Thursday 28 March 2013

#319 (#37 of 2013) - The Clarendon Rose ~ Kathryn Anthony *NEW AUTHOR

The Clarendon Rose ~ Kathryn Anthony


Kindle > Books > Fiction > Romance > Historical

Description:

Word spread through the countryside like the whisper of the wind through the branches of the trees: he’s back. 

The prodigal son had returned. 

But that was one of the few things the rumours could agree upon. Some claimed he was a changed man—ready, finally, to shoulder the responsibilities that he had shirked for so many years. Others claimed that any apparent changes were merely a ruse—once a ne’er do well, always a ne’er do well. And the new duke had been far worse than a ne’er do well: he had been a rake, a degenerate and a scoundrel. 

The other thing that everyone agreed upon, whether tenant, servant or villager, was that it was a fine thing that Miss Tina had finally gotten engaged to Lord Edmund. That, at least, would keep her safe from the prodigal’s degeneracy—for surely even the duke could not have sunk so low as to seduce his own brother’s betrothed!

Valentina Merriweather remembers all too well the dark, broodingly handsome duke from years earlier, when he had come to visit his family estates. Now, back from his wild travels to the far reaches of the earth, he is darker and more tortured than ever. Tina soon finds that she is attracted to him with an urgency that spells danger for her peace of mind, her conscience, and for the most valuable commodity that a genteel woman of her murky lineage and meagre fortune possesses: her reputation.


Product Details:

I managed to snag this as a freebie Kindle download, but at the time of writing the post it is listed as £1.87 HERE.

Medium length - circa 245 pages


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Summary:

For me this wasn't the most scintillating read of my life, but neither was it bad.

I did loose focus during the first third of the book, however, the plot and place picked up over the remainder.  There were a couple of typos, and the truly irritating sentence towards the end "....he pulled on some pants" .... really, they didn't wear pants.  I do feel that if you want to write an historical novel it does behove you to try to stay at least true to the details, but that could just be me.  I'd like to find out others opinion on that one.

The characters at points left me a little underwhelmed, so all in all I think that it is worthy of a 3.5 star rating.  As far as an Amazon rating is concerned though it was not worthy of upgrading to a 4, so it will be a three.

Hugs

Kay


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