Helpful Score: 13
Since The Surrender is book 3 in Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Green series, and IMO, the best of the lot. Recuperating from war wounds and banished from the family home by concerned family members who think he could use a change of scenery, Captain Charles (Chase) Eversea is in London to call on a distant cousin & determine his suitability as the new vicar of Pennyroyal Green. A celebrated war hero, Chase feels adrift & superfluous, and thus makes plans to join the East India Company and set sail for India within the month. On his way to pay his obligatory visit to his cousin the vicar, a street urchin passes him a mysterious, rose-scented note, asking him to meet the anonymous sender (obviously a woman) at the Montmorency, a former residence turned London museum.
Upon arriving at the Montmorency, Chase quickly discovers that the mystery lady in question is a former acquaintance (and obsession), Rosalind March, the widow of Chase's former commanding officer, Colonel Mathew March. Chase and Rosalind shared a single scorching kiss - and so much more - five years ago, and he has carried the memory, along with the guilt for betraying his former commander and friend, with him ever since.
Rosalind is widowed and alone, and desperately searching for her sister Lucy, missing from Newgate prison, following her arrest for alleged theft. Rosalind has sought out Chase, in the hopes that he can help her find Lucy, and possibly open a few doors that have been - to her mind - suspiciously closed to her in the course of her attempts to locate Lucy. Chase at first dismisses Rosalind's concerns as baseless, and refuses to help, but what's clearly at the heart of his reluctance is the depth of hidden feelings he still has for Rosalind. Deciding to make a few discreet inquiries into Lucy's disappearance, Chase soon begins to realize that something strange does appear to be going on, and all of it is somehow tied to the Montmorency and an odd (and truly tacky) Italian painting.
Chase discovers Rosalind eavesdropping on a mutual acquaintance & former British officer, who she suspects knows what happened to Lucy, and there follows a very brief (and decidedly steamy) tussle behind the bookshelves. When he confronts Rosalind later about her behavior, she shows him some mildly threatening notes she has been receiving from an anonymous sender. He suggests, at first, that they marry so that he can protect her, but when Rosalind refuses, claiming that she alone wants to be responsible for her future choices in life, he reluctantly agrees to help her find her sister.
What follows is surely one of the steamiest & most hysterically funny romps through brothels, the streets of London, and even the home of a bohemian painter of naughty artwork, that could possibly exist in fiction. I was alternately adjusting the air conditioning and mopping away tears of laughter throughout the entire book, and I simply could NOT put it down.
Chase and Rosalind are a positively scorching, if highly unlikely, couple. He is the acknowledged "warrior" of the Eversea clan, eternally stoic, always in command, but a man of infinite, if carefully hidden, emotional depth. Rosalind is a kind-natured, but independent and self-sufficient woman, and her role within her own rather dysfunctional family has typically been one of caregiver & reluctant custodian to two flighty sisters. Chase has always made her feel gauche and unsure of herself, and while she doesn't regret their attraction and brief moment of weakness five years prior, she's never quite sure that he hasn't judged her and found her somehow lacking because of it. As different as they are, I loved Chase and Rosalind as a couple, and found their mutual attraction and virtually unarticulated feelings for each other to be nearly tangible & emotionally wrenching. Amid the laughs and the sweating, my heart ached for both of them.
Since The Surrender is not however, flawless. Almost sloppy editing is prevalent throughout the book, and these are sometimes silly oversights & omissions (missing words, a typo here & there, etc.) that even the least observant editor should have been able to catch on a simple proofread. Editing flaws, in the face of such amazing writing however, I can definitely live with. The humor might come across to some as being somewhat middle school-worthy; use of naughty pseudonyms (who can forget 8th grade classics like E. Jack Ulate, Mike Rotch, and Dick Gozenya?) is liberal and highly inventive. To her credit, Long actually manages to come up with several I'd never heard of before:P
And the steam... this book positively sizzles, and let's face it, chemistry like that is nine-tenths of what we read romances for in the first place. Heat, depth, humor, and vivid, delightfully quirky characters (Chase has a childhood-born fear of marionettes:P); this book, in my very humble opinion, has it all.
I gave it a VERY solid A. It's a must read:)
Sensuality Rating: R
Upon arriving at the Montmorency, Chase quickly discovers that the mystery lady in question is a former acquaintance (and obsession), Rosalind March, the widow of Chase's former commanding officer, Colonel Mathew March. Chase and Rosalind shared a single scorching kiss - and so much more - five years ago, and he has carried the memory, along with the guilt for betraying his former commander and friend, with him ever since.
Rosalind is widowed and alone, and desperately searching for her sister Lucy, missing from Newgate prison, following her arrest for alleged theft. Rosalind has sought out Chase, in the hopes that he can help her find Lucy, and possibly open a few doors that have been - to her mind - suspiciously closed to her in the course of her attempts to locate Lucy. Chase at first dismisses Rosalind's concerns as baseless, and refuses to help, but what's clearly at the heart of his reluctance is the depth of hidden feelings he still has for Rosalind. Deciding to make a few discreet inquiries into Lucy's disappearance, Chase soon begins to realize that something strange does appear to be going on, and all of it is somehow tied to the Montmorency and an odd (and truly tacky) Italian painting.
Chase discovers Rosalind eavesdropping on a mutual acquaintance & former British officer, who she suspects knows what happened to Lucy, and there follows a very brief (and decidedly steamy) tussle behind the bookshelves. When he confronts Rosalind later about her behavior, she shows him some mildly threatening notes she has been receiving from an anonymous sender. He suggests, at first, that they marry so that he can protect her, but when Rosalind refuses, claiming that she alone wants to be responsible for her future choices in life, he reluctantly agrees to help her find her sister.
What follows is surely one of the steamiest & most hysterically funny romps through brothels, the streets of London, and even the home of a bohemian painter of naughty artwork, that could possibly exist in fiction. I was alternately adjusting the air conditioning and mopping away tears of laughter throughout the entire book, and I simply could NOT put it down.
Chase and Rosalind are a positively scorching, if highly unlikely, couple. He is the acknowledged "warrior" of the Eversea clan, eternally stoic, always in command, but a man of infinite, if carefully hidden, emotional depth. Rosalind is a kind-natured, but independent and self-sufficient woman, and her role within her own rather dysfunctional family has typically been one of caregiver & reluctant custodian to two flighty sisters. Chase has always made her feel gauche and unsure of herself, and while she doesn't regret their attraction and brief moment of weakness five years prior, she's never quite sure that he hasn't judged her and found her somehow lacking because of it. As different as they are, I loved Chase and Rosalind as a couple, and found their mutual attraction and virtually unarticulated feelings for each other to be nearly tangible & emotionally wrenching. Amid the laughs and the sweating, my heart ached for both of them.
Since The Surrender is not however, flawless. Almost sloppy editing is prevalent throughout the book, and these are sometimes silly oversights & omissions (missing words, a typo here & there, etc.) that even the least observant editor should have been able to catch on a simple proofread. Editing flaws, in the face of such amazing writing however, I can definitely live with. The humor might come across to some as being somewhat middle school-worthy; use of naughty pseudonyms (who can forget 8th grade classics like E. Jack Ulate, Mike Rotch, and Dick Gozenya?) is liberal and highly inventive. To her credit, Long actually manages to come up with several I'd never heard of before:P
And the steam... this book positively sizzles, and let's face it, chemistry like that is nine-tenths of what we read romances for in the first place. Heat, depth, humor, and vivid, delightfully quirky characters (Chase has a childhood-born fear of marionettes:P); this book, in my very humble opinion, has it all.
I gave it a VERY solid A. It's a must read:)
Sensuality Rating: R
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