October 23, 2012
With Sweet Deception, the second book in the Veiled Seduction series, Heather Snow continues on the path of being an author to keep an eye on.
Sweet Deception was a very enjoyable book with a really intelligent heroine, Emma. Now, when I say an intelligent heroine, I'm not talking about the standard smart romance heroine, who is actually one big looby and spends the entire novel spouting how clever she is while all the time she does one stupid thing after another, to say nothing of all the idiotic misunderstandings she perceives. Well, not in this case! Nope, Emma is not a stupido, she is a brainiac...she is marvelous! Not only is she brilliant, she's witty and she also cares for those around her. And, she can see through any half-truths that a lying scum of a double agent stinking spy person might do.
Speaking of lying scum spies, let me introduce our hero - Derick. Once again I applaud Ms. Snow. She has created a bona fide anti-hero in Derick. He's actually done some unforgivable things in the service of his country. He's lied, cheated and bedded his way across Europe, he's quite close to being pretty sleazy. And, there are no apologizes for what he's done. One of the more amusing moments in this book is Emma's appalled reaction after she calculates how many women Derick has taken to his bed during his "country saving" career.
Derick and Emma made a great couple. It was refreshing to read a story where there wasn't any big misunderstanding. Even when Derick plays the secret-trust-unworthy-angst hero card, Emma sees through it all. She never let's him get away with too much of anything. I love this couple.
About the only thing I didn't care for between these two was the nickname Derick bestowed on Emma when they were young. She's short, you know, and they grew up together and she followed him around. So, he calls her Pygmy. This nickname made me cringe. For one thing it's too close to the word Pig to be charming. Elf, teeny, shorty, dinky, wee, mini...all would have been better than Pygmy.
There were moments in the story that modern language/slang kept cropping up, but I chose to ignore it because I was enjoying the story so much. Emma had the bad habit of putting the wrong word into a phrase. Sometimes those idioms that Emma was destroying, while extremely humorous, had a bit of a modern flavor to them. But, I can't prove that and, really, I don't want to.
Let's switch gears here and look at another aspect of this story. There is a murder mystery going on in Sweet Deception and I found it engaging. Even though I guessed who the murderer was at the very beginning, watching Derick and Emma race around to solve the mystery was an exciting ride. And, for once the villain isn't shipped off to Australia, but actually pays for his crimes.
So, overall this was an excellent book, with just a few minor hiccups. It keep me engrossed to the end and I found it hard to put down. The main couple were a delight and I think you'll enjoy opening up this book. If you like strong heroines, this series is for you. This is a fun, interesting read and I recommend it. In case you were wondering, it also works well as a standalone.
Sweet Deception was a very enjoyable book with a really intelligent heroine, Emma. Now, when I say an intelligent heroine, I'm not talking about the standard smart romance heroine, who is actually one big looby and spends the entire novel spouting how clever she is while all the time she does one stupid thing after another, to say nothing of all the idiotic misunderstandings she perceives. Well, not in this case! Nope, Emma is not a stupido, she is a brainiac...she is marvelous! Not only is she brilliant, she's witty and she also cares for those around her. And, she can see through any half-truths that a lying scum of a double agent stinking spy person might do.
Speaking of lying scum spies, let me introduce our hero - Derick. Once again I applaud Ms. Snow. She has created a bona fide anti-hero in Derick. He's actually done some unforgivable things in the service of his country. He's lied, cheated and bedded his way across Europe, he's quite close to being pretty sleazy. And, there are no apologizes for what he's done. One of the more amusing moments in this book is Emma's appalled reaction after she calculates how many women Derick has taken to his bed during his "country saving" career.
Derick and Emma made a great couple. It was refreshing to read a story where there wasn't any big misunderstanding. Even when Derick plays the secret-trust-unworthy-angst hero card, Emma sees through it all. She never let's him get away with too much of anything. I love this couple.
About the only thing I didn't care for between these two was the nickname Derick bestowed on Emma when they were young. She's short, you know, and they grew up together and she followed him around. So, he calls her Pygmy. This nickname made me cringe. For one thing it's too close to the word Pig to be charming. Elf, teeny, shorty, dinky, wee, mini...all would have been better than Pygmy.
There were moments in the story that modern language/slang kept cropping up, but I chose to ignore it because I was enjoying the story so much. Emma had the bad habit of putting the wrong word into a phrase. Sometimes those idioms that Emma was destroying, while extremely humorous, had a bit of a modern flavor to them. But, I can't prove that and, really, I don't want to.
Let's switch gears here and look at another aspect of this story. There is a murder mystery going on in Sweet Deception and I found it engaging. Even though I guessed who the murderer was at the very beginning, watching Derick and Emma race around to solve the mystery was an exciting ride. And, for once the villain isn't shipped off to Australia, but actually pays for his crimes.
So, overall this was an excellent book, with just a few minor hiccups. It keep me engrossed to the end and I found it hard to put down. The main couple were a delight and I think you'll enjoy opening up this book. If you like strong heroines, this series is for you. This is a fun, interesting read and I recommend it. In case you were wondering, it also works well as a standalone.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Hot
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