The Lion's Daughter

Loretta Chase is probably my favorite romance author, and this book really stands out from her others. It's less slick, but more heartfelt; maybe because she's writing about Albania, and I gather that Chase has some Albanian ancestry.

Of course, some of the things that one expects from Chase are here in force: strong women, for example. There are lots of them, and the heroine in particular is a fierce little thing. Excellent research, for another. This isn't a book full of vague guesses and stereotypes; there's a real feel for the contemporary landscape of Albania and Italy, both geographical and cultural. Excellent dialogue, for a third. It positively sparkles.

The story is of the "reforming a rake" variety. Edenmont, a dissolute show more wastrel, stumbles by accident into the role of a hero and then doesn't quite know how to walk away from it. He's used to being lazy, pampered, and ultimately unhappy. In "The Lion's Daughter," he finds himself concerned over the welfare of a young boy, obsessed with a beautiful girl of terrifyingly indeterminate age, and in a rough, dangerous country he doesn't know much about. For all that, it's the best thing that's happened to him in years.

Esme, the heroine, is used to leading a wild, wandering life. She's used to danger and fending for herself, but she's also innocent and pretty lost in the battle of the sexes. She has no idea of her own appeal, and hadn't learned any kind of caution or restraint. Esme is an amazingly well-drawn, rich character; alternately practical and wild, matter of fact and fantastic.

Their relationship is "tempestuous" - they fight a lot, but I don't think either of them ever comes out entirely on top. There's a lot of passion, a lot of sparking, a lot of making up, and also a lot of love between the two. This makes for a really fun and sexy read.

The narrative is very well worked out - it is fast-paced, smart, and really stunningly intricate. Chase writes beautifully as always and has managed to write a romance here that's fun to read but also has more depth of feeling and character than most romances. Definitely one of her best. show less

The Lion's Daughter offers an annoying tomboyish heroine who misunderstands everything, messes up everyone's plans, and causes more trouble than she's worth, a dandy/rake of a hero who has a nice sense of humor but very little character, and more plot twists than the author can handle. It's convoluted, sprawling, and not that interesting. I read this after the second book in the series, Captives in the Night, and the only reason I don't regret reading The Lion's Daughter is because it provides a background for Ismal, the hero of Captives and the villain in this book. In the latter, his back story was kind of taken for granted and only obliquely alluded to, and I felt there were some gaps in his character as a result. They were happily show more filled in here, but that's the only saving grace of The Lion's Daughter. show less

I loved The Lion's Daughter. It takes place largely in Albania, and there's spying and political intrigue and family intrigue and a hero and heroine who don't believe they're worthy of each other. Characters grow and change; their motives are understandable and supported by their personalities. There's no superman hero here who rescues the dainty heroine, and yet he has strengths of his own, though he has to work to find them.

It's also worth noting that the sex scenes are very sensual. I'm known for skimming sex scenes, but these were both necessary to the story, showing changes in the relationship, and well-written: they felt sensual, as I said, rather than crude or forced.

The Lion's Daughter is a reissue from 1992, but it's just as show more well I read it now. I'm not sure I'd have appreciated it as much 14 years ago. show less

If I had any doubts that Loretta Chase is one of the best historical romance writers out there, if not THE best, they have been shattered to pieces. The Lion’s Daughter cements it: the book is FANTASTIC. And it’s even more impressive because this was her first full-length novel. I will even say that it is almost as good as Lord of Scoundrels, my all time favourite romance novel……It has all of her distinctive traits, the typical lorettachaseness: strong protagonists, excellent dialogue, the inner thoughts of each character that is pure golden, funny moments and passion enough to fuel a castle.

Varian St George is another one of those adorable reprobate rakes in need of redemption. Not only that, he is penniless – he has spent show more all of the family fortune, leaving behind debts, and the shame of ruining the family’s name and his two younger brother’s prospects. He has spent the past ten years in the Continent in the company of the likes of Lord Byron, jumping from bed to bed , living like a leech, a parasite, out of non-aristocrats, who by rubbing shoulders with a real member of aristocracy think themselves better off. For the past month he has been living with the Brentmor family and when the mother dies, he is asked by the father to take his son Percival with him to Venice, all expenses paid. Eve though he would prefer to shy away from any responsibility he is hardly in a position to say no to any amount of money to help him get by the next month.

But Percival who is a precocious 12 year old, has overheard a must worrying conversation between his father and an unknown man about a plot to smuggle British weapons to Albania where his uncle Jason lives with is daughter Esme. He feels he should warn them so he concocts a lie to Varian and convince him to take him there with the prospect of making even more money.

Little does he know, that Jason who is known in Albania as the Red Lion, is more involved in the situation then they ever thought and has faked his own death in order to discover who is working behind the plot to overthrow Ali Pasha, the rule of Albania. Jason's daughter Esme doesn’t know that he is alive and believes that the cousin of Pasha, Ismal, is to be blamed for Jason’s "death" – Since Ismal has been trying to get her for himself, she plans to marry him and then avenge her father by killing him - she knows that this will mean her own death but since she has no one left in the world, she worries naught about it.

Until that is, she stumbles on Percival and Varian and Percival is taken by the villains who mistake him by Esme – they are the only two red-headed people in all of Albania. Now, Esme and Varian must join forces to find him. And this my friends, is only the beginning of the story!
Off they go in a road trip through small towns and Varian is almost driven to madness as he is stranded in a strange land, and has to rely solely on Esme - who is half-Albanian, prolific in several languages, practical and yet temperamental , who knows nothing of the silly rules that Western women must leave by . And who will stop at nothing to avenge her father.

She is a terrific heroine. Her temper is something to be reckoned with as is her bravery - in her short life she has faced a lot of dangerous situations and has been shot twice, the scars left, displayed with pride. She is guide, interpreter, diplomat and above all temptress – the one that sees through Varian and makes him try to act *gasps* honourably.

She puzzles and of course, attracts Varian who tries his best to stay away because he knows he is not good enough for her. He is penniless, he has never thought about the dreaded Tomorrow. And Tomorrow is what happens when he falls in love and decides that he can not leave her – and so they marry and go back to England where intrigue follows for Percival still holds something that is important to both his villainous father and to Esme’s future. And there they have to face that danger while trying to start their lives together. Varian leaves her with her grandmother and goes to London to try and sort his finances and to reform his estate which is in shambles.

If Esme is the brains of the book, definitely Varian is the heart. He goes through a lot when he realises what he has made of his life and tries to make himself worthy of her, by shutting her out until he can be prepared for her. But she does not want that – she wants to be by his side, loving him as he is. I think this is true redemption: the one that comes from accepting who they are, not who they could become – although he does tell her that she should at least work on her temper enough not to kill their children when they annoy her.

One of the things I love the most was the fact that the book is set in Albania for part of the story. I found out that Loretta Chase has roots in that country which could account for her knowledge of the language and the customs but it seems she also spent a lot of time researching old accounts of travellers in Albania for there is a lot of detailed description of 19th century geography and history. Esme’s voice was also very particular, I am pretty sure she sounded like an Albanian when speaking English even though I must admit I have no idea how an Albanian would sound like.

I can not begin to describe how much I enjoyed reading this book and how much I loved both Varian and Esme – definitely a couple who should make more of the top 10 lists out there. If you like romance novels and it you like Loretta Chase’s books, you should not miss this one.

Notable quotes/part: When Varian realizes what he has done to his family and to the estate he was supposed to have taken care of. He has left Esme behind and making a survey of his house and when he reaches the nursery he breaks down:

“He closed his eyes against the shattering grief. He’d been away from her not even three days and he was lost, sick with loneliness. But that was nothing to this. He’d no one else to blame. He’d shaped and carved this day for himself these past ten years. Now at last, when he’d learned to love, when he wanted to love and look after one brave, beautiful girl and give her children they might love and care for together….now the Devil laughed and demanded payment. Now (he) understood that fire and brimstone were not wanted, nor even death. Hell was regret.
It was tomorrow.
And Varian pressed his face to his arm and wept”

Additional thoughts: Every single character was interesting and well drawn from the two protagonists, to Percival, to Esme’s Gradmother, to the villain Ismal who had so many layers to his villainy and personality that when it came to the final showdown he had stolen a tiny piece of my heart. And it’s no wonder that another one her books, Captives of the Night, has him as the hero!

Verdict: BUY it now. Do everything you can to get a hold of this book.

Rating: 10. Yes. Another ten. This book is romance at its best – quality writing, amazing protagonists, well-researched background. In my opinion, it should be as much as a classic as Lord of Scoundrels.

Full Review at:
http://thebooksmugglers.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-review-lions-daughter.html show less

I figured I'd read something "mindless" after all the "heavy" stuff I've been into lately. That, plus I was curious to explore romance authors, beside Lisa Kleypas.

For the most part, I got plenty of "tummy twitching" sex scenes, along with lots of humorous quips which made me laugh out loud.
On the other hand, the two protagonists really should have been less insecure in themselves. I mean, HE is rake for heaven's sake. But no, until the very end, they're all so utterly insecure that I might have made myself dizzy with all the eye-rolling.

My favorite character is definitely Percival, the heroine's cousin. Pity he doesn't get a story for himself. That said though, I'm looking forward to checking out the next book in the series, which show more stars the villain of this series.

Score: 2.6/5
Good enough to read once, the humorous parts are quite enjoyable. Unlikely I'll read it again, though.

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review of book 2: Captives of the Night
review of book 3: Lord of Scoundrels
review of book 4: The Last Hellion show less

It’s time, at 41% and one month, to admit absolute defeat. I couldn’t get engaged, partially due to the side plots and the way they were weaved (tangled?) in. Partially because of the extent to which I just did not care about the MCs. I see how the writing is appealing, when the book is working...unfortunately it wasn’t consistent enough for me.

The synopsis makes it sound like a pure romance novel, and it's not. It's got international intrigue and gun-running and the like; in some ways the romance part stalls while the rest of the plot moves along. On the whole, it's pretty fun... though both the protagonists need a clue-bat upside the head, and if people just TALKED TO EACH OTHER some of the plot points would be easily resolved.