Helpful Score: 3
I LOVED this book, as I do of all of those by Milan. If you want a suspenseful book, different from the usual Regency or Victorians, get "Unraveled." Milan tells a fascinating story of a man, now a judge, who because of his dangerous and insane mother is haunted by injustice, and the young woman who agrees to be his mistress because she has no other options in her life. This book, with its honorable hero who believes he is incapable of love, although he clearly loves the heroine almost from the first, reminds me a lot of "The Madness of Lord Ian." In my opinion, the previous reviewer was very, very unfair in her assessment of "Unraveled," including the percentage of sex scenes. Read the first chapter and decide for yourself.
Helpful Score: 1
This book put me in a terrible predicament. In all honesty, I cannot rate a book, no matter how well written (and this one is) high when the subject matter is one I absolutely hate - that of an innocent young virgin agreeing to become a man's mistress for the promise of money, with the rest of the book centered on that sexual relationship. Unfortunately there was absolutely no reference whatsoever to that subject matter in the synopsis or I would have avoided it altogether, in my defense, however, until now, I have found her writing to be some of the best in the business without such extended and prolific sex scenes, so this one really caught me unaware... touche'.
In her defense, if one looks past the 60% of the book that is sex scenes, the story is just as riveting and the character development that she weaves with such genius is still there in spades.
In her defense, if one looks past the 60% of the book that is sex scenes, the story is just as riveting and the character development that she weaves with such genius is still there in spades.
I enjoyed Smite's story of the Turner series most of all. All the brothers were complicated characters and damaged in their own way. Yet they were all survivors. As a result, Smite was so uncompromisingly rigid that he was hard to swallow sometimes. Being a magistrate was a means to keep order in his life and a reminder to do good by the people. I loved how his emotions ran deep even though he refused to recognize them to himself or share them with others. Not only was he puzzled by his growing feelings for Miranda but he resented that he couldn't keep a lid on his long dormant anger at his oldest brother's abandonment. Smite's admission how he felt unraveled was quite poignant. Overall, I thought it was a good read and a wonderful farewell to the Turner family. Four stars.
Brilliant! ***** 5 stars.
