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Tangled Web
On the run from vengeful moneylenders, David disguises himself as a maiden to make his escape. He doesn't expect his alter-ego, Mary, to attract the interest of a handsome wandering minstrel that comes to his aid. But the charming Alexander is the embodiment of gallantry and Mary is not immune. Nor is David. Despite his attempts to remain aloof, David finds himself falling for Alexander. And Alexander is smitten, but with Mary. But Alexander has a secret of his own, a secret that could toll the death knell for their innocent romance. When they each learn the truth, can they overcome the daunting obstacles in their way?
235 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
3 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Jade Falconer
35 books46 followersInspired by the important things in life: beauty, love, and passion, Jade has spent several years writing erotic fiction. The forbidden nature of homoeroticism has been the basis for many megabytes of fiction that has delighted a wide circle of online readers.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 11, 2010
The only thing making this “tangled web” sticky was the sugar.
There is nothing positive for me to say about this novel. At all. It’s rather mind-boggling, really. Improbability in a romance novel doesn’t faze me – improbable circumstances are the stuff that fantasy is made of, and what is a romance if not a fantasy? So I’m not disturbed at the idea of a prince rescuing a maiden from rogues on the highway, only to find out that the maiden he fell in love with is a man in drag. In the right hands, it could have been interesting. It had potential.
Unfortunately, it completely failed to live up to that potential. It failed at pretty much everything: setting, characterization, dialogue, plot, obstacles, and resolution. Even the sex failed to be interesting.
Worse, I actively hated the prince. Alexander was set up to be everything a heroic prince should be: the sword, the horse, the crown, the education, the chivalry, blah blah blah. He was actually just weak, sappy, clueless, boring, and a follower instead of a leader. In short, he was a pansy. He wasn’t worthy of riding his horse, much less David. I was sneering at him through the entire book.
I didn’t utterly hate David; I didn’t like him, but at least I didn’t hate him. I don’t particularly like it when an author slaps a dick on a woman and calls it a M/M romance, but hey, femmes and drag queens do exist in the world and if only David had had the presence of either, it could have worked marvelously. Once again, though, the character failed to deliver on what he was set up to be. David was, at best, a wretchedly-contrived plot device instead of a real character.
The first thirty chapters of this book could have been condensed down to five, if only the author had bothered to stop repeating the sappy, uninspired, revoltingly-sweet sentiments. This book had forty-nine chapters full of words, certainly, but only about twelve chapters’ worth of content; it rather reminded me of that filler that some pet food companies put into their product to make a pet feel as if it’s full even though it’s not receiving any nutrition. I had no sympathy for the characters, felt no excitement in the plot, and found no real emotion in this novel other than relief when I was finally finished. In fact, if the entire cast had been flattened by a whale falling out of the sky, it would have been no less improbable, made just as much sense, and would at least have injected some excitement into the story.
In all fairness, I’m sure that there are some people who are on the hunt for precisely this kind of ridiculous, flowery nonsense. Still, I’m kind of embarrassed that I paid for this novel, and I most certainly don’t recommend that anyone else make such a drastic mistake. If you’re in the mood for sugar, go buy a box of Jelly Bellies: it’s still candy, but at least it delivers on the promise of flavor.
There is nothing positive for me to say about this novel. At all. It’s rather mind-boggling, really. Improbability in a romance novel doesn’t faze me – improbable circumstances are the stuff that fantasy is made of, and what is a romance if not a fantasy? So I’m not disturbed at the idea of a prince rescuing a maiden from rogues on the highway, only to find out that the maiden he fell in love with is a man in drag. In the right hands, it could have been interesting. It had potential.
Unfortunately, it completely failed to live up to that potential. It failed at pretty much everything: setting, characterization, dialogue, plot, obstacles, and resolution. Even the sex failed to be interesting.
Worse, I actively hated the prince. Alexander was set up to be everything a heroic prince should be: the sword, the horse, the crown, the education, the chivalry, blah blah blah. He was actually just weak, sappy, clueless, boring, and a follower instead of a leader. In short, he was a pansy. He wasn’t worthy of riding his horse, much less David. I was sneering at him through the entire book.
I didn’t utterly hate David; I didn’t like him, but at least I didn’t hate him. I don’t particularly like it when an author slaps a dick on a woman and calls it a M/M romance, but hey, femmes and drag queens do exist in the world and if only David had had the presence of either, it could have worked marvelously. Once again, though, the character failed to deliver on what he was set up to be. David was, at best, a wretchedly-contrived plot device instead of a real character.
The first thirty chapters of this book could have been condensed down to five, if only the author had bothered to stop repeating the sappy, uninspired, revoltingly-sweet sentiments. This book had forty-nine chapters full of words, certainly, but only about twelve chapters’ worth of content; it rather reminded me of that filler that some pet food companies put into their product to make a pet feel as if it’s full even though it’s not receiving any nutrition. I had no sympathy for the characters, felt no excitement in the plot, and found no real emotion in this novel other than relief when I was finally finished. In fact, if the entire cast had been flattened by a whale falling out of the sky, it would have been no less improbable, made just as much sense, and would at least have injected some excitement into the story.
In all fairness, I’m sure that there are some people who are on the hunt for precisely this kind of ridiculous, flowery nonsense. Still, I’m kind of embarrassed that I paid for this novel, and I most certainly don’t recommend that anyone else make such a drastic mistake. If you’re in the mood for sugar, go buy a box of Jelly Bellies: it’s still candy, but at least it delivers on the promise of flavor.
February 7, 2008
This review refers to the ebook version
I want to first point out that though this is a fluffy book, full of sweetness and slight angst, and although this is a style of story I don’t typically read, I still wanted to enjoy this book. I wanted to. I really did. The cover art was beautiful and I adore cross-dressing. A boy in a dress is guaranteed to get my attention and backing. But the writing style was just too annoying for my tastes.
First, there are constant Point-Of-View changes. From one paragraph to the next, the author changed the POV between characters. From one paragraph to another, the pronouns ‘he’ and ‘she’ could be either character at any time.
There was way too much tell and no show. Emotions and history that could and should have been related in dialog and action were merely stated in the narration. The book could have been half its size if the incessant over-explaining had been removed. I felt as if the author either didn’t remember her own story or thought that the reader wouldn’t.
The story is trite and melodramatic. The plot device that brings about the entire cross-dressing, hiding-for-his-life scenario was weak and unbelievable. It was also easily set aside when David needed to get a particular letter and the author sent him back to the place where he had previously feared for his life.
The dialog and language were incongruous, cloying, and, honestly, kind of corny. I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling with every other sentence. The author also contradicted herself a number of times. I believe once may have been either a typo or perhaps the sentiment was not given the right way. Another was, I think, because the author didn’t know that cunning and intelligent are synonyms, not antonyms, as they had been used.
The setting was confusing. I wasn’t sure if I was reading an Historical or an Alternate Universe novel. If it was historical, the inaccuracies were astounding and further made the story unbelievable. If it was an Alternate Universe, I would have loved to have been informed of that fact.
There was a somewhat good point to the story. Role playing and rough play were brought up between David and Alexander. It seemed completely out of character, but it was nice to see a kink brought up in such a vanilla story. It was talked to death and never really shown, but it was brought up.
I can’t really recommend this book. I think the idea was a good one, but the execution of it faltered. But if you enjoy over-dramatic super-fluff (you know, like a soap opera done with thees and thous) you might just enjoy this one.
For more review of this book, Top & Bottom Book Review
I want to first point out that though this is a fluffy book, full of sweetness and slight angst, and although this is a style of story I don’t typically read, I still wanted to enjoy this book. I wanted to. I really did. The cover art was beautiful and I adore cross-dressing. A boy in a dress is guaranteed to get my attention and backing. But the writing style was just too annoying for my tastes.
First, there are constant Point-Of-View changes. From one paragraph to the next, the author changed the POV between characters. From one paragraph to another, the pronouns ‘he’ and ‘she’ could be either character at any time.
There was way too much tell and no show. Emotions and history that could and should have been related in dialog and action were merely stated in the narration. The book could have been half its size if the incessant over-explaining had been removed. I felt as if the author either didn’t remember her own story or thought that the reader wouldn’t.
The story is trite and melodramatic. The plot device that brings about the entire cross-dressing, hiding-for-his-life scenario was weak and unbelievable. It was also easily set aside when David needed to get a particular letter and the author sent him back to the place where he had previously feared for his life.
The dialog and language were incongruous, cloying, and, honestly, kind of corny. I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling with every other sentence. The author also contradicted herself a number of times. I believe once may have been either a typo or perhaps the sentiment was not given the right way. Another was, I think, because the author didn’t know that cunning and intelligent are synonyms, not antonyms, as they had been used.
The setting was confusing. I wasn’t sure if I was reading an Historical or an Alternate Universe novel. If it was historical, the inaccuracies were astounding and further made the story unbelievable. If it was an Alternate Universe, I would have loved to have been informed of that fact.
There was a somewhat good point to the story. Role playing and rough play were brought up between David and Alexander. It seemed completely out of character, but it was nice to see a kink brought up in such a vanilla story. It was talked to death and never really shown, but it was brought up.
I can’t really recommend this book. I think the idea was a good one, but the execution of it faltered. But if you enjoy over-dramatic super-fluff (you know, like a soap opera done with thees and thous) you might just enjoy this one.
For more review of this book, Top & Bottom Book Review
November 27, 2010
3.5 stars
A wickedly deviant, highly amusing, utterly romantic historical about an actor that falls in love with a Prince and a Prince who falls in love with a fair maiden. We won't dwell on the fact that the actor and the fair maiden are one and the same. There is something particularly exciting about a pretty boy in a dress. If you need a light read that will warm your heart and make you laugh a bit, give this one a try.
A wickedly deviant, highly amusing, utterly romantic historical about an actor that falls in love with a Prince and a Prince who falls in love with a fair maiden. We won't dwell on the fact that the actor and the fair maiden are one and the same. There is something particularly exciting about a pretty boy in a dress. If you need a light read that will warm your heart and make you laugh a bit, give this one a try.
March 2, 2009
This was an awkward read. It was too fluffy, the writing was a little stilted, and the dialogue was too modern for the time-frame depicted, which in itself is vaguely done. At times the language makes me think it's medieval (too flowery), but the interactions of the characters make me think something more akin to regency. The cross-dressing theme is interesting and I would have loved to have seen this idea in the hands of a more skilled author, but here it was just a little too much like a gimmick.
It's something akin to a Barbara Cartland novel, only the Prince doesn't fall in love with the shy, virginal, girl who's just been orphaned - he falls for her very non-virginal brother.
It's something akin to a Barbara Cartland novel, only the Prince doesn't fall in love with the shy, virginal, girl who's just been orphaned - he falls for her very non-virginal brother.
June 27, 2018
There were things to like and dislike with this book.
I did like the initial premise of the story and think it should not have veered so far away from it. A slower buildup and more dramatic realization without the 2nd half. The ideas of dressmaking and living a quiet life in the village could have been expanded, as well as the prince's wooing.
Things I did not like were the dialogues between the two MCs and the parents, the cousin, the ridiculous "I love you"s which sort of exploded, and claiming David was a man, yet making him so ridiculously feminine, even wearing make-up in front of people who were to be floored by the revelation. I'm not sure Alexander truly treated David like a man, either.
In all, it wasn't terrible or difficult to read, but could have been so much better.
I did like the initial premise of the story and think it should not have veered so far away from it. A slower buildup and more dramatic realization without the 2nd half. The ideas of dressmaking and living a quiet life in the village could have been expanded, as well as the prince's wooing.
Things I did not like were the dialogues between the two MCs and the parents, the cousin, the ridiculous "I love you"s which sort of exploded, and claiming David was a man, yet making him so ridiculously feminine, even wearing make-up in front of people who were to be floored by the revelation. I'm not sure Alexander truly treated David like a man, either.
In all, it wasn't terrible or difficult to read, but could have been so much better.
January 13, 2011
Why, why, why do so many of these books have perspective changes that make me want to tear my hair out? In this particular book it was especially annoying because the switches were CONSTANT, sometimes line-by-line. No warning, just BAM, point of view change. As I've said before, considering the genre I'm not expecting classic literature here, mainly a good story... but is it really so much to ask that the author doesn't deliberately try to confuse me with the POV? If I'm distracted by who's speaking, I'm not paying attention to the actual story, and that's not good news for ANY writer.
This would be somewhat forgivable if the rest of the book wasn't so terrible. I actually skimmed through a decent portion of this, actually. The way the characters spoke was in direct conflict with how the book was narrated, and given that these were supposed to be the main character's thoughts, it made the language used very strange indeed. The speech felt fake and overdone in comparison to the modern narration. In addition, the whole thing was too flowery and too full of "I love you!" being spewed everywhere. There's a line between sweet and sickeningly sweet... and this book crosses the line somewhere around chapter three or four. Skips right over it and goes right to "unbearable", actually. It was an interesting idea to begin with, but terribly executed.
This would be somewhat forgivable if the rest of the book wasn't so terrible. I actually skimmed through a decent portion of this, actually. The way the characters spoke was in direct conflict with how the book was narrated, and given that these were supposed to be the main character's thoughts, it made the language used very strange indeed. The speech felt fake and overdone in comparison to the modern narration. In addition, the whole thing was too flowery and too full of "I love you!" being spewed everywhere. There's a line between sweet and sickeningly sweet... and this book crosses the line somewhere around chapter three or four. Skips right over it and goes right to "unbearable", actually. It was an interesting idea to begin with, but terribly executed.
June 5, 2012
3.25 Stars---I actually really enjoyed this fairy-tale like cross-dressing book, which struck me as a cross between Much Ado about Nothing & Cinderfella. It WAS a fairy tale, because I believe it would have much more of a strife-filled life for the 2 young lovers at the time-frame in which the story was set, considering both were men. I liked the secondary characters, who, in their way, once they found out about the true identity/identities of the 2 lovers, conspired to see them together rather than apart.
But alas, it is only a fairy tale---one I can dream about with a smile.
But alas, it is only a fairy tale---one I can dream about with a smile.
August 10, 2011
Silly romantic fluff. This one was pure indulgence on my part.
July 29, 2014
I really like the story. However, the author tries too hard to give it an historic feel: the language is at times awkward and heavy, especially the dialogue.
January 22, 2013
Nice fairytale.
March 5, 2014
Gay romance with a man in drag and a prince. Hot sex scenes, little other substance.
January 9, 2017
More like 3.5 Stars.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews