Thursday

The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne by Madeline Hunter

March 29, 2012
"Give me some men who are stout-hearted men,
Who will fight, for the right they adore,
 
Start me with ten four who are stout-hearted men"...Hammerstien

http://www.madelinehunter.com/
Yes, another series begins and since it is called a Fairbourne Quartet, I believe we have four manly men to slobber over...but I could be wrong. "One never knows, do one?" (Fats Waller)  Anyway, for those of you who say you're tired of all those series that are out there, too bad, because this is going to be a good one.  Madeline Hunter has penned a charming story with The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne.  Even though this had a couple of things I'm not fond of (smugglers and spies), I found myself drawn into the story anyway.  In fact, there are some nail-biting smuggler things toward the end of the tale - so, even that was good.

Even though I thought the smuggling, spies, and suspicions were fun, the best part of the book was the characters in it.  The hero (Darius) and the heroine (Emma) were a great couple with loads of sparks just flying all over the place.  Both of these characters were strong-willed (some might say stubborn), and when they were in a scene together, I found myself rubbing my hands together in delight just watching these two do the one-up-man-ship dance.  It was like when a rugby team does that strange circle struggle thing they do, I believe it's called a "scrum."  Anyway, that was what Darius and Emma reminded me of.  I loved both of these characters. Darius was an especially strong man.  He storms into Emma's life wanting his way and after one encounter leaves totally befuddled.  It was great!

Emma is also a rather tenacious woman, and even though she may seem as if she's a TSTL heroine, she isn't.  She knows why she must do some of the things she has to do and she knows they are dangerous - and everything she did made total sense to me - even the standard turning down of the marriage proposal.  Totally understandable.

I loved both sets of friends, his and hers, especially Marelle (Emma's friend) and Darius's friend the "handsome Stupid Man."  I see clever writing ahead.

Overall, I found this a witty, fun read with just a few areas that slowed down a bit.  However, this is a great beginning to what appears to be a delightful, intriguing series. 

Time/Place: Georgian England
Sensuality: Hot

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