Samantha James

I found this in a clearance section and having read Samantha James before, I thought it was a safe buy. There is no more delicate way to put this aside from "oh hell no". First of all, if you are anywhere in the spectrum from childfree to not insanely constantly obsessed with babies, you will not enjoy this book. If you are insanely obsessed with babies, shallow characters and bad writing - than this is the book for you.
1. BABIES. ALL BABIES ALL THE TIME. Look, I know that by reading show more historical romance, I will run into kids. I get that it was a fact of life back then. However, many authors do it tastefully, or sometimes not at all (often in the small epilogue, though). This book is about having babies. And wishing to have babies.
2. Samantha James has apparently decided she is now obsessed with hair. There are so many upsetting descriptions of hair in this book I had to put it down a few times. She describes pubic hair has "fleece". There is nothing okay with that. I got that her hero had chest hair, I didn't need to hear about it quite so much.
3. The characters are *awful*. Plain and simple. Flat, predictable and boring. And, bipolar as far as I could tell. I could barely keep up with them, if they were fighting, in love, who hated who, who said something SO INCREDIBLY INSENSITIVE AND STUPID this time. It happens a lot. It was so cliched I started skimming because I knew I wasn't missing any details.
4. Again, I know in regency that women will be sheltered or delicate. And any of the books I have loved with strong female leads are probably more inaccurate - but seriously, they're enjoyable. This female main character, however. My god, most annoying woman ever. She is the definition of sheltered naivete, and is SHOCKED multiple times over very not-shocking things. It got very tedious to read.
I feel almost bad giving such a scathing review, but this book was that awful. I'd be crying if I paid the $7.99 for it. Stick to her older stuff, I have actually enjoyed that and thought it was cute. This was painful. show less

Why do I always feel like I'm doing something wrong when I read a bodice-ripper and need to explain myself? It's madness! For they are so much fun, and Samantha James has become a favorite of mine in the genre, ever since I've read "A Perfect Bride". I love her heroes, even if there are (many) times I wish I could just get inside the book and slap their handsome faces over and over until my hands bleed; and her heroines are usualy such sweet, innocent, kind-hearted souls lost in the world show more you just want to take home an take care of - Gabriel and Cassie certainly qualify for this, for they are both damaged goods. While Gabriel has daddy issues, Cassie has mommy issues and as a result he is cruel with those who make an atempt to reach his heart, and she thinks she's a nobody, a nothing. He's that kind of hero that you love to hate and hate to love, for he's always doing something he shouldn't to Cassie, and then the reader is reminded he has so many demons and reasons to be cruel, which does not excuse the fact he choses the wrong target for his fury all the time and it's heartbreaking...I kept asking myself how can he say and/or do this, when Cassie just tries to please him? To love him? To be loved? How can he hurt her so? How can he not see she's afraid? How, for pity's sake, he does not see he's doing to her what his father did to his mother (the reason why he's bitter and cruel!!)? Amazingly, this was probably the main reason why I loved this book, I like how it enfuriated me over and over, just to melt me in the next scene; how my heart would become this tight little thing with every "bad" scene and then would instantly grew wider and wider whenever a good scene came up again - call me crazy. show less

A misleading title, probably chosen for its impact. A more accurate title might have been 'The Secret Agony of Simon Blackwell' or 'The Secret Torment of Simon Blackwell'.

Simon Blackwell is a tetchy recluse from Yorkshire who is forced to visit London for a relative's birthday. He rescues a small boy from the hooves of a spooked horse, then berates the woman he thinks is the child's mother. The object of his vicious tongue is Anne, the cousin of Caroline, the boy's mother, who was distracted show more by her other child at the time of the near-accident. Grateful of the stranger's help and unaware of his tongue-lashing of Anne, Caroline invites Sebastian to dinner. The negative tension between Anne and Sebastian is palpable, but when they step out onto the terrace, they find themselves drawn into a passionate kiss, which is unfortunately witnessed by other members of Anne's family.

In this particular social mythology, a stolen kiss disgraces the woman and forces the man to wed her, which is what the pair do with great reluctance.

Whisked away to Sebastian's rambling but shabby and empty country home, Anne finds herself stranded with a morose and tight-lipped spouse who announces that he will not be availing himself of his marital privileges and will arrange a divorce at the earliest socially acceptable opportunity.

For most of the remainder of the book, Anne attempts to pierce the emotional wall surrounding Sebastian, discovering improbably late that he is a widower who lost his wife and children in a tragic fire for which he blames himself.

This part of the story, in which Anne gently slips under Sebastian's guard and even succeeds in arousing him sexually, is the best part of the book.

The author's attempt to bring the confrontation to a climax followed by a happy resolution is less than successful. As the end approaches, raw emotion is replaced with plodding prose and the sudden appearance of Caroline and her kids, symbols of the potential joys of marriage and parenthood, is convenient and facile.

By end of the book I was half-hoping that Anne would leave Sebastian to his self-inflicted misery, thus introducing a sour note to balance the cloying sweetness of the preceding pages. show less

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It is true that it is an extremely dark story (the hero mourns his lost wife and kids 5 years after they're gone). It was also very well written, emotional, angsty and with incerdible, palpable tension between the hero and heroine. You can feel Simon's desire and need for his young wife in every page and ache with him. Anne was also a great character; strong and determined to make their marriage a real one, but without being pushy or childish when show more Simon appears to remain stuck in the past. This is not a book for everyone. But, for those readers who enjoy a darker edge in their romances, I would highly recommend this one. show less