Pearl's World of Romance - Reviews with a Passion: Kalen Hughes

Showing posts with label Kalen Hughes. Show all posts

June 25, 2008

Lord Scandal - Kalen Hughes

3:06 PM |

A SHOCKING SCANDAL. . .
The last thing the Portrait Divorcée needs is to have her name connected to that of the equally infamous Brimstone. But the infuriating rake has made it very clear that he’s bent on nothing less than her complete surrender. Rich widows take lovers. Poor divorcées become mistresses. And those with powerful families tread carefully, lest they incite their family’s wrath, a tragic outcome she’s all too familiar with . . .

IS WELL WORTH THE PLEASURE. . .
Gabriel Angelstone, the handsome scourge of the ton, has taken one of life’s lessons to heart: Love ruins everything. But the irresistible challenge of seducing Imogen Mowbray, a woman whose past is every bit as scandalous as his own, quickly has him rethinking that conclusion. Perhaps the only women worth loving are the fallen ones . . .

A “scandal”, as always blown out of proportion by the Ton, leads Imogen Mowbray to a life in poverty when her husband divorces her and her family wash their hands from her. Meeting Georgianna (George), Lady Somercote, changes her life in many ways she never could have imagined.
Gabriel Angelstone (love that name!!) has scandal written all over him. He is the great-grandson of a Duke and grandson of a Turkish Pasha. Combined with his exotic charisma and his loose behavior with women this makes him a welcome subject of the Ton's gossip and now he finds himself adding fuel to the fire by pursuing the epitome of scandal: Imogen.

Gabriel and Imogen are drawn to each other but they are both reluctant to acknowledge their feelings. Their attraction is instant and their love grows slowly but deeply. However they are not willing to give in to it, Imogen because she fears scandal will be tied to her name again now that she's trying to get her life back together and avoid any more scandal. Gabriel is reluctant because he's content with his flirtations and affairs and he's not the marrying kind.

Although I enjoyed both the main characters I do have the feeling they could have been fleshed out a bit more in terms of background and depth. I would have liked to see them more rounded. Both Gabriel past and Imogen's so-called scandal relied a bit too much on the reader's imagination to fill in the blanks.
But overall I liked their characters and their story. I loved it when Gabriel stood up for Imogen and confronted first her brother and then her ex-husband. A true knight in shining armor.

Again there's a multitude of secondary characters: family, friends, society-members and children. They definitely give the book more body and provide reference for the main characters but it's hard to keep track of them all throughout the book and it's a bit confusing trying to get the connections between them and the main characters. But this is really minor point since despite their great numbers they don't take the focus away from Gabriel and Imogen.
Imogen's family (her parents and brother) are just horrible, they are cold-hearted, society-ruled snobs.

One prominently present secondary character is George (the heroine from book 1, LORD SIN). She not only plays a crucial part in both Imogen and Gabriel's lives but also in their decisions towards each other. I did not expect her to have such a big supporting role after her own book and it was a nice and pleasant surprise. She was as wonderful a secondary character in this book as she was a heroine in her own. It was a bonus to see how her life continued after having her HEA (happily ever after).

With LORD SCANDAL, from the first scene I was thrown back into the sentiment I had when I closed LORD SIN: a sentiment of satisfaction, enjoyment and recognition. Though the overall story didn't have the impact on me that the first book had, I still indulged in a beautiful historical love story. Rich in detail and description, pure and simple in characters and plot.
There were some very little errors (if I can call them that) but the only one worth mentioning is that Imogen's brother is called Richard at one moment (p. 146) and later in the book his name is Robert (p.236).

The love scenes are original and refreshing in a simple way. In this case the phrase "less is more" certainly applies. There's a lot of variation in them and they absolutely fit Kalen Hughes' writing style that is equally refreshing and unique.
She has a keen eye for historical detail and the habits and ways of the time-period her stories take place in. This is something you notice in her books immediately and is the reason I hope there will be more wonderful installments in this Rakes of London series. It's certainly not a question of finding heroes because in George's environment there are enough intriguing bachelors left who need the firm hand of a lady to keep them straight. I have my suspicions as to who will be the main characters in the next book, but I'll have to wait till it comes out to see if my guess is right.

Kalen Hughes’ LORD SCANDAL provided me with a rich and great written novel of acceptation, redemption, soul mates and subtle matchmaking that kept me entertained and enthralled to the very last satisfying page.

Quote:
After years on the town he could tell when a woman was ripe to fall en when she wasn't. Miss Mowbray had already fallen. She was just lying there, waiting for someone to pick her up.

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Labels: good reads, Historical Romance, Kalen Hughes, Kensington Publishing, Rakes of London Series, reviews | 0 comments |

May 23, 2007

Lord Sin - Kalen Hughes

5:09 PM |

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SIX NIGHTS OF PLEASURE . . .

Georgianna Exley's passionate nature has always been her undoing-and for this reason the beautiful young widow allows her lovers only a single night in her bed. But Ivo Dauntry has come home to England, and for him she'll break her most sacred rule: granting him six nights of sensual bliss, one for every year he's given up for her . . .

SIX YEARS TO WAIT . . .

As a gentleman born, Ivo risked his reputation and his life in a duel to defend Georgianna's honor. Now, returned from exile, Ivo discovers that she has proved to be less than a lady . . . and soon, his daring seduction becomes a sensual contest of wills. But the long-ago duel that bound them forever has fueled the hatred of a madman determined to make Georgianna pay for her misdeeds with her life, and once again, Ivo must risk everything to save the woman he loves . . .

Another smashing debut-author.
Ms Hughes delivers an enticing, appealing early Regency-novel (Georgian Period).
With a heroin who knows what she wants: her freedom to do whatever she want, when she wants it and the way she wants it and there’s no man who can dictate otherwise.
And a hero who’s the perfect man for her.
Georgianna (George) Exley is an extraordinay heroin for the time-period in which this book is set: she hunts, she smokes, has male friends and takes lovers on her own terms. She could easily be a 21st century-woman. But because Kalen Hughes describes her so well, she is never out of place in the 18th century.

Ivo Dantry is handsome, mysterious and determined not to want Georgianna, despite his ernormous attraction to her. Picture two magnets but with the wrong polars towards each other. Attraction and rejection fighting to win. It’s not hard to imagine that the attractions wins...and how! Because when he finally gives in to his feelings, he’s determined to have and to hold Georgianna...I melted away at the scene at the end of the book where he comes in and literally sweeps Georgianna of her feet and carries her away

The love-scenes are beautifully written and hot without getting too explicit or raunchy. For me that’s one of the things why I liked this book so much. Another is her description style. I’ve read books where everything is described in so much details it get’s boring and takes the attention away from the actual story. Same goes for the use of language. But not in this book. I felt like being swept into the 18th century from the first page without a single moment of boredom or annoyance. I know that Ms Hughes does a lot of research into the time-period and it shows in a very good way!
Every chapter starts with a made-up quote from a column that actually existed in het Morning Post at that time, called Tête-à-Tête

The only less praising thing I can say about the book is that it has an enormous amount of secondary characters: friends, enemies, children, family, members of society.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember all the names and relations between them. And I guess because of the great number of characters they are not really deepened out which leaves Ivo and Georgianna the most powerful characters in the book. Of course that is not a bad thing since they are hero and heroin but I always like a few secondary characters having a bigger role in the book than just being there hanging around in the background.

Her writing reminds me of Elizabeth Hoyt, one of my favourite authors, but luckily she has her own unique style which I can only applaude.
I can’t wait for Lord Scandal, her second book with Gabriel Angelstone, one of Georgianna’s best friends, as the hero.

Quotes:

He knew exactly how to ride her, how to wind her up into a ball of pure need and desire.

Georgianna after being thoroughly satisfied by Ivo:
“Do you intend to remove your coat and boots or is the point to spend the afternoon taking me like a pirate?”

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