honest review from the publisher.
Rating: 4
Heat Rating: hot
Reviewed by: AprilR, courtesy of My Book Addiction and More
This Malcolm Sinclair's story. Believed to be dead, he re-invents himself as, Thomas Glendower. In his previous life he was a notorious man spared from death. He is on a mission to meet his fate, and make amends.
Enter...Rose,living in his secluded manor with her two children. Thomas is instantly attracted to her, as she is to him. Thomas, is a tortured soul and scarred terribly. But is he lovable? Oh, but Rose has on own secrets to tell or not tell as the case may be. And determined to tame the wild beast within Thomas.
Filled with a bit of intrigue, lots of passion, two delightful young children, redemption, healing, forgiveness,the power of true love and friendship. An enjoyable read! I was mesmerized by the rightness of wrongs done, and the determination to protect those weaker. Well done! Received for an honest review from the publisher.
Rating: 4
Heat Rating: hot
Reviewed by: AprilR, courtesy of My Book Addiction and More
December 24, 2014
★★★★½ Best in the series, so far. Enjoyed it as a "buddy read" here, too.
August 20, 2020
*Rezensionsexemplar via Harper Collins Bloggerportal
Abgebrochen bei 63%
Dieses Buch ist auf keinen Fall schlecht. Aber warum dann abgebrochen?
Weil der deutsche Klappentext irreführend ist. Er lässt auf einen historischen Liebesroman schließen. Die Liebesgeschichte spielt aber eigentlich nur eine nebengeordnete Rolle. Es geht viel mehr um die Auflösunh von Roses Flucht.
Der Schreibstil ist leicht und locker zu lesen. Die Seiten sind zwar für mich nicht dahin geflogen, aber es hat sich trotzdem gut gelesen. Nur leider hat sich der Roman inhaltlich einfach komplett anders entwickelt, als ich es erwartet habe.
Als ich mir den englischen Klappentext durchgelesen habe, war mir klar, dass es eigentlich „nur“ ein historischer Roman ist, aber eben leider kein Liebesroman.
Aber nicht nur der Klappentext ist irreführend, sondern auch das Cover, dass so typisch ist für historische Liebesromane.
Ich kann das Buch auf jeden Fall empfehlen, wenn man gerne einen Roman mit Detektiven im 19. Jahrhundert, in dem es auch noch eine Liebesgeschichte gibt, lesen möchte. Wer eine reine Liebesgeschichte möchte, so wie ich, wird hier vermutlich enttäuscht.
Abgebrochen bei 63%
Dieses Buch ist auf keinen Fall schlecht. Aber warum dann abgebrochen?
Weil der deutsche Klappentext irreführend ist. Er lässt auf einen historischen Liebesroman schließen. Die Liebesgeschichte spielt aber eigentlich nur eine nebengeordnete Rolle. Es geht viel mehr um die Auflösunh von Roses Flucht.
Der Schreibstil ist leicht und locker zu lesen. Die Seiten sind zwar für mich nicht dahin geflogen, aber es hat sich trotzdem gut gelesen. Nur leider hat sich der Roman inhaltlich einfach komplett anders entwickelt, als ich es erwartet habe.
Als ich mir den englischen Klappentext durchgelesen habe, war mir klar, dass es eigentlich „nur“ ein historischer Roman ist, aber eben leider kein Liebesroman.
Aber nicht nur der Klappentext ist irreführend, sondern auch das Cover, dass so typisch ist für historische Liebesromane.
Ich kann das Buch auf jeden Fall empfehlen, wenn man gerne einen Roman mit Detektiven im 19. Jahrhundert, in dem es auch noch eine Liebesgeschichte gibt, lesen möchte. Wer eine reine Liebesgeschichte möchte, so wie ich, wird hier vermutlich enttäuscht.
April 29, 2020
Un hombre con un pasado "oscuro" busca redimirse. En el camino se enamora de mujer que oculta un secreto.
Me gusto pero me olvidaré de él en unos meses. Su relación no tiene demasiado interés ya que el conflicto se centra en la historia de ella con los niños.
Me gusto pero me olvidaré de él en unos meses. Su relación no tiene demasiado interés ya que el conflicto se centra en la historia de ella con los niños.
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June 2, 2021This had the longest prologue ever! Our hero, Thomas was found mostly dead and broken, both his past and how he ended up that way masked in mystery. He was taken in at the priory and spent many years healing there, trying to forget the villain he once was, and doing good to atone for his sins. Convinced that God spared his life for a greater purpose, he set off to go find out what that exactly was. He stops at his country house that he had left in the care of an older couple, only to find Rose and the two children now taking care of the place. I liked Thomas’ and Rose’s time together there. He becoming aware of her, finding that there was more to her story, and getting to know Pippin and Homer. The mealtimes they all shared together. Rose seeing Thomas as a good, caring man, appreciating how he spent time with the children, and how he enjoyed working with his hands around the place. I liked Thomas’ character and liked how he had to pause and think about things before he said them. The steamy bedroom scenes were written rather flowery, and the wording sometimes made me laugh. The overuse of raised/arched brows throughout made me laugh as well. Unfortunately, I lost interest once they were in London and all the detective work started. Each step was in intricate detail. It was boring. It was way more mystery than romance. And so many characters were introduced. So many. It was apparent that the reader should have known these names from previous books. My bad for starting in the middle of a series. Anyway, I had to stop about 2/3 through the book, when yet again there were more characters introduced, this time the Duchess of St Ives and two of her husband’s cousins’ wives. Husband’s cousins’ wives. I. Could. Go. No. Further. This was my 1st Stephanie Laurens, but hopefully not my last.
September 10, 2014
This was extremely slow to start -- as a matter of fact, I almost gave up on it, and I usually love all of Stephanie Laurens books. Once I finally got into it, it was a pleasant read, but nothing to get excited about.
Miraculously spared from death, Malcolm Sinclair erases the notorious man he once was. Reinventing himself as Thomas Glendower, he strives to make amends for his past, yet he never imagines penance might come via a secretive lady he discovers living in his secluded manor.
Rose has a plausible explanation for why she and her children are residing in Thomas's house, but she quickly realizes he's far too intelligent to fool. Revealing the truth is impossibly dangerous, yet day by day he wins her trust, and then her heart.
But then her enemy closes in, and Rose turns to Thomas as the only man who can protect her and the children. And when she asks for his help, Thomas finally understands his true purpose, and with unwavering commitment, he seeks his redemption the only way he can—through living the reality of loving Rose.
Miraculously spared from death, Malcolm Sinclair erases the notorious man he once was. Reinventing himself as Thomas Glendower, he strives to make amends for his past, yet he never imagines penance might come via a secretive lady he discovers living in his secluded manor.
Rose has a plausible explanation for why she and her children are residing in Thomas's house, but she quickly realizes he's far too intelligent to fool. Revealing the truth is impossibly dangerous, yet day by day he wins her trust, and then her heart.
But then her enemy closes in, and Rose turns to Thomas as the only man who can protect her and the children. And when she asks for his help, Thomas finally understands his true purpose, and with unwavering commitment, he seeks his redemption the only way he can—through living the reality of loving Rose.
August 31, 2014
I'm super glad that this book was a mix of mystery and romance. Unlike the previous book of this series, the romance began from the first half of the book, not the last part of the book. I don't even mind when the case/mystery took over the second half of the book. Yet the romance was not subtle; it still continued throughout the rest of the book.
I also appreciate how the Malcolm Sinclair situation was resolved. Plus, how Thomas Glendower 'touched' a lot of people, like Montague, Roscoe, and others. Mr. Glendower is a financial genius and his way of redemption is through that area. Rose and the children are great reasons to get on the right track. And Roland provided some great advice for Thomas, too.
Overall, it was a better book from the previous one in this series. It may not be a favorite of mine, but I still enjoyed reading it. I look forward to future books from Ms. Laurens.
I also appreciate how the Malcolm Sinclair situation was resolved. Plus, how Thomas Glendower 'touched' a lot of people, like Montague, Roscoe, and others. Mr. Glendower is a financial genius and his way of redemption is through that area. Rose and the children are great reasons to get on the right track. And Roland provided some great advice for Thomas, too.
Overall, it was a better book from the previous one in this series. It may not be a favorite of mine, but I still enjoyed reading it. I look forward to future books from Ms. Laurens.
March 31, 2018
Recensione a cura di Lucia63 per Romanticamente Fantasy Sito
http://www.romanticamentefantasy.it/r...
“Non aveva più controllo, né sembrava capace di riprenderlo. Non era più l’uomo di prima e non sapeva cos’era diventato. Neppure in quell’arena, a quanto pareva. Ma una certezza restava: doveva ancora espiare i suoi peccati. E fino a quando non fosse arrivata la chiamata del destino, la sua vita non gli apparteneva.”
Un uomo in fin di vita viene ritrovato su una spiaggia da alcuni monaci benedettini, e portato al convento. Le sue ferite sono atroci, le sue ossa spezzate, e sembra essere caduto da una grande altezza per finire poi in mare. Le sue condizioni appaiono disperate, ma padre Roland è conosciuto per le sue doti di guaritore e la forte tempra dell’uomo gli permette di sopravvivere. Al risveglio, dice di chiamarsi Thomas Glendower (ma il lettore sa che questo è uno dei tanti nomi che ha usato nella sua vita di non specchiata onestà). Il Thomas che si risveglia però, è un uomo in cerca di espiazione, e i successivi anni passati in convento mentre le sue ossa si rinforzano sempre più anche aiutando i monaci nelle loro incombenze, permettono all’uomo di imparare da padre Roland e dal Priore del convento un nuovo modo di vivere. Per ricompensarli del loro aiuto si occupa delle loro finanze, e quando finalmente si appresta a lasciare il convento i monaci hanno una situazione finanziaria florida e sicura. La sua vita di prima non esiste più, ma con il nome di Thomas Glendower possiede una proprietà in cui non ha mai vissuto, che viene gestita da una vecchia coppia di custodi. Ed è grande la sorpresa quando, al posto della vecchia governante, si trova di fronte una giovane donna e due bambini sconosciuti che vivono nella sua casa. Rose è una giovane donna molto attraente, e i suoi due bambini sono adorabili, eppure fin dai primi giorni della loro convivenza, Thomas intuisce che c’è un mistero che li circonda. L’attrazione che prova per Rose è innegabile, ma l’uomo è convinto che la sua anima peccatrice non sia degna di sperare nell’amore, nonostante sappia che anche la giovane prova qualcosa per lui. Solo quando due investigatori si presentano alla sua porta, cercando una giovane Lady sparita da 4 anni con una bambina e l’erede di una grande fortuna, capisce di essere di fronte alla sua possibilità di espiare. Per aiutare la donna che ormai ama e quei due bambini che gli sono entrati nel cuore, è disposto a chiedere l’aiuto all’uomo che potrebbe mandarlo in prigione, l’unico che sicuramente non può aver dimenticato il suo vero nome, Barnaby Adair.
Se come me amate la serie Cynster, il nome Malcolm Sinclair vi darà subito una sensazione di dejà – vu: infatti, la caduta che lo ha portato sulla spiaggia in fin di vita, si trova nel libro della serie Cynster dal titolo “Il sapore dell’innocenza”. Qui conosciamo com’era il Malcolm originale, avido, disposto a fare qualunque cosa per denaro, e seppur non materialmente, il suo agire ha portato alla morte di tanti innocenti. Ma già allora il suo pentimento era in atto, e l’ultima azione compiuta aveva posto rimedio a molte delle sue malefatte. Ora, grazie al suo innato talento per gli affari, gestisce grandi associazioni filantropiche, sovvenziona ospedali e ricoveri, e con l’aiuto dei due monaci che lo hanno salvato è diventato un uomo gentile, premuroso, disposto a sacrificarsi, e grato di avere avuto una seconda possibilità, nonostante sia rimasto leggermente claudicante, sia pieno di cicatrici e parte del suo volto sia sfregiato. Rose del resto non vede niente di tutto questo: vede solo l’uomo che prontamente ha mentito per salvarli, che è sempre disposto a consolare una bambina triste, e che si è fatto carico di istruire in matematica un ragazzino pieno di talento, mentre di notte si trasforma in un amante gentile e passionale. Come tutte le donne della Laurens, Rose non è una timida damina, ma una donna ben cosciente di ciò che vuole, e disposta a fare qualsiasi cosa per questi due bambini, e l’uomo che desidera nella sua vita è Thomas con tutti i suoi rimorsi e le sue ferite. Dopo una prima parte più dolce e romantica, la seconda è più dinamica imperniata sulla ricerca del colpevole che vuole a tutti i costi mettere le mani su un ragazzino che si trova fra lui e un titolo dal grande patrimonio, facendo entrare in scena i coniugi Adair e l’ispettore Stoker con consorte.
La serie “I casi di Barnaby Adair” di cui questo libro fa parte, nasce come spin-off della serie Cynster. Più volte durante la lettura dei vari titoli della serie abbiamo incontrato Barnaby e l’ispettore Stoker, chiamati a indagare sui delitti del ton, un ambiente in cui gli agenti di Scotland Yard non sono ben accetti. Ma Adair fa parte del loro mondo, sia perché è di nobili natali, sia perché ha sposato Penelope Ashoford, imparentata con la potente famiglia del Duca di S. Ives. L’impronta delle loro indagini è quella del giallo più classico in cui, indizio dopo indizio, si arriva al colpevole. Tutto questo mentre assistiamo alla vita quotidiana e amorosa di queste due coppie molto affiatate in cui le consorti, in piacevole cene fra amici, aiutano i loro mariti con inaspettate deduzioni femminili a trovare il vero colpevole. Ogni indagine è autoconclusiva e racconta una storia d’amore fra due protagonisti che cambiano di volta in volta, ma che poi ritroviamo nei libri successivi, collaborando alle nuove indagini e dando un senso di continuità.
Una piacevole esperienza di lettura che regala scene passionali ben scritte e intense, e indagini dall’esito sorprendente, raccontate con grande maestria da un’autrice che io amo moltissimo.
VOTO 4,5 STELLE
http://www.romanticamentefantasy.it/r...
“Non aveva più controllo, né sembrava capace di riprenderlo. Non era più l’uomo di prima e non sapeva cos’era diventato. Neppure in quell’arena, a quanto pareva. Ma una certezza restava: doveva ancora espiare i suoi peccati. E fino a quando non fosse arrivata la chiamata del destino, la sua vita non gli apparteneva.”
Un uomo in fin di vita viene ritrovato su una spiaggia da alcuni monaci benedettini, e portato al convento. Le sue ferite sono atroci, le sue ossa spezzate, e sembra essere caduto da una grande altezza per finire poi in mare. Le sue condizioni appaiono disperate, ma padre Roland è conosciuto per le sue doti di guaritore e la forte tempra dell’uomo gli permette di sopravvivere. Al risveglio, dice di chiamarsi Thomas Glendower (ma il lettore sa che questo è uno dei tanti nomi che ha usato nella sua vita di non specchiata onestà). Il Thomas che si risveglia però, è un uomo in cerca di espiazione, e i successivi anni passati in convento mentre le sue ossa si rinforzano sempre più anche aiutando i monaci nelle loro incombenze, permettono all’uomo di imparare da padre Roland e dal Priore del convento un nuovo modo di vivere. Per ricompensarli del loro aiuto si occupa delle loro finanze, e quando finalmente si appresta a lasciare il convento i monaci hanno una situazione finanziaria florida e sicura. La sua vita di prima non esiste più, ma con il nome di Thomas Glendower possiede una proprietà in cui non ha mai vissuto, che viene gestita da una vecchia coppia di custodi. Ed è grande la sorpresa quando, al posto della vecchia governante, si trova di fronte una giovane donna e due bambini sconosciuti che vivono nella sua casa. Rose è una giovane donna molto attraente, e i suoi due bambini sono adorabili, eppure fin dai primi giorni della loro convivenza, Thomas intuisce che c’è un mistero che li circonda. L’attrazione che prova per Rose è innegabile, ma l’uomo è convinto che la sua anima peccatrice non sia degna di sperare nell’amore, nonostante sappia che anche la giovane prova qualcosa per lui. Solo quando due investigatori si presentano alla sua porta, cercando una giovane Lady sparita da 4 anni con una bambina e l’erede di una grande fortuna, capisce di essere di fronte alla sua possibilità di espiare. Per aiutare la donna che ormai ama e quei due bambini che gli sono entrati nel cuore, è disposto a chiedere l’aiuto all’uomo che potrebbe mandarlo in prigione, l’unico che sicuramente non può aver dimenticato il suo vero nome, Barnaby Adair.
Se come me amate la serie Cynster, il nome Malcolm Sinclair vi darà subito una sensazione di dejà – vu: infatti, la caduta che lo ha portato sulla spiaggia in fin di vita, si trova nel libro della serie Cynster dal titolo “Il sapore dell’innocenza”. Qui conosciamo com’era il Malcolm originale, avido, disposto a fare qualunque cosa per denaro, e seppur non materialmente, il suo agire ha portato alla morte di tanti innocenti. Ma già allora il suo pentimento era in atto, e l’ultima azione compiuta aveva posto rimedio a molte delle sue malefatte. Ora, grazie al suo innato talento per gli affari, gestisce grandi associazioni filantropiche, sovvenziona ospedali e ricoveri, e con l’aiuto dei due monaci che lo hanno salvato è diventato un uomo gentile, premuroso, disposto a sacrificarsi, e grato di avere avuto una seconda possibilità, nonostante sia rimasto leggermente claudicante, sia pieno di cicatrici e parte del suo volto sia sfregiato. Rose del resto non vede niente di tutto questo: vede solo l’uomo che prontamente ha mentito per salvarli, che è sempre disposto a consolare una bambina triste, e che si è fatto carico di istruire in matematica un ragazzino pieno di talento, mentre di notte si trasforma in un amante gentile e passionale. Come tutte le donne della Laurens, Rose non è una timida damina, ma una donna ben cosciente di ciò che vuole, e disposta a fare qualsiasi cosa per questi due bambini, e l’uomo che desidera nella sua vita è Thomas con tutti i suoi rimorsi e le sue ferite. Dopo una prima parte più dolce e romantica, la seconda è più dinamica imperniata sulla ricerca del colpevole che vuole a tutti i costi mettere le mani su un ragazzino che si trova fra lui e un titolo dal grande patrimonio, facendo entrare in scena i coniugi Adair e l’ispettore Stoker con consorte.
La serie “I casi di Barnaby Adair” di cui questo libro fa parte, nasce come spin-off della serie Cynster. Più volte durante la lettura dei vari titoli della serie abbiamo incontrato Barnaby e l’ispettore Stoker, chiamati a indagare sui delitti del ton, un ambiente in cui gli agenti di Scotland Yard non sono ben accetti. Ma Adair fa parte del loro mondo, sia perché è di nobili natali, sia perché ha sposato Penelope Ashoford, imparentata con la potente famiglia del Duca di S. Ives. L’impronta delle loro indagini è quella del giallo più classico in cui, indizio dopo indizio, si arriva al colpevole. Tutto questo mentre assistiamo alla vita quotidiana e amorosa di queste due coppie molto affiatate in cui le consorti, in piacevole cene fra amici, aiutano i loro mariti con inaspettate deduzioni femminili a trovare il vero colpevole. Ogni indagine è autoconclusiva e racconta una storia d’amore fra due protagonisti che cambiano di volta in volta, ma che poi ritroviamo nei libri successivi, collaborando alle nuove indagini e dando un senso di continuità.
Una piacevole esperienza di lettura che regala scene passionali ben scritte e intense, e indagini dall’esito sorprendente, raccontate con grande maestria da un’autrice che io amo moltissimo.
VOTO 4,5 STELLE
August 4, 2014
A very sweet read.
May 7, 2019
3.75 stars
February 17, 2025
The plot: Malcolm is a man on the verge of death who is cured by some monks. Deep inside, Malcolm hopes to die because he has been a bad person, but when he realizes that he will live, he thinks it is because there is still a task he must do before he dies, and so he takes on a new identity as Thomas. He becomes a better person and resigns himself to wait for the call of God or destiny. Years pass and his physical wounds heal, so he decides to return to England to a property he has in the countryside. At his mansion he finds that in his absence a new housekeeper has been hired, Rose, a young widow who lives with her young children Homer and Pippin, but Rose and Thomas are immediately attracted to each other, although they keep their distance. However, little by little Thomas gets emotionally closer to the children and to Rose, and when he discovers that they are fleeing from great danger, he decides that taking care of them is the last task he must do before dying or going to jail, but of course that everything gets complicated when he and Rose start sharing a bed.
I have mixed feelings about that book, on the one hand I loved the characters, Thomas is a hero who stands out from the rest, he's not a high-born nobleman but he's not a commoner either, he's not physically handsome but he is elegant, he's not an impeccably perfect person but he's someone who truly fights to be better and is brave and protective, Rosalind is a heroine who fights a lot but also has doubts and fears, I loved how she protected her siblings and how she never let Thomas's negatives scare her, the children, needless to say, are charming. The story also started very well, with mystery, seduction, tenderness, I generally don't like mystery novels but this one really caught me, unfortunately everything fell to pieces after the first 50%, when the characters from the other books in the saga enter, because this becomes something too detective style and repetitive, the conversations are repeated almost identically, let's say that Thomas and Rose talk about the crime of her parents, then you have Rose repeating the same thing with a detective, and that detective repeating the same thing 5 more times with different people, and that's just an example, the story really doesn't advance almost at all, and it's practically only about police investigating, clues, evidence (most of which lead nowhere) and everything is resolved until the end and without their help!!! 😵💫 so for me it became boring, plus I hadn't read the author's other books so I had no idea who the other characters were and I didn't care either, I know that It wasn't the best idea to start with the third book of the saga, but this book interested me because I love stories about heroines who have children, and the truth is that to understand and enjoy the plot you didn't need any kind of context or previous reading, the thing is that I didn't expect to have such a boring and bad second part. 🫤
Another thing I didn't like is that the love story of Rose and Thomas never develops, I don't feel that they really get to know each other, it is understood that their attraction is of the sexual kind, and their interactions are sweet and pleasant but I think that the book tells very little about them compared to all the time it dedicates to police issues.
It could have been better but for me it wasn't a completely memorable read, although I suppose that if you enjoy the saga you will see it with different eyes, I think that in general the books of this author are not my thing, I like touches of mystery but not when the mystery is the main thread.
October 2, 2021
1.5 stars.
For a historical romance, this took me so much longer to read than what I'd expect- a week rather than a day.
Stephanie Laurens has proved herself a talented writer and I enjoy reading her books, but this was a most definite let down for the following reasons:
1. It was boring. There, I said it. The plot is simplistic and despite the usual Lauren's mystery, there was nothing exciting to make me want to read it in a single sitting. Plot without spoilers: man goes to house he owns to find a woman with children running it. Man isn't whom he seems, and neither is she. Both of them realise that. Woman is in trouble, man needs to protect her. They go to London to work out why woman is in trouble. There's a mix up with something of a twist, the villain turns out to be not the villain, and the real villain is someone you don't meet. Man comes to the rescue. Man and woman realise they can't live without each other. The end.
Now to be fair, that describes a lot of historical romance plots. All historical romances are recycled plots; and that's ok. But authors have to bring a new dimension to it so it stays fresh. This book was anything but fresh.
2. Characters aren't really developed. Hero has some sort of terrible past (that's not a spoiler because it does say "redemption" on the front cover), and I think it's described in less than a few pages at the very end. We were told many times through the course of the novel how this has affected him, but nothing was really shown. So when he was thinking he has no future with the heroine I was thinking YAWN. The heroine was just bland. She wasn't a modern girl in a historical book (thank goodness) but she just had nothing about her.
3. Not entirely sure of some of the legal proceedings are accurate. The hero enlists the help of the fairly new police force to help get to the bottom of the mystery for the heroine. Those officers then with a warrant from a magistrate to go and ask the solicitor of the villain questions. It seemed a bit too American.
4. Catching the villain. My eyes are drooping at the thought. The villain was caught by the detective work of a character I believe is in earlier books. He then gets his own third person narration as he goes to investigate. There are several people who sit around talking things through. They talk, go and 'investigate', talk and then 'investigate' more. They just talk all the time, probably just so the reader can keep up with a tangled web of mystery and corruption we all saw coming by the half way point. The danger element lasted for a few pages.
5. The love scenes. Laurens seems to have tried an experiment from her usual love scene. Instead of some very explicit descriptions, we get the descriptions and they are full of flowery prose. I'm not a fan of either of those, but this was just tedious. It was different to see the heroine taking the initiative and enjoying it, which was fair enough, but her lack of thought to her own position in the aftermath was not realistic, especially since the hero repeatedly tells her he has no future (and therefore, there is no THEM). Yet she keeps going back for more, as if having sex with him multiple times will raise his self worth. *Roll eyes*.
So in all, this is a miss from me. I'll also be missing the other novels in this series.
For a historical romance, this took me so much longer to read than what I'd expect- a week rather than a day.
Stephanie Laurens has proved herself a talented writer and I enjoy reading her books, but this was a most definite let down for the following reasons:
1. It was boring. There, I said it. The plot is simplistic and despite the usual Lauren's mystery, there was nothing exciting to make me want to read it in a single sitting. Plot without spoilers: man goes to house he owns to find a woman with children running it. Man isn't whom he seems, and neither is she. Both of them realise that. Woman is in trouble, man needs to protect her. They go to London to work out why woman is in trouble. There's a mix up with something of a twist, the villain turns out to be not the villain, and the real villain is someone you don't meet. Man comes to the rescue. Man and woman realise they can't live without each other. The end.
Now to be fair, that describes a lot of historical romance plots. All historical romances are recycled plots; and that's ok. But authors have to bring a new dimension to it so it stays fresh. This book was anything but fresh.
2. Characters aren't really developed. Hero has some sort of terrible past (that's not a spoiler because it does say "redemption" on the front cover), and I think it's described in less than a few pages at the very end. We were told many times through the course of the novel how this has affected him, but nothing was really shown. So when he was thinking he has no future with the heroine I was thinking YAWN. The heroine was just bland. She wasn't a modern girl in a historical book (thank goodness) but she just had nothing about her.
3. Not entirely sure of some of the legal proceedings are accurate. The hero enlists the help of the fairly new police force to help get to the bottom of the mystery for the heroine. Those officers then with a warrant from a magistrate to go and ask the solicitor of the villain questions. It seemed a bit too American.
4. Catching the villain. My eyes are drooping at the thought. The villain was caught by the detective work of a character I believe is in earlier books. He then gets his own third person narration as he goes to investigate. There are several people who sit around talking things through. They talk, go and 'investigate', talk and then 'investigate' more. They just talk all the time, probably just so the reader can keep up with a tangled web of mystery and corruption we all saw coming by the half way point. The danger element lasted for a few pages.
5. The love scenes. Laurens seems to have tried an experiment from her usual love scene. Instead of some very explicit descriptions, we get the descriptions and they are full of flowery prose. I'm not a fan of either of those, but this was just tedious. It was different to see the heroine taking the initiative and enjoying it, which was fair enough, but her lack of thought to her own position in the aftermath was not realistic, especially since the hero repeatedly tells her he has no future (and therefore, there is no THEM). Yet she keeps going back for more, as if having sex with him multiple times will raise his self worth. *Roll eyes*.
So in all, this is a miss from me. I'll also be missing the other novels in this series.
March 14, 2022
Like I said Stephanie Laurens is one of a kind. I have love everyone of her books. 💖💞💖
Despite the crowd, Thomas had only had eyes for Rose, and she for him. He’d spoken his vows clearly and had meant every word—to love, honor, and cherish. Forever. Until death finally and truly parted them. And even after that. The day had been a golden one; the celebrations had lasted for days. The warmth with which so many had embraced him remained with Thomas, a potent reminder that, indeed, he was no longer the man he once had been. Autumn spiced the air on the day they returned to London over two months later, and, at Thomas’s insistence, he, Rose, William, and Alice went walking up South Audley Street, then turned off to stroll past the Audley chapel and into the graveyard beyond. Her hand tucked into the crook of Thomas’s arm, Rose walked beside him along the paved path that led through the graveyard. He had recovered from the injuries sustained in his fall from the Seddington House roof, and, once again, carried his cane more for safety’s sake than any constant need. William and Alice ranged ahead, one on either side of the path, reading the names on the gravestones and calling out the more remarkable for each other’s amusement. Rose—now Rosalind once more, but to Thomas she would always be his Rose—hugged his arm and looked up at him. Caught his eye when he looked down at her. “Why are we here?” Rose hadn’t pressed for a specific destination when they’d left Seddington House, now fully staffed and functioning again; when she’d asked where they were going, Thomas had said that there was one place he needed to visit before they headed off to Cornwall, to claim the belongings they’d left at the manor, hire new caretakers, and put all in order for their return to Seddington Grange for Christmas. Now, surrounded by the graves of the fashionable, Rose wondered what particular piece of his complex past he’d come there to put to rest. Glancing around, she asked, “Have we come to visit a grave?” “Yes, we have. Or”—he looked ahead—“I have, at least.” After a moment—his usual moment of considering how much to reveal—he looked down at her. “Her name most likely will mean nothing to you—she was an old lady when I knew her, and that was twenty and more years ago. But I wanted to pay my respects . . . before moving on.” Raising his head, he faced forward. Intrigued, Rose looked around as they walked on. He pointed with his cane. “Her grave should be somewhere around there, I think.” They detoured into that section, taking the narrower paths between the sets of graves. “There it is.” He waved his cane at a neat, elegant, but not ostentatious marble-topped grave. The headstone, surmounted by a lute-playing angel, was clean, the plot well-cared for. Settling her arm snugly in his, Rose halted by his side at the foot of the grave. “Edith Balmain.”
Despite the crowd, Thomas had only had eyes for Rose, and she for him. He’d spoken his vows clearly and had meant every word—to love, honor, and cherish. Forever. Until death finally and truly parted them. And even after that. The day had been a golden one; the celebrations had lasted for days. The warmth with which so many had embraced him remained with Thomas, a potent reminder that, indeed, he was no longer the man he once had been. Autumn spiced the air on the day they returned to London over two months later, and, at Thomas’s insistence, he, Rose, William, and Alice went walking up South Audley Street, then turned off to stroll past the Audley chapel and into the graveyard beyond. Her hand tucked into the crook of Thomas’s arm, Rose walked beside him along the paved path that led through the graveyard. He had recovered from the injuries sustained in his fall from the Seddington House roof, and, once again, carried his cane more for safety’s sake than any constant need. William and Alice ranged ahead, one on either side of the path, reading the names on the gravestones and calling out the more remarkable for each other’s amusement. Rose—now Rosalind once more, but to Thomas she would always be his Rose—hugged his arm and looked up at him. Caught his eye when he looked down at her. “Why are we here?” Rose hadn’t pressed for a specific destination when they’d left Seddington House, now fully staffed and functioning again; when she’d asked where they were going, Thomas had said that there was one place he needed to visit before they headed off to Cornwall, to claim the belongings they’d left at the manor, hire new caretakers, and put all in order for their return to Seddington Grange for Christmas. Now, surrounded by the graves of the fashionable, Rose wondered what particular piece of his complex past he’d come there to put to rest. Glancing around, she asked, “Have we come to visit a grave?” “Yes, we have. Or”—he looked ahead—“I have, at least.” After a moment—his usual moment of considering how much to reveal—he looked down at her. “Her name most likely will mean nothing to you—she was an old lady when I knew her, and that was twenty and more years ago. But I wanted to pay my respects . . . before moving on.” Raising his head, he faced forward. Intrigued, Rose looked around as they walked on. He pointed with his cane. “Her grave should be somewhere around there, I think.” They detoured into that section, taking the narrower paths between the sets of graves. “There it is.” He waved his cane at a neat, elegant, but not ostentatious marble-topped grave. The headstone, surmounted by a lute-playing angel, was clean, the plot well-cared for. Settling her arm snugly in his, Rose halted by his side at the foot of the grave. “Edith Balmain.”
September 10, 2021
My rating: 4 stars.
This book is well-written, because Stephanie Laurens is a talented writer. I read it several years ago, but recently decided to re-read several of Laurens' books, since I had enjoyed them all. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I still like this book -- maybe not quite as much as the first read, but I still liked it a lot.
I liked Thomas, and liked that the book dealt with his redemption. He had done some bad things, with terrible consequences, in the past. He was now a changed man, a good man, but he still felt like he needed to pay for his crimes. He had even tried to commit suicide, thinking he deserved to die for his crimes, but had survived with terrible injuries and scars. I also liked that he realized the reason he survived his injuries was so that he could help Rose and her stepsiblings.
I liked Rose, and how she had sacrificed so much to protect her stepsiblings. I also liked that she accepted Thomas as he was, and wasn't repulsed by his past or his scars. She realized that he had paid for his crimes, and loved the good man he currently was.
One thing I really liked, which is typical of this author's work -- the strong women characters, and how their men didn't try to change them into submissive women. For that time period, it would have been unusual for women to be actively involved in any criminal investigations. I thought it was refreshing that Penelope, Griselda, and Violet all helped in this one.
I also liked that couples from the other books in this series were heavily included in this book (Penelope and Barnaby; Griselda and Stokes; Violet and Heathcote). The reader was able to see how their relationships had matured in the months since they got married.
My rating system is below.
1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it.
2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws.
3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating.
4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one.
5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.
This book is well-written, because Stephanie Laurens is a talented writer. I read it several years ago, but recently decided to re-read several of Laurens' books, since I had enjoyed them all. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I still like this book -- maybe not quite as much as the first read, but I still liked it a lot.
I liked Thomas, and liked that the book dealt with his redemption. He had done some bad things, with terrible consequences, in the past. He was now a changed man, a good man, but he still felt like he needed to pay for his crimes. He had even tried to commit suicide, thinking he deserved to die for his crimes, but had survived with terrible injuries and scars. I also liked that he realized the reason he survived his injuries was so that he could help Rose and her stepsiblings.
I liked Rose, and how she had sacrificed so much to protect her stepsiblings. I also liked that she accepted Thomas as he was, and wasn't repulsed by his past or his scars. She realized that he had paid for his crimes, and loved the good man he currently was.
One thing I really liked, which is typical of this author's work -- the strong women characters, and how their men didn't try to change them into submissive women. For that time period, it would have been unusual for women to be actively involved in any criminal investigations. I thought it was refreshing that Penelope, Griselda, and Violet all helped in this one.
I also liked that couples from the other books in this series were heavily included in this book (Penelope and Barnaby; Griselda and Stokes; Violet and Heathcote). The reader was able to see how their relationships had matured in the months since they got married.
My rating system is below.
1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it.
2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws.
3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating.
4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one.
5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.
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