TO MARRY A RAKE When heiress Sophie Ravel finds herself in a compromising situation, notorious Richard Crawford, Viscount Bingfield, swoops in and saves her reputation! She might have escaped the attentions of one undesirable, but will Richard’s protection expose her to even more scandal? Richard curses his impetuousness at offering a betrothal in the heat of the moment! He gladly accepts Sophie’s terms that their engagement remains a pretence until, quite by chance, he unlocks his shy fiancée’s passionate nature. Now nothing will steer him from wedding – then bedding – his blushing bride…
Born and raised near San Francisco Califorinia, Michelle Styles currently lives a few miles south of Hadrian's Wall with her husband, three children and menagerie of pets. An avid reader, she became hooked on historical romance when she discovered Georgette Heyer, Anya Seton and Victoria Holt in her school's library. Michelle enjoys writing stories in a wide range of time periods including Roman, Viking, Regency and early Victorian. Her website can be found at www.michellestyles.co.uk
This is another incredibly imaginative world created by Larry Niven. The people in it are fairly primitive and barely surviving. Like Hothouse, someone dies in the first scene. The genre is basically a traveling adventure.
The build-up is fairly slow, but the pay-off is very good. I /think/ Niven is trying to juxtapose "free" or "classless" societies vs "structured" or "classed" societies, but you can make up your own mind.
I found it a pretty good page-turner - read it in 2 days - and mostly upbeat, despite the constant threat of death.
Considering I loved this writer's short fiction, I was dismayed to discover that I had wasted my money on this boring trial of a book. I won't go into detail except to say, unless you are suffering from insomnia, don't bother with this.
A charming story with a very touching ending. He is a slightly shallow character but I really liked her personality. It's not so much about the plot as the dialogue, which works very well.
Senza infamia e senza lode, uno storico romantico perfetto per un paio d'ore di lettura leggera ;D Gran parte della storia era facilmente intuibile, compreso il motivo per cui Sophie fosse tanto "gelida" in campo amoroso (che poi con Richard ovviamente la cosa dura poco XD). La matrigna di Sophie mi ha ricordato un po' la signora Bennett, a volte diventava francamente irritante e se fossi stata al posto di Sophie non avrei mai avuto tanta pazienza (ma in effetti anche la madre di Richard è portata al melodramma e avrebbe molto da farsi perdonare invece!) XD Ho avuto l'impressione che il libro facesse parte di una serie e ovviamente dai vari accenni colti qua e la se avessi letto prima il precedente sarebbe stato meglio...anche perchè sembrava più interessante la coppia protagonista XD
Ήταν ενα βικτοριανό ρομαντζο. Είχε όλα τα χαρακτηριστικα. Αριστοκρατες και αστους, γενναία δόση ηθικολογίας και πρωτοκολου και μπόλικο καθωσπρεπισμό. Ως εκεί, κακως το πήρα αλλά εμπιστεύτηκα τη συγραφεα, λογω προηγουμενων βιβλίων της. Κακη ιδεα. Αντί να δωσει το δικό της τόνο στην ιστορια, μπηκε η ίδια στο καλούπι της. Γιατί το εκανε αυτο? Ενιωθα ότι παρακολουθούσα ένα συνδυασμό παρτίδας σκακιού (με έπαθλο τον πιο κοινωνικα αποδεκτό γαμο) με ενα στρατηγικό σχεδιο ωστε καταπιεσμενοι ανθρωποι να μπορεσουν να πραγματοποιησουν τις αληθινες τους επιθυμιες χωρίς να γίνουν βορα των κουτσομπόληδων. Ξενερωτο.