Bah humbug!
“Master of Desire” by Kinley MacGregor
*slamming of front door*
“Finally! I’m back everybody!â€
*Lola comes traipsing into the RMB offices, taking off her Chanel shades and peering around quizzically.*
“Oh there you are Juan! Felice Navidad!†*totters off in her platforms, blithely oblivious to the killing look that’s been thrown her way by Juan, who’s fed up with yet another tired stereotype.*
“Hey Lola, in from the cold I see? And against all odds, not turned into an Eskimo pie.†Sheri pops her head out from around the door. “I’m just finishing up the last story in the “Playing Easy to Get†anthology. Be right out!â€
“But I wanted to discuss the anthology with you! And you know Sheri, next time you think I’m voluntarily tanning myself in sub-zero temperatures, I’m really NOT. How about, more like waiting for my bum to unfreeze from the deckchair, while all my plaintive cries for help went unheeded by all! What do you mean you thought it was the neighbourhood cats mating!â€
Sheridan comes back out, frowning. “And here I was leaving all those extra plates of sardines out for them, so that they could keep up their strength! So what book did you read?â€
“Lucky for me, I always have a stash of books lying around,†huffs Lola. “This one was “Master of Desire†by Kinley MacGregor aka Sherrilyn Kenyon aka She Who Must Have A Nice Little Nest Egg By Now. But I must admit, I was disappointed by the book. It was one of those books that doesn’t have anything wrong with it. It’s competently written, but I just didn’t feel like there was a spark. The yule log fell flat with this one.
So you have Lady Emily, who’s the youngest of 3 sisters, and the pampered darling of her aristocratic father, Lord Hugh. Daddy dearest is engaged in a bitter feud with Draven de Montague, Earl of Ravenswood, and they each suspect the other of raping and pillaging the other’s villages and fiefdoms. Not going to be sending Christmas cards to each other anytime soon I suspect. And so King Henry, fed up with his 2 warring nobles, orders that they each give up to the other, the thing most precious to them. So Lord Hugh has to send Emily to live with Draven, and Draven has to guard Emily and leave her untouched, since the thing that Draven treasures most is his honour.
I mean really, you can see this coming from Moscow. When Moscow is in a snow storm. And you’re myopic. Emily falls in love with her handsome guardian and refreshingly enough, she doesn’t waste any time trying to escape from Draven. She loves her father but is eager to get married, and who better to marry than the gorgeous, broody, rich nobleman whose care she has been given into. Yup, one of those. Please Santa, forget the Wii, I’d like one of those under my tree.
I liked Emily. She’s spunky (without making you want to snap her head off) and she’s forever trying to make Draven laugh by telling him really bad jokes. Like, really bad. But it’s still endearing. Draven is your typical macho hero who’s not as bad as he’s made out to be, and his steely exterior is hiding a wounded heart. You know, not that I mean to be a sceptic or anything, and I know I’ve said it before, but if Draven was called Horace and had a glass eye and man boobs, I don’t think Emily would be quite as eager to soothe all his emotional hurts.
Like I said, “Master of Desire†is an easy enough read. (After all, I did finish it in one sitting while waiting for my bum to thaw. Thanks again Sheri.) But I wanted a bit more emotional intensity and meat in my books (and heroes. Make of that what you will). Emily spent three-quarters of the book chasing after Draven and trying to get him to marry her. And I guess there was quite a lot of the same old same old. Like The Hero’s Secret Tormented Past That Is Known To The Whole of England And All of England’s Dogs (except the hero). So when Emily does something that you just know is going to remind Draven of aforementioned Tormented Past, it’s like seeing the shadow of the falling anvil looming over Wile E. Coyote.
And even the eventual separation between Emily and Draven was quite painless and non-dramatic. I like books with heroines whose fathers/ brothers/ uncles/ cousins/ pet monkeys are the sworn enemy of the hero, and who somehow have to overcome that. But I just didn’t find myself being very drawn in to this book, because there was none of that angst or forbidden fruit thing going on. And there was the requisite grand gesture from Draven, who walked naked through the court to prove his love to Emily, but even that wasn’t all that big a deal to me. Pun intended.â€
“Hmmm… so I’m still anxious to try Sherrilyn Kenyon, in either one of her guises,†says Sheridan thoughtfully. “So I guess this isn’t the one to start with?â€
“The hero walked around with his yule log out there for the whole world to see and I still wasn’t impressed. I believe the evidence speaks for itself.â€
“Point taken.”
Wendy said,
December 19, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
Even McGregor’s most angsty book, Born in Sin didn’t do a whole super lot for me. The writing was just too blah.
The RMB girls need to read some Patricia Gaffney! There’s some serious angst!
Lauren said,
December 21, 2007 @ 4:33 am
Ohh, I completly agree, Patricia Gaffney has some great angsty historicals. I loved Lilly, but then I am a sucker for a jerk hero and if I remember there was quite the nice grovel at the end, though some said it wasn’t enough.
Wendy said,
December 21, 2007 @ 4:42 am
I just read it… I thought it a fine grovel, nicely tied up thematically. The book as a whole overdid the nasty hero for my tastes… ONE big misunderstanding, fine, but 2+ is pushing it for me. Still, good read.
gracie clay said,
December 21, 2007 @ 7:30 am
*gasps* Oh…I have to confess I loved this book. I guess the thing about it that really got to me was the talking. I liked seeing our leads getting to know each other, the inner trauma of the hero, made the sex scene (when it FINALLY happened) more special to me.
Sherrilyn Kenyon ah yes…I do love her as well (same woman).
Who’s Patricia Gaffney? I’ve never heard of her. All I saw was the word historical, I’m sold.
Sheridan Sakura Carlotta said,
December 21, 2007 @ 8:41 am
Wow Wendy the book has 2+ misunderstandings? I haven’t read a book like that since…the days of the great McNaught. “Whitney my love” anyone?
Lauren said,
December 21, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
I’d say this book definatly came out of the great days of the historical novel, the hero even publicly ruins the heroine at her wedding as a result of said misunderstandings, for some unknown reason hero’s just don’t act as mean now a days toward their heroines.
gracie clay said,
December 21, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
“for some unknown reason hero’s just don’t act as mean now a days toward their heroines.”
*dies laughing*
Wendy said,
December 21, 2007 @ 3:28 pm
Yeah, you have to go for Harlequin Presents to get a good nasty hero these days!
Gaffney is probably best known for To Have and to Hold, another book with a superlatively nasty hero. That one I adored unconditionally. To Love and to Cherish goes in a complete different direction, with a kind gentle minister for a hero–but believe it or not, also extremely good!
La Lola said,
December 21, 2007 @ 5:34 pm
I have heard so much about Gaffney, and with the prospect of so many misunderstandings (and one would hope, corresponding grovel), I HAVE to get this book. Which is the one where he ruined her wedding? Is it “To Have And to Hold”?
lauren said,
December 21, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
Nope that’s Lilly, but I have heard that To Have and To Hold is much better and the hero redeems himself better, I haven’t read it but from what others have said Wendy’s reaction to it doesn’t surprise me.
Wendy, I know what you mean about Presents, unfortunatly for every author who can write a good story there are like four who aren’t so skilled.
Wendy said,
December 22, 2007 @ 2:50 am
Oh, too true! Luckily, I can get Presents at the library sale and read them in about five minutes, so it’s not a big investment. And they are prefect for taking into the hot tub. In the rain.