March 2, 2012
http://julialondon.com/
Note: To romance authors (you know who you are), who in their spare time teach others to write and assign searches for "literary" sentences/paragraphs/phrases to be found in the works of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Dickens and Oprah picks - sometimes those literary sentences are in your own back yard.
"The cold wind stung his cheeks, his nose. That's what he wanted-he wanted to feel that cold seeping into him, freezing him, locking down all the impossible feelings that had begun to sprout in the cracks of his mud like so many blades of grass." - The Revenge of Lord Eberlin
All I can say is Julia London has me hooked with her new series, Secrets of Hadley Green. I'm loving how she is bringing to life not just the main character/couples in each book, but she is creating some really well-developed supporting characters I'm enjoying. I also think as far as creating a series, that going the route of creating a small town is the way to go, instead of brothers/four friends/schoolmates, etc. I would think this would give an author more creative freedom.
As I said earlier, I'm enjoying the supporting characters, especially the gaggle of women; they so remind me of the women in Cranford. Unlike some books where these characters are irritating, in this book I'm very interested in what each one of these characters is doing.
Now on to The Revenge of Lord Eberlin and our main characters, Lily and Tobin. And, I will say this, how you feel about Tobin will affect whether you like the book or not. If ever there was a couple who will make you scratch your head and wonder how the author is ever going to get them together, this is it. You see, our heroine was a witness against our hero's father and his father was hung due to that testimony. And, there is never any fake witnessing - Lily really did see something. However, she saw that something with the eyes of an eight year old. Needless to say, there is some heavy baggage that both Lily and Tobin carry. Tobin is also out to destroy Lily. There were so many moments in this book that had the ability to touch your heart. The relationship between Lily and Lucy, an adorable little girl. When Tobin proposes to Lily and her manner of accepting...loved this scene. Tobin's party that hardly anyone came to. And, when we do have a HEA, it isn't a sugar coated happily ever after with birds chirping and squirrels climbing on your lap while you sing "Zippidy-doo-da." There are still things that are not settled, and certain people still hold grudges, and Tobin is not magically accepted into Lily's world. And, that was one of the things I really liked about this book.
There is also a mystery of the disappearing jewels, which is probably one of the weaker parts of the book; however, I loved this book and was enthralled from beginning to end as I watched love unfold and do some big time healing. Fascinating book.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality Rating: Almost Hot
3 comments:
I had difficulty getting into this book, and had to push at times to continue to the end. Part of the difficulty was that I didn't remember much about the prequel. Like you, I liked the characterization of the secondary characters. But something about the book as a whole just didn't appeal. At times, I would think to myself that the story was more like a parable than a romance--Tobin's panic attacks and the reference to the mud, light, etc.--none of which occurred until he returned to the village-- and Tobin's complete shift in the HEA reinforced that thought.
dick
Dick, I don't remember the prequel either...probably because I couldn't finish it. I do enjoy stories that have well rounded secondary characters.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The thing that appealed to me was the evolution of the relationship. Tobin's feeling towards Lily were multi-layered. Once he got past some of the layers, he worried about his past effecting Lily, whereas Lily was already a piranha due to her cousin's actions in the first book. Lily's layers grew with the story due to her discovering the truth about her childhood memories. With each of these layers, we eventually saw the two of them form into a couple united against their past, present, and future.
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