Jennifer
This trilogy deserves a million stars! I am in awe that a new author wrote a story of this caliber. So many twists and turns...you never know what's coming and it keeps you on the edge of your seat right up until the very end. Well done, C.S. Pacat. Well done.
Well done also for making me love this story when I normally loathe trilogies. I don't read them. Ever. I hate cliffhangers. But when my hold became available at the library, I downloaded purely out of curiosity and found I couldn't stop reading. I'm sure it helped that my library had all 3 parts of the story, but even if they hadn't, I would have wanted to know what happened next, would have needed the conclusion to Damen and Laurent's story. It's the kind of epic romance that consumes you, that you just want to keep reading without stop.
It had all the odds stacked against it...a trilogy, and one that takes place mostly on the battlefield, something I thought would bore me to tears. It didn't. Not even a little bit.
It also takes a very long time to get to the sex, which normally for me would be a big strike against it. In this case, however, it felt right. Considering the dynamic between these two men, one held against his will as slave to the other, I was actually glad that it took as long as it did for them to be intimate, because when it finally happened it was consensual. It wasn't rape. It is also quickly apparent that something happened to Laurent in his past that put him off of sex, so the way it unfolds between them slowly, gently, makes total sense.
That being said, the dynamic between Damen and Laurent as slave and master is still so hot. Damen is the bigger man, physically, of the two...heavily muscled. A fighting machine. It goes against everything in him to act as a slave when he should be a king. Gradually he comes to accept it, in part because he's slowly seeing Laurent for who he really is and falling for the flesh and blood man beneath the facade, and in part out of guilt for having inadvertently hurt Laurent in the past before he ever knew him, something that remains an obstacle between them and any real relationship.
I highly recommend the epilogue The Summer Palace, book 3.5, as an accompaniment. It's beautiful and romantic, and I loved reading more of their happily ever after.
THIS is the Kleypas who is romance legend!
I just finished reading all the Wallflower books, so I can say with absolute surety that Devil in Spring is a perfect extension of the series, and of Devil in Winter in particular. It was so much fun to meet several of Sebastian and Evie's children and even grandchildren. What a delight it has been to get an in-depth look at their happily ever after.
I was a bit disappointed with book 1 of the Ravenels, so I was a little worried that I wouldn't love this, but I do. SO much. I've smiled (a LOT.) I've laughed. From page one it's nothing but pure loveliness.
I adore Pandora's quirkiness, and how could I NOT adore Gabriel? The man is a carbon copy of his father, after all. I couldn't get enough of their dynamic chemistry. (That midnight rendezvous! fans self) Together they make a lovely pair, and I loved every single minute of their story!
So quite to my surprise, the book I was least excited about turned out to be my favorite of the entire wallflower series. Daisy and Matthew's story was perfection from beginning to end.
I appreciate that Kleypas didn't pretend the encounter between Daisy and Cam in Devil in Winter never happened. That's why I wasn't so excited about reading this book, because I was disappointed to find out they didn't end up a couple after that steamy exchange. But I love Matthew. He and Daisy are great together.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but after Westcliff took Lillian to his bed while she was clearly intoxicated, I could no longer root for their romance. He took advantage of her, plain and simple. It would be different if he had been drinking also, but he was stone cold sober and she was sloshed. It brings to mind the movie The Cutting Edge and how Doug refused to sleep with Kate while she was drunk, even though she was furious with him for it. That was a turning point for his character. The moment he proved himself to be a good guy at heart. He did the right thing, and what Westcliff SHOULD have done. Westcliff is no hero in my eyes. I can't look at him in the same way now.
I struggled with how to rate this book, but I've finally settled between 3 1/2 and 4 stars.
It's very well written, it kept my interest, and it made me FEEL, but oh the pain and hurt and misunderstandings just didn't let up. My heart was twisted into knots the entire time.
I love angst, but I'm discovering I love it most when balanced with a bit of happiness. In Lions and Lace there were no happy moments for the H/h until the VERY end of the book, followed by the short epilogue. I didn't like how the hero revealed his true feelings for the heroine in a letter. After all the hell he put her through he should have had the courage to say it to her face. As a reader I needed more, more of a satisfyingly happy ending after all the heartache.
I did enjoy the secondary romance story very much...so sweet, and a breath of fresh air after the constant turmoil. And I did love the unique setting and time period as well.
4 1/2 stars!
Stayed up late last night to finish this. I had to. Couldn't stop!
Wow. I see why this book won the RT Award for Best Contemporary Romantic Suspense. It absolutely deserved it. I don't think I've ever been more terrified of a hero, or more unsure of his worthiness to even be called that. Anne Stuart is known for her antiheroes, and this book is a perfect example of why.
She had me on the edge of my seat and kept me guessing. Was he innocent, or was he guilty? Brilliantly done!
4 1/2 stars!
From page 1, the story and the delightful heroine's antics had me enthralled. I love it when I read a book and am immediately thrust right into the action, when the H/h meet at the very beginning. There's no better way to hold my attention.
The ending was a bit rushed and there were some misunderstandings I felt could have been handled better, but I can only take 1/2 of a star off for that. The story was engaging and the characters were really well fleshed out for such a short book, and the time period felt authentic. Given the limited number of pages, Tycoon was extremely well done.
