“NOTE: First of all I would just like to say that my review will contain spoilers. Also I encourage readers to read the book (Maybe not buy it...) themselves regardless of my positive or negative review.
REVIEW: Adrienne was in a horrible relationship with a manipulative fiancée that planned to set her up to take the fall in a crime. Since he was a handsome man, with a horrible name, (he’s called “Ebberhard” and it is just a dumb name) that made her knees go weak she vowed to never be used again by another gorgeous man, even though we all know looks don’t equal trust worthiness. (Can you imagine the opposite if she thought all ugly people were trustworthy?) Anyway, Adrienne thinks one equals the other and swears off anything sexy, which of course means she’s going to meet someone even sexier because that’s how karma works.
Enter Hawk, a notorious lover that has bedded an absurd number of women. He’s pleasured so many women, so well that they sing his praises all the way into the fey courts. The fey Queen claims to her husband that indeed Hawk has pleased her and goes into great detail describing the truth to the many rumors of Hawk’s prowess. Her husband is enraged and so his one of her former lovers. Both men come together to plot the downfall of this legendary Lothario and look to the future in order to bring him his match in the form of a devil-may-care Venus. Setting their sights on Adrienne and her current guard against beautiful men, they feel she is the perfect steely woman that will not yield to his beauty or expert tongue. Adrienne is sent through time and conveniently placed into the position of bride to be for Hawk due to extenuating circumstances.
Hawk expected to be married to a crazed woman knowing his expected bride had problems was understood by all. She was spoken of all throughout the land, known as Mad Janet Comyon, an insane spinster of a woman that was hidden away for most of her life. He made plans to not welcome her to his home and not notice her even though they were husband and wife. This was something he had to deal with like the sun coming up every morning. Instead he finds an angel standing before his home with curves in all the right places and eyes that beckoned his soul, you know, all that love stuff floated through his mind and like any male used to getting his way with women, he had to have her. Thinking she would surely want him and all he would have to do is turn on his usual charm he begins to court her relentlessly while Adrienne thwarts his attempts because she wants nothing to do with another beautiful man and Hawk’s not the only one after her charms.
MY THOUGHTS:
This book was “okay.” I know all romance novels have to portray their characters as being physically pleasing but the main character in this one nicknamed “Hawk,” was portrayed as perfect and oh so gorgeous. Then he was paired up with a female lead that was so beautifully perfect she aroused the interest of a fey man (I found that a little hard to believe since they are otherworldly beautiful.) I can’t really feel chemistry between characters when all that’s driving their hardware is beauty because that’s the kind of stuff that fades. I know authors are trying to get the idea across that each character is respectively handsome and beautiful but I feel things like that can be done without over killing the audience with their looks. For instance, the characters themselves can have a mutual attraction to each other that makes each feel they are beautiful beyond words. But when all the secondary characters start chanting about their beauty, sexual prowess, and charm its just overkill for me.
Hawk’s sexual prowess was bit overdone for such a time period, especially with no contraception and so many sexual diseases out there. I’m no historian but as a reader that made me think how it was possible he got away scott free after bedding SO many women. Lord knows he might have caught something, let alone had a couple kids on the side (he couldn’t control the women who wanted to have his kids out of possessive jealously or lust like Esmerelda)… even before he was the King’s whore and forced to do it constantly.
The heroine was very dull, she was thrusted back into time and was instantly lusted after by two men. She was not the type of girl to get up and try to get herself back home. She just sat there and let the guys play tug of war with her. She was more worried about whether Hawk would come and seduce her every night rather then worrying about what her life might mean if she actually stayed in this century or found a way home tomorrow. She only worried when it was necessary for her to worry like when Hawk went to Adam and had him throw the chess piece (a piece of the future and a possible link for her to go back home) into the fire. She bounces between being interested in going home and liking Scotland because it lacks her ex-fiancee Ebberhard. I didn’t think that was a good reason to forget about the place you’ve lived in since you were born, didn’t she have parents, a job, a favorite food, or friends that concerned her? (I know she worried about her cat but they do have those in Scotland) Adrienne was also one of those “untouched angel virgins” that often grace the pages of romance novels. She’s the type of lead that is so gorgeous but has never had sex, it truly baffles the mind, especially when she had a equally beautiful fiancée before Hawk that was Satan-like-evil. If she’s so weak with these kind of men I’m sure he would have worked on her like Hawk and *poof* there goes that virginity.
On the positive side I enjoyed the Hawk’s possessive nature and enjoyed the absurdly long time it took him to get Adrienne, simply because it was interesting to see him so frustrated. He would bark orders, rip clothes, and recite poetry all in vain in order to get her affections, I found his antics amusing. I recommend this book to romance readers that like a nice long chase between the hero and heroine with a little magic thrown in.
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Lady Athena wrote this review Wednesday, June 18 2008.
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