One Little Sin & Two Little Lies
Feb. 21st, 2006 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksHave you ever read a book and thought, “That was a well-written book…but I just didn’t care for it?” I did this past weekend, when I tried a new-to-me author, Liz Carlyle. I’d read a bunch of reviews at various blogs and websites that say good things about the last couple of Carlyle’s books, so I picked them both up at the library. Both of these books were well-written, and the details of the plot were sewn up and everyone will live happily ever after. Objectively speaking, if I could grade books the way I would grade an exam or homework papers, these should be B books. But they are C- books for me at best, because neither book really worked for me. I can’t give them D or F grades, because they weren’t badly executed and I did finish them . . . but they were thisclose to being wall-bangers, hence the C- minus. Excerpts for both can be found here.
OLS opens with Alasdair having sex with a married stranger, and running for his life when her husband catches them. Eventually, he and his colleagues take refuge and encounter a gypsy, who tells their fortunes. More like their misfortunes. Basically, all three of them have done things in the past that are about to come back to haunt them. And so the action begins. The woman appearing on Alasdair’s door step is Esmee, with her half-sister Sorcha in tow. Their mother, Lady Achanalt, is dead. And surprise, Sorcha is Alasdair’s bastard. They were thrown out of the house by their stepfather upon their mother’s death, so here they are for Alasdair to take care of. Alasdair doesn’t remember Sorcha’s mother, but admits that it is possible and even likely that she is his, especially given her eyes, which match those of several of his family members. He and Esmee are quite attracted to one another and come close to Doing Things They Shouldn’t. Her aunt arrives in time to sweep Esmee under her wing and present her to Society. The events that follow are fairly predictable in RomanceLand. [This is not a criticism of a formulaic plot -- romance consists of formula plots, and the difficult art of a well-written romance is that it adheres to formula while also being fresh. This just seemed like a safe place and way to stop the factual summary before crossing into spoiler territory.]
Carlyle did an excellent job showing that Alasdair has spent 16 years being an unrepentant rake. Too good a job, really, because I am not convinced that he has changed. This is a big gripe of mine when it comes to historicals: the reformed rake as hero doesn’t work for me very often, because very few authors do a good job showing that they really are reformed. Mostly, I get the feeling that after the lust wears off, maybe a kid or two down the road, the reformed rake will relapse… or that he’ll be giving his pure, young bride the pox. The only exception I can think of to this is John Stanley (I think that's his proper name), in Carla Kelly’s Reforming Lord Ragsdale. He is reformed, but not by the magical, restorative power of the heroine’s love, but because she nags him to death and works him to death; his reform is the price she has to pay for her freedom, and there is no sentimentality to her drive for him to reform. Check out the review here at AAR. So Alasdair as a hero had one strike against him at the outset. Beyond the original strike against Alasdair, the idea that this was the first bastard presented to him, after 16 years of sleeping around in an era of inconsistent birth control, seemed unlikely to me. While I was kind of ~meh~ about the book until the last chapter, the very ending bothered me a great deal. It was as if Carlyle was trying to make Alasdair less of a rake or less responsible. So Sorcha wasn’t his. He still couldn’t remember half of the women he’d ever had sex with, nor did he have any idea of the number of bastards he might have spread across the country. And I’m still not convinced that he won’t go have a quickie with Inga the actress when Esmee is indisposed.
I liked TLL a little bit better than OLS. Quin is a little less of a hardened rake than Alasdair, and the reader learns early on about his relationship with Viviana as a youth. Both of them were young and scared and in over their heads. So, fast forward a decade, and see Quin engaged to Esmee, bringing her to his country house party….at which will be Viviana, as a guest of his uncle. A comedy of manners could almost ensue. Except they clearly have feelings for each other and issues that need to be aired and dealt with that linger from their earlier relationship. On the whole, I wanted to like Two Little Lies, much more so than I wanted to like about One Little Sin, because I like reunion stories. But again, this book didn’t work for me on a couple of levels. First, music is supposed to be a huge part of Viviana’s life. But Carlyle never really shows that. Opera is really almost a generic profession; it is an excuse for Quin’s false conclusions about Viviana’s morals and for Viviana’s return to England, but really is just a place holder; it isn’t shown that music is important to her personally, just told. Second – the Secret Baby is another pet peeve of mine; add on top of that the fact that I have problems with keeping a child from knowing her/his father or passing a child off as the offspring of another, and this book was bound not to be a keeper for me. I wanted to like this book more than I did in the end. ::shrug::
I’m compulsive about reading series. If I start them, I must finish them. I keep reading Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books despite the terrible decline in them because of this compulsion. So I’ll probably pick up the third book of this series, Three Little Secrets, just to see what Carlyle does to Alasdair’s brother, Merrick. But I’m really not expecting it to be to my taste, given how these two went.
On a happier note, also over the weekend, I finished Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace. Liked it; in fact, liked it more than most of the other MaryJanice Davidson books I’ve read.
One Little Sin
He was a scoundrel, a scamp, and a hopeless skirt-chaser. So it shouldn’t have been so surprising when Sir Alasdair awoke after a night of debauchery to see a young lass on his doorstep . . . with a baby in her arms.
She was beautiful, brazen, and utterly bankrupt. So it shouldn’t have been so shocking when Miss Hamilton accepted the rogue’s scandalous proposal to move in with him . . . and become the baby’s governess.
One little sin brought them together. But when one man’s wicked charms are matched by one woman’s fiery spirit, one little sin can lead to another . . . and another . . . and another. . . .
OLS opens with Alasdair having sex with a married stranger, and running for his life when her husband catches them. Eventually, he and his colleagues take refuge and encounter a gypsy, who tells their fortunes. More like their misfortunes. Basically, all three of them have done things in the past that are about to come back to haunt them. And so the action begins. The woman appearing on Alasdair’s door step is Esmee, with her half-sister Sorcha in tow. Their mother, Lady Achanalt, is dead. And surprise, Sorcha is Alasdair’s bastard. They were thrown out of the house by their stepfather upon their mother’s death, so here they are for Alasdair to take care of. Alasdair doesn’t remember Sorcha’s mother, but admits that it is possible and even likely that she is his, especially given her eyes, which match those of several of his family members. He and Esmee are quite attracted to one another and come close to Doing Things They Shouldn’t. Her aunt arrives in time to sweep Esmee under her wing and present her to Society. The events that follow are fairly predictable in RomanceLand. [This is not a criticism of a formulaic plot -- romance consists of formula plots, and the difficult art of a well-written romance is that it adheres to formula while also being fresh. This just seemed like a safe place and way to stop the factual summary before crossing into spoiler territory.]
Carlyle did an excellent job showing that Alasdair has spent 16 years being an unrepentant rake. Too good a job, really, because I am not convinced that he has changed. This is a big gripe of mine when it comes to historicals: the reformed rake as hero doesn’t work for me very often, because very few authors do a good job showing that they really are reformed. Mostly, I get the feeling that after the lust wears off, maybe a kid or two down the road, the reformed rake will relapse… or that he’ll be giving his pure, young bride the pox. The only exception I can think of to this is John Stanley (I think that's his proper name), in Carla Kelly’s Reforming Lord Ragsdale. He is reformed, but not by the magical, restorative power of the heroine’s love, but because she nags him to death and works him to death; his reform is the price she has to pay for her freedom, and there is no sentimentality to her drive for him to reform. Check out the review here at AAR. So Alasdair as a hero had one strike against him at the outset. Beyond the original strike against Alasdair, the idea that this was the first bastard presented to him, after 16 years of sleeping around in an era of inconsistent birth control, seemed unlikely to me. While I was kind of ~meh~ about the book until the last chapter, the very ending bothered me a great deal. It was as if Carlyle was trying to make Alasdair less of a rake or less responsible. So Sorcha wasn’t his. He still couldn’t remember half of the women he’d ever had sex with, nor did he have any idea of the number of bastards he might have spread across the country. And I’m still not convinced that he won’t go have a quickie with Inga the actress when Esmee is indisposed.
Two Little Lies
Once, he spurned the woman he loved. The Earl of Wynwood was far too reckless to handle a sophisticated woman like Viviana Alessandri. And the beautiful opera singer was far too famous to make a suitable wife for Wynwood.
Twice, she wagered with her heart. Crushed by Wynwood's refusal to marry, Viviana offered her hand to another, a wealthy count. But fate has a way of playing with lovers' hearts — and passion has a way of setting them on fire.
Two little lies tore them apart. But now, at a gala affair celebrating Wynwood's recent betrothal, Viviana will get one last chance to win back his love...again...and again.
I liked TLL a little bit better than OLS. Quin is a little less of a hardened rake than Alasdair, and the reader learns early on about his relationship with Viviana as a youth. Both of them were young and scared and in over their heads. So, fast forward a decade, and see Quin engaged to Esmee, bringing her to his country house party….at which will be Viviana, as a guest of his uncle. A comedy of manners could almost ensue. Except they clearly have feelings for each other and issues that need to be aired and dealt with that linger from their earlier relationship. On the whole, I wanted to like Two Little Lies, much more so than I wanted to like about One Little Sin, because I like reunion stories. But again, this book didn’t work for me on a couple of levels. First, music is supposed to be a huge part of Viviana’s life. But Carlyle never really shows that. Opera is really almost a generic profession; it is an excuse for Quin’s false conclusions about Viviana’s morals and for Viviana’s return to England, but really is just a place holder; it isn’t shown that music is important to her personally, just told. Second – the Secret Baby is another pet peeve of mine; add on top of that the fact that I have problems with keeping a child from knowing her/his father or passing a child off as the offspring of another, and this book was bound not to be a keeper for me. I wanted to like this book more than I did in the end. ::shrug::
I’m compulsive about reading series. If I start them, I must finish them. I keep reading Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books despite the terrible decline in them because of this compulsion. So I’ll probably pick up the third book of this series, Three Little Secrets, just to see what Carlyle does to Alasdair’s brother, Merrick. But I’m really not expecting it to be to my taste, given how these two went.
On a happier note, also over the weekend, I finished Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace. Liked it; in fact, liked it more than most of the other MaryJanice Davidson books I’ve read.
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Date: 2006-02-21 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 06:07 pm (UTC)Liz Carlye
Date: 2006-02-22 03:25 am (UTC)Kristie (J)
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Date: 2006-02-23 06:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-23 06:58 pm (UTC)