Gallant Officer, Forbidden Lady (Three Soldiers, Bk 1) (Harlequin Historical, No 972)
Author:
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Author:
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed this story for many reasons. One, because it depicted a man who's experiencing post traumatic stress after having been in a particularly bloody battleand enduring its aftermath of looting and rioting in Spain. Also because Jack Vernon, the hero, wants to be an artist and is working hard to succeed - For once, there's no rakish past (or present); no quarrelsome parent withholding an allowance or trying to force him to marry for his own good. I liked Jack immediately; he's decent, honorable and honest.
I also liked the fact that this author departed from the stereotypical overprotected virgin-heroine. For once, thank goodness, the heroine is not a schoolmistress; not a poor relation, not a plain duenna and not an innocent "Lady". Ariana is (gasp) an actress just beginning a successful career, who's as determined as Jack to succeed in her chosen field. One prior sour love affair hasn't soured her for life, either; she's as attracted to Jack as he is to her.
Jack's mother is the mistress of Lord Tranville, who was Jack's commanding officer, as well as the man who paid for his schooling and his commission. Although Jack despises the man, he can't help feeling indebted to him - an unusually deep and well-plotted emotional conflict for a romance-novel hero. When Tranville commissions Jack to paint a portrait of Ariana, it increases the tension between all three characters since Tranville is trying to win Ariana as his mistress.
Although I liked the characters, and I liked the unusually creative elements of this story, for me it just didn't maintain a must-read element. The pace seemed to slow down just before the last few chapters. All the ingredients were there for a compelling end, but the story lost its steam (I don't mean romantically, just in the terms of pace and the plot). But it's a good read, if not a great one.
I also liked the fact that this author departed from the stereotypical overprotected virgin-heroine. For once, thank goodness, the heroine is not a schoolmistress; not a poor relation, not a plain duenna and not an innocent "Lady". Ariana is (gasp) an actress just beginning a successful career, who's as determined as Jack to succeed in her chosen field. One prior sour love affair hasn't soured her for life, either; she's as attracted to Jack as he is to her.
Jack's mother is the mistress of Lord Tranville, who was Jack's commanding officer, as well as the man who paid for his schooling and his commission. Although Jack despises the man, he can't help feeling indebted to him - an unusually deep and well-plotted emotional conflict for a romance-novel hero. When Tranville commissions Jack to paint a portrait of Ariana, it increases the tension between all three characters since Tranville is trying to win Ariana as his mistress.
Although I liked the characters, and I liked the unusually creative elements of this story, for me it just didn't maintain a must-read element. The pace seemed to slow down just before the last few chapters. All the ingredients were there for a compelling end, but the story lost its steam (I don't mean romantically, just in the terms of pace and the plot). But it's a good read, if not a great one.
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