A Lady of Persuasion

I've had a rough week, so take my review with a grain of salt. I'm not a big fan of the "love at first sight" trope to begin with. I find Toby charming, like everyone else, but Isobel's charitable nature got on my nerves. To be honest, the side storyline involving Bel's brother Joss was far more interesting, and not delved into nearly enough. Everything felt a little forced in this book. Not bad, but forced.

I was anxious to read this after finishing the first two books in the trilogy because I wanted Toby to finally get a happy ending. I definitely didn't see some of the twists coming, which is always appreciated in any story. However, I found myself less interested in Toby and Bel's story and more interested in Joss and Hetta; I really wish they had gotten a separate book rather than the equivalent of a chapter or two throughout this book. All told, I did enjoy this book, but Goddess of the Hunt is probably my favorite of the three

The third volume of the "Wanton Dairymaid" trilogy was a major let-down and confirmed my dislike of family-tie romantic series. [b:Goddess of the Hunt|6014608|Goddess of the Hunt (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy, #1)|Tessa Dare|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320415086s/6014608.jpg|6189889] got the series off to a flying start with a fascinating assortment of characters and a captivating love affair. [b:Surrender of a Siren|6014614|Surrender of a Siren (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy, #2)|Tessa Dare|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320470548s/6014614.jpg|6189895], the second volume, followed the convention of plucking one of the secondary characters from the previous book and bringing her love affair to the fore. Easy enough to do, and an show more economical (lazy?) way of churning out additional volumes without having to re-invent a cast of original characters, but in most such sibling series the baggage from previous volumes tends to stifle and bore.

In [b:Surrender of a Siren|6014614|Surrender of a Siren (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy, #2)|Tessa Dare|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320470548s/6014614.jpg|6189895] Ms Dare side-steps this problem by whisking Sophie, her heroine, away from family and friends and sending her off on a high-seas adventure to the Virgin Islands.

[b:A Lady of Persuasion|6087884|A Lady of Persuasion (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy, #3)|Tessa Dare|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320470552s/6087884.jpg|6264790] brings us right back to the characters and milieu of [b:Goddess of the Hunt|6014608|Goddess of the Hunt (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy, #1)|Tessa Dare|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320415086s/6014608.jpg|6189889], with unfortunate results. Isabella (Bel) and Toby, the romantic leads, appeared briefly in previous books but were drawn as two-dimensional and slightly unsympathetic characters. Bel was portrayed as a ravishingly beautiful young woman with a compulsive do-good obsession and enough stubbornness to persuade her brother to invest a small fortune in reviving a financially unviable sugar plantation cooperative. Toby was introduced as a likeable but air-brained rake who is left at the altar by Sophie, the heroine of the second book.

In [b:A Lady of Persuasion|6087884|A Lady of Persuasion (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy, #3)|Tessa Dare|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320470552s/6087884.jpg|6264790] Ms Dare has the daunting task of fleshing out these two characters and revealing unsuspected emotional depths. Unfortunately she does this by throwing them together in frequent and repetitive sex scenes that show intense physical attraction, but deliver few if any fresh insights into character. Bel and Toby are just as boring at the end of the book as they were at the beginning.

But the real dead-weight in this story is the supporting cast. Many of the attractive characters we met in the first two volumes reveal foibles and flaws that deflate their credibility as historical romance archetypes.

Something, somewhere, went astray in the plotting of this trilogy. One small pointer may be in the almost complete sidelining of the "Diary of a Wanton Dairymaid" book that gives the trilogy its name. Passed on from Lucy to Sophie, the heroines of Books One and Two, it should have gone to Bel, but after a quick peak at the contents she decides not to read it because of Sophie's personal notes and drawings, is given a mint copy as a replacement, and then promptly passes it on to another lady, an interesting but otherwise minor character in the story.

A disappointing ending to what promised to be a captivating and original trilogy. show less

The end of the trilogy. The best parts were Dare's wonderful writing and the male lead, Toby! It was fun to see him develop. It was also nice that he fell for Isobel so quickly so that most of the story was about them figuring things out. A nice ending to the trilogy.

A Lady of Persuasion is the third book in Tessa Dare’s debut trilogy. Both Goddess of the Hunt and Surrender to a Siren have been a delight to read! I eagerly picked up A Lady of Persuasion to finish the trilogy. Then I looked at the back cover and wondered why I would want to read what would obviously be a “suitor scorned and got revenge on an innocent maiden” story line. Amazing how first impressions are wrong!!

Most of the characters of this book we have met before but we will see them in a new light! Isabel Grayson, sister of Gray Grayson of Surrender to a Siren, has freshly arrived from the West Indies with the intent to marry someone with a title and money. She wants to make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate - show more to fight social injustice, and has decided that a title, voting at some level of government and lots of money are what are required to make this difference. Sir Toby we met in both of the previous books as the fiance and then abandoned fiance of Sophia.

Toby played the noble, upstanding abandoned fiance when Sophia took off; repeating the concocted story faithfully, but now Sophia is back and is happily married. Our story starts with Toby at a ball observing Sophia and Gray. The gloves are off and Toby is pouting like a little boy who isn’t getting his way! He is determined to get even with Sophia, but his attention is grabbed by s beautiful woman whom he has never seen before. She seems to be spending time with Gray, and although Toby doesn’t know who she is, he decides to steal her from Gray. The woman that has Toby obsessed is Isabel, Gray’s sister. The interactions between Toby and Isabel are wonderful. Toby is determined to have her and will do anything, promise anything to achieve that goal. Isabel comes across as righteous, but certainly warms up in Toby’s arms! ?

I found Toby to be a wonderful character. His development throughout the book moved him from a superficial rake to a man determined to win his true love and cherish her. Isabel comes from a damaged background, but doesn’t really seem to redeem herself. She seems to be searching for something that doesn’t really exist. It was wonderful to meet the future wife of Gray’s brother Joss and the child-birth scene was riveting and very well written! Although I really enjoy Tessa Dare’s writing, I was somewhat disappointed with the characters in this, the final book to her first trilogy. They seemed to take a long time to get a clue! But the overall book was wonderful! show less

The main pairing just didn't work. The two stars are for Joss and Hetta's story (like others here, I wish they had their own book) and spending more time with the characters from the first two books.

Book Three in my read-along group, "But Do They Bang?" I liked Toby. The consensus of the group is that Toby is the worst, but what can I say? The guy won me over.