Lady Jade

by Leslie O'Grady

She was an exquisite beauty with a scandalous past, and only her burning love for one man could save her..

325 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

When Leslie O'Grady was in fifth grade, her teacher predicted that one day, she would become a writer. Sounded like a plan, so Leslie kept writing, then collected a depressing number of rejection slips until her first novel, The Artist's Daughter, was published. Since that success, she's written gothic novels, and historical romances.
In a change of pace, she wrote The Grateful Undead, a humorous cozy mystery, and is working on another.
A graduate of Central Connecticut University, Leslie worked in public relations for a television station and a hospital, where she wrote pulse-pounding articles about renal dialysis and diagnostic imaging. Writing fiction was definitely more creative, so she left the corporate communications field to pursue a full-time writing career,
She's a member of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc., and Sisters in Crime.
In those rare times she's not writing, Leslie enjoys reading, movies, attending art exhibits, and exploring her native New England.
She lives in southeastern Connecticut with her husband and their rescue cat.

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good. The heroine could’ve been more sympathetic (maybe) had she narrated for herself, but instead she came off as flat, petulant, & wishy-washy. The hero was a jerk, & not in a good way—he just annoyed me. I didn’t buy into his redemption (“the opium made me do it!” was esp laughable), nor was he intriguing and/or sexy enough to compensate for his by-the-numbers faults. As for the supporting cast...meh. They were either cliché toss-aways (Dinah, Emily, Dr Chad, the missionary family, the gross mandarin dude) or wasted potential (Margaret, the old jade-carver, the not-gross mandarin dude).

The villain did surprise me, so at least there’s that. And I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of 1890s China countryside—the only thing this book did with any real flair, since the plot itself was bland & uninvolving.

2.5 stars, but rounded down due to skimming & overall disinterest.

[Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read years ago.