Ένας Ιδανικός Σύζυγος

by Michelle Styles, Αντώνης Γιαννούλης (Translator)

Κανείς τους δεν το περίμενε...
Όταν, ένα βράδυ σ' ένα χορό, η πλούσια κληρονόμος Σόφι Ράβελ βρίσκεται άθελά της σε πολύ δύσκολη θέση, ο διαβόητος Ρίτσαρντ Κρόφορντ, υποκόμης του Μπίνγκφιλντ, επεμβαίνει και σώζει την υπόληψή της.
Αλλά η επέμβασή του, μόλο που τη γλιτώνει από τα νύχια ενός άθλιου, απειλεί να την εκθέσει ακόμη περισσότερο -εκτός και αν...
Ο Ρίτσαρντ τώρα καταριέται τον εαυτό του για την παρορμητικότητά του. Πάνω στη φούρια της στιγμής, ζήτησε το χέρι της Σόφι για να τη σώσει από το σκάνδαλο! Έτσι, δέχεται με ανακούφιση την πρότασή της, να κάνουν έναν ψεύτικο αρραβώνα -μέχρι που, τυχαία, ανακαλύπτει την παθιασμένη πλευρά της σεμνής μνηστής του.
Τώρα τίποτε δε θα τον σταματήσει από το να την παντρευτεί στ' αλήθεια και να εξερευνήσει αυτό που κρύβεται πίσω από το ντροπαλό κοκκίνισμά της...

Genres: Romance, Historical, Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Regency

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

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

Reviews

[Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The edition I read was the "Omnibus" version, including the "Smoke Ring" and a concluding short story right after that.

A truly outside-the-box bit of world building: how about a zero-G atmosphere without a planet under one's feet, living in open-air orbital "trees"? Re-imagine your entire ecosystem without gravity. I found the idea very engaging. The story-telling was also quite first-rate. Marked down one star because I think the book could have benefited from being longer, with more character-building. I felt like I was skimming over the surface of the cast of characters, getting to know all of them a little, none of them very well. While not a home run, this book was very memorable.

[Kevin Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ringworld meets Hothouse

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.

[Mortimer Roxbrough · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Wendy Mclenan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reading

I enjoy the way the author tells the story makes it a very enjoyable.
I also enjoyed the way she tells it.

[Mnms · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Sabrina (Soter) Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Tilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[*MariaA* · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars