Book 1 in the Highland Pleasures series
http://www.jennifersromances.com/
It’s mighty sad
that it took me about half of the book before I recognized that these Mackenzie
men are Highlanders. With names like Ian, Cameron, Hart, and Mac… well, some
days I prove to be slow-witted.
Moving on. Ian
Mackenzie was locked in an insane asylum as a child for his unusual penchants –
but has been released again to roam in polite society (rather impolitely). A
collector of porcelain, he is fascinated by beauty and truth. Beth Ackerley has
recently inherited a large fortune from the wealthy widow to whom she was a
companion. Beth is about to marry the sordid Sir Mather. Ian feels compelled
to save her because of her beauty and sincerity – he deems her worth saving and
so he reveals Mather’s sexual proclivities and massive debt. While the two
could’ve parted ways, Ian is drawn inexplicably to Beth and follows her to Paris. The two become
quite entangled and as dark, mysterious elements from the Mackenzie brothers’
past begin to show up, Beth becomes determined to help Ian discover the truth.
At any cost.
Ian… is a very
unique hero. He was mad enough (he has various attention issues, observation
issues, etc) that he was interesting and inimitable but not so mad as to be
strange and unlikeable. Overall, he was a good man if a little overprotective
of Beth (way before his time, I might
add). He acts like a caveman sometimes and while it’s endearing too a point he
went way beyond endearing to Neanderthal. His absolute obsession and absorption
with beauty was fascinating. I liked seeing how Beth opened him up to more
feeling and depth of emotion – he wasn’t miraculously ‘fixed’ by the end of the
book but he was better (this is good. I despise the miraculous fix). My only
complaint is that his character was occasionally inconsistent – at one instance
he talks of how he is unable to talk when he gets too overwhelmed or angry but
at the next moment he’s screaming ‘Fuck you’ in a man’s face (and I quote).
Beth, for her
part, was a fantastic heroine. I loved watching her stand up to all the
patriarchal men around her. I loved her sass, her loss of inhibition, her
beauty, honesty, and trusting nature. She didn’t even seem out of place for the
era despite her un-lady-like tendencies. She was strong-willed, stubborn, and I
loved her for it. Ian was indeed a lucky man to end up with her. There’s not
too much more to say about her than that – she’s well-developed, well-rounded,
intelligent… all-around a good woman with a good heart.
The plot was a bit
tired. It was clearly overused and didn’t always make sense. Frequently,
conclusions were reached on assumptions. A lot of the time it required me to
suspend my belief in reality and good police work which, frequently, I was
happy to do. But it still niggled at the back of my mind. Other than that, I
liked her style of writing – the prose flowed nicely and the dialogue was
excellent (especially between Beth and Hart and Beth and Fellows). I liked that
some of Beth’s journal entries were included in the book – the change in
narrative perspective was nice. Often, the reader is in the hero’s head and can
miss the female perspective. Not here! I appreciated how the setting of the
book appeared to be constantly changing - it was a good reflection of Ian's
restlessness. Finally, there were some really poignant scenes between the
brothers. While I didn’t find all of the romantic scenes especially powerful,
all of the scenes between the brothers pulled at my heart-strings. This looks
to be a promising series and I look forward to reading the other books.
Favorite Quotes:
“‘I find that a Ming bowl is like a
woman’s breast,’ Sir Lyndon Mather said to Ian Mackenzie, who held the bowl in
question between his fingertips. ‘The swelling curve, the creamy pallor. Don’t
you agree?’
Ian couldn’t think of a woman who
would be flattered to be compared to a bowl, so he didn’t bother to nod.”
“‘Find her,’ Ian said. He jerked
Fellows upright. ‘You’re a detective. Detect something.’”
“Sexy”ness rating: Hot… except for the cunny.
Why, why, why would you EVER use the word cunny? I know about historical
accuracy… but there are fewer words less appealing to come across in the middle
of a hot sex scene. Really.
Overall Rating: B
Bottom
Line: Well-developed characters, a moderately interesting (if not terribly
extended) plot to keep things moving, some interesting twists and the classic
I’m-pregnant-I-promise-you-won’t-be-like-your-dad-honey happy ending, if you
like historicals this one will likely suit your tastes.
Pages: 323
Published: April 28, 2009
Genre: Historical
