In "Seduction," Sophy Dorring finds herself agreeing to a marriage of convenience with the Earl of Ravenwood; and in "Surrender," Victoria Huntington finds herself a prisoner in a Yorkshire mansion after she weds the Earl of Stonevale.
The author of over 40 consecutive New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense, often with a psychic and paranormal twist, in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 30 million copies of her books in print.
She earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science from San Jose State University in California. Before she began writing full time she worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries.
Ms. Krentz is married and lives with her husband, Frank, in Seattle, Washington.
SEDUCTION: Justin needs to marry again; he needs an heir for Ravenwood. Sophy, now twenty-three, has been in love with Justin, from afar, since she was eighteen. But Sophy is no fool - she knows what marriage entitles, and she refuses to lose her independence. But if she was to be married to Justin, with his name attached to hers, she just may be able to flush out the man who seduced, impregnated her sister, then left her, causing her sister to take her own life. For Sophy, that’s the same as murder, and she’s determined to find out who it is. Barganing with Justin, she agrees to marry him. Only, things don’t go as planned for either of them. Justin does not want a repeat of his first marriage - his first wife had married him for convenience and did everything to make his life miserable, including infidelity. He doesn’t want another wild woman on his hands and does everything he can to tame Sophy. What he ends up realizing - Sophy is nowhere like Elizabeth, and comes close to losing her to the man who’d murdered Elizabeth. Sophy believes she made a mistake when she admitted to Justin that she loved him. She vows to be the dutiful wife Justin wants, even if her love isn’t reciprocated. But can Justin now convince Sophy that he loves her the way she is?
**A beautiful story. I loved the history and the intrigue. Justin, domineering alpha male, wants everything out of Sophy while giving nothing in return. Sophy wants equal ground with her husband, and fights hard to get it, much to Justin’s dismay. I loved watching them come together, to love each other and accept each other for who they truly are. While Justin’s dominance bugged me a little, I could understand it. For in that era, that’s the way it was. LOL, I can say I’m glad I don’t live in those times - I’d resent being ordered about.
SURRENDER: Heiress Victoria Huntington refuses to be married. After her father died while she was still a child, her mother had remarried to a man who only wanted her money, one who became violent when he was drunk. Her mother’s death while out riding had been deemed an accident, but Vicky was convinced that her stepfather murdererd her and did the unthinkable to get a confession: pretending to be a ghost, she flitted about the estate in her mother’s gown, driving her stepfather to come after her. While he did so, with a knife, and a confession, another accident occured, and he died after falling down the stairs while chasing her. She’s kept this her secret and vowed never to be married. Meanwhile, having been hurt and left for dead on battle grounds, Lucas Colebrook has recently inherited Stonevale and the title of Earl. The only problem? His uncle drove the estate into the ground. Lucas desperately needs to marry and heiress, and sets his sights on Victoria. Vicky loves her life the way it is; she loves to take risks unbecoming a lady, and Lucas appoints himself the one to help her. But Vicky has fallen in love with him, and after being caught after their one night of passion, a hasty marriage ensues, and Vicky finds out the truth: Lucas wants her money. Now Lucas is trying to convince her that she can no longer take the risks she was taking. Vicky is furious, for all the reasons she’d refused to get married are being thrown at her. And now, her past is coming back to haunt her; for little things are starting to pop up, convincing her that her stepfather is back from the dead. Both want to find out who it is that is trying to drive Vicky mad. And while Vicky is still in love with Lucas, she refuses to acknowledge it. And now Lucas has to convince her that he’s just as in love with her.
**An excellent story! I liked the history and intrigue in this one more than the first. And while I felt the ‘distaste’ between two of the charactes, I never concluded who it was that was after Vicky until it happened. I really felt for Vicky, for after she and Lucas married, everything she didn’t want was being thrown at her, and I could feel her anger and frustration. I loved how Lucas indulged her when he could, doing what was necessary to protect her, but I did find him a little unfair at times. Even if that was how it was back then, I still felt that Lucas could have gone about it in a different way. I loved watching them together. And the synopsis was right: once you read Seduction and Surrender, you will definitely become a fan of Amanda Quick’s historical romances.
5 stars for Seduction. 4 stars for Surrender. Detailed review to come.
UPDATE 06/02/2020
SEDUCTION
I fell into an Amanda Quick rabbit hole earlier this month and purchased Surrender/Seduction because of its relatively cheap Kindle price. Seduction and Surrender are Amanda Quick's first two romances and Quick got the jump - she came with all her idiosyncrasies and charms ready on the get go.
Convoluted plots always make me skeptical and so I went into Seduction the same way I went into reading another of Amanda Quick's novels, Reckless - a little trepidation. Her books are not always the easiest to blurb. Yes, Sophy is trying to find her sister's murderer and yes Julian is hoping to have a second wife who is quiet and bear him heirs but Sophy is also an herbalist (!!) and Julian's second wife is basically Rebecca from Daphne du Maurier incarnate. Sophy decides to try to make Julian come around and realize love is not a scary thing but then decides to pursue her sister's killer. Meanwhile, Julian is pretending to himself that he doesn't love Sophy but there he goes, so proud of her. And oh yes, there is Charlotte Featherstone, a famous Cyprian, who is sharing her exploits in the news unless her previous clients pony up.
There is a lot going on but it's all so much fun. I also absolutely love the female characterization in Seduction from Julian's lesbian aunt to Sophy's pride. Honestly, this book could have been called "Honour" for all the times this theme is drummed into the reader. The duel is great! What you get with Amanda Quick is a very confident heroine who is not afraid to be herself. This time, Sophy also happens to rescue herself in the end. Yay!
I loved the story from beginning to end. I wish Sophy's friend, Ann, had her own story!
SURRENDER
This was charming in its own right but I was never swept away by Victoria or Lucas. It was a great idea to pair a fortune hunter and a reigning heiress together and while they had some moments, I never fell in love with the two of them. Again, I loved the portrayals of the female characters and what they represented when it came to power and happiness for women in Regency England. Jessica Atherton, once a woman Lucas wanted to marry, is the Perfect Dutiful Wife who tells Victoria at one point, "I am sorry if you are not content. But you are a woman and you must know it is not our lot to be content."
Jessica is a sad character for what she represents - giving in to inequality and giving up a better life. She's resigned to her fate, because she believes no change can be made, and that the best thing is to play the rigged game with a stoic front. I feel sad for Jessica but she is also quite cynical in her own right.
But Isabel's rant to Victoria represents another extreme for what women can do about power and happiness: "You think you have chosen the more exciting, more interesting man, but you are a fool. The plain truth is that men are of little use to a woman if they cannot be manipulated. Don’t you understand? We are trapped by society into being dependent on men for so much. our only defense is to be stronger than they are all in the ways that count. When a strong woman allies herself with a weak, manageable man, she can have everything she wants." Isabel is also wrong in her final estimation on what to do when it comes to women getting power and being happy. She doesn't accept her fate but decides to hit back and use men back. Men are also victims of the patriarchy so this idea doesn't have merit, either.
The ending was good, in terms of who the villain was, but I can't remember anything else about Surrender.
An enjoyable pair of stories from the pen of Amanda Quick.
Seduction: is the story of Sophie Dorring, a young country miss who marries Julian, Earl of Ravenwood. The Earl is in need of an heir, but doesn’t want his second marriage to turn out like his first. Sophie is a headstrong young lady, with a habit of finding herself in “charming disarray”. She Leads Julian a merry dance, as they learn to love each other, and discover the secrets lying in their pasts.
This book features one of Quick’s most memorable heroines. While Sophie is a rather naïve innocent, and Julian is a bit of a control freak, it’s her habit of clumsy dress that really sticks out for me. There’s plenty of gothic overtones in the book, lending itself to a little mystery and suspense in the plot, which fans of the genre should enjoy. Top it off with romance, and you have an enjoyable read that’s perfect for a little escapism.
The second book is completely unrelated to the first, but no less enjoyable. Surrender: is the story of Victoria Huntington, an heiress, and Lucas, Earl of Stonevale. Stonevale starts his pursuit of Victoria because he is in need of a fortune. Their courtship is a tempestuous one, filled with daring adventures, and dangerous secrets from the past.
Victoria is a more traditional Quick heroine, strong willed and steadfast. She’s intelligent, but a bit of a daredevil, and it makes for a few rather amusing scenes in the book. Personal favourites of those include the fair scene, and the ghost scene (I won’t spoil them, but you’ll know when you read them!). Stonevale is a more likeable hero than Ravenwood, despite his start as a fortune hunter. There are slight gothic overtones to this one too, but it’s a very small portion of the plot. It’s an enjoyable romance though, with definite shades of “The Taming of the Shrew”. Be that as it may, it’s an entertaining read, one that historical romance and Amanda Quick fans will appreciate.
Sophy is a woman of HONOUR; so dont you forget that gurl
She straight up challenges someone for a duel because HONOUR. She becomes a slueth to avenge her sister because HONOUR. She hides important info from her husband (I get it gurl, but some things shouldn't be hidden) and puts herself in danger because HONOUR. She would have been right at home in a medieval universe or in Game of Thrones, chasing after Stannis with Brienne for Renly because HONOUR.
Sophy, when confronted by her husband the duke (he isnt as much of a baddie as the first 2 chapters made him out to be; stunningly helpless at times actually lol) , she points out quite rightly that women also need to fight to the death/square up/start a brawl/take revenge because their HONOUR just as much as that of men
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Amanda Quick always delivers a good plot, romance, and mystery. The characters are unique and believable. I enjoyed "The Seduction" more because the heroine was not flawless. She was always becoming undone. I like to read about characters that are normal. In "The Surrender," the heroine was also unique in her quest for adventure.
Both books were well written and I enjoyed them. I recommend them to all romance readers!
Over controlling chauvinistic ass of a H and am annoying h who kept on arguing throughout the story. I don't know if the narrator made it worse, but I disliked the H/h more and more. I usually like these tropes but just wanted the whole thing to be finished. Banting can be funny and charming, but this one left a bad taste in me.
So I would give Seduction a 2. I thought Julian was incredibly annoying and Sophy just did not impress me. She seemed so weak and he so arrogant.
I really enjoyed Surrender though and would give it a 4. I thought Victoria and Lucas fit very well together and thought Lucas felt frustrating at times, I could understand him and Victoria made it hard on him.
Amanda Quick is so good at creating viable and clever plot lines, with just the right amount of mystery, intrigue, action and ROMANCE. Enjoy it. A lovely two stories for a weekend binge.
Surrender was enchantment, and entertainment! Seduction was capricious, and quite humorous! The plots were very good, the characters quirks are interesting. I DID NOT put my kindle far from my reach until I finished both books. You can count on the author's delivery of truly talented writing. Thanks Amanda Quick thank you very much.
Seduction: A story about the truth and how different versions of it can cause so much pain. From the beginning, it was assumed that Julian was some kind of monster, but it turns out he really isn't too bad. The mystery surrounding Sophy's sister's death was most interesting. A captivating read from the beginning. This is one of those stories you will want to read more than once.
Surrender: This novel is a story of temptation and how hard it is to not surrender to that temptation. The characters were well written and I really did like most of them. There were some moments when I wanted to slap Victoria, but all in all a good read. Definitely worth a second read.
I love any and all books by Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krantz. She writes beautifully and keeps the reader glued to the book until and unless it gets finished.