Action: -- / Emotion: ♣♣♣♣.♣ / Romance: ♥♥♥♥.♥ / Sensuous: ♦♦♦.♦ / Suspense: ♠
Action: 0 / Emotion: 4.25 / Romance: 4.5 / Sensuous: 3.5 / Suspense: 1 / Regency Flavor: 3 / Humor: 8 / Tears: 4.5
Have no wish to devalue the enormous effort that this debut author put forth to get her first book published, however, Beverley Kendall's first novel, Sinful Surrender, is a regency novel that could at times be engrossing, but many more times the characters' personalities tended to lack the depth that well-established authors have managed to create. Not to say that Kendall did not at times evoke the stronger emotions of laughter and tears -- because she did, but the crux of the problem seems to be the tone of the story.
Having read regency romances for years, used to wonder why the characters never talked "normal" (meaning -- expected the conversations between the characters in the book to talk like people speak today). In regencies, the characters always seemed to have a formality about them that never went away. It is now obvious why authors have portrayed their regency characters with such propriety -- when regency characters speak in modern-ese, the "Regency Flavor" disappears from the book. Such is the case in Sinful Surrender -- the characters' too often engaged in behaviors that felt too modern.
For instance: (James to Alex): "Regardless, she's an innocent and his bloody sister. Each would be a disaster in and of itself, but together it's nothing short of suicide. Anyway, she's hardly my type."Millicent "Missy" Armstrong has had a crush on one of her brother's best friends, James Rutherford, since she was ten. In the Prologue, Missy (at the youthful, romantic age of eighteen) manages to kiss James so he will know she is in love with him. James has avoided Missy for the last three years because Thomas Armstrong has warned him away from his sister. James' tendency towards rakish behavior is emphasized throughout the book, but Kendall enacts none of such behavior. (Kendall tells us what we are supposed to be feeling instead of having James' actions elicit the feeling of a rakish lifestyle.)
It took a long while to understand why James felt he was not worthy of Missy's love. Kept expecting him to have some deep, dark secret for his strong aversion to marriage, rather than just the emotional devastation he felt at witnessing his parent's marriage. James was determined that he would never fall in love with a woman and turn into his father -- a man who had to grovel for sexual favors from his cold, bitter wife.
Missy, on the other hand, is all about finding a way to make the man of her dreams fall in love with her. James has returned to attend the Viscountess Armstrong's annual winter ball at Stoneridge Hall and Missy is determined to point out to James that his feelings for her are not sisterly. It is amazing how the regency-era Missy is constantly managing to pursue James into arenas that are totally inappropriate for a "young miss." Missy dares James to kiss her. Naturally, when James finally determines he can remain disconnected, he gives Missy the kiss she desires -- only to find his plan has backfired. James wants Missy -- and lectures himself throughout the remainder of the book for his carnal desire of her.
But Missy is on a mission, and nothing is off limits -- not even going to James' room in her nightdress. Kendall is very good at writing sensual, heated love scenes. James barely manages to send Missy away a virgin that night. Missy, however, is not the only woman out to seduce James. He receives a surprise visit from the heroine of the mini, almost-secondary romance featured in Sinful Surrender.
Kendall makes the plot more intricate and a tad bit suspenseful (as in: how is James going to get out of this mess) by introducing the ton's reigning "ice maiden," Lady Victoria Spencer, the daughter of the Marquess of Cornwall. Missy is not the only woman shocking James with her inappropriate appearances. Victoria comes to James' townhouse in the middle of the night to seduce him. James wakes up the next morning with no memory of what happened the night before.
Another thing Kendall did really well was drop appropriate hints to the reader as to who Lady Victoria really loved. Sir George Clifton has just returned from fighting in the Crimean peninsula and Missy notices his distraction as he dances with her. And James notices that Clifton gives him mutinous looks from his table at White's. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize Victoria and George have fallen in love.
Amazingly, Kendall wrote Lady Victoria's character with such depth and infused her with such inner turmoil, that it was difficult to hate her for trapping James into properly courting her so the ton would not be surprised when they rapidly got married. The main reason why it was easy to have compassion for Victoria was James' introduction to his future mother-in-law. The shrill, ubër-snob marchioness was all about getting her daughter married to a peer -- and Sir George was not on the Marchioness' list of acceptable men to marry. Much later in the book, Victoria revealed to James why she trapped him -- about the disaster the Marchioness made of her elder sister, Lillian's life because she dared to fall in love with a merchant.
The fact that James had succumbed to Missy's charms when she visited him at his townhouse the day before, made Lady Victoria's announcement that he was the father of her unborn child all the more devastating. (Somehow Missy's ability to make her way over to James' townhouse doesn't seem realistic -- but, then again, this is fiction.) Missy had no way of knowing that James had already determined that he would do the honorable thing with Missy before Lady Victoria's announcement. Missy was understandably devastated when she heard the rumors that a wedding and baby were in James' future.
Then the confusing part of the story takes place. Missy has been pursuing James -- almost to the point of stalking him. She loses him to Lady Victoria. Thomas aides James in extracting him from the unwanted marriage. Then when James goes to Missy to demand she marry him, she turns from the single-minded, romantic-driven, "get her man" girl into a strong-willed, "I won't settle for anything less than love" woman. The abrupt switch of Missy's personality was difficult to swallow. It seemed far more likely that the Missy who had been inhabiting the book until that moment, would have thought something like, "Yes, I'll marry James and after I'm his wife, he will finally fall in love with me." But, of course, it was necessary for Missy to change personalities so Kendall could give the reader the requisite "hero must grovel for his mistreatment of the heroine" scenario.
There were several supporting characters of note that added extra dimension to the story. Kendall spent just enough time developing their personalities to make them interesting, and prompted a desire to learn more about them.
For some reason did not really like Thomas Armstrong. Sure he became head of the family at the tender age of seventeen and somehow managed to turn the family's financial destitution into a fortune, but his determination to thwart Missy's efforts to marry James (because they were fellow rakes) seemed callous. Even though Thomas twice had a one-on-one, brother and sister discussion about how he was trying to do what was best for Missy, his lack of respect for Missy's feelings for James made him come across as uncaring. It was difficult to feel the camaraderie (that was so important to James) between Thomas and James. Wouldn't Thomas have known about what a truly honorable and caring person James was if they were best friends of such long duration?
There were brief glimpses of the charming, level-headed third friend, Alex Cartwright. Naturally, it was Alex who kept Thomas from beating James to a pulp when he found out James has compromised his sister. Alex seems mysterious, and Kendall makes one want to find out more about him. Alex's story is the fourth book in the series, An Heir of Deception.
Missy's best friend, Claire Rutland, made frequent appearances at Missy's side -- to support Missy during her moments of desolation. She even elicited a slight glimmering spark of interest when it was obvious she was not going to tell Missy who she had fallen in love with during her first season. It would have been nice if Kendall had spent a bit more time developing the friendship between Claire and Missy than she did on the time Missy was thinking about how much she loved and wanted James.
And this is minor (and maybe tacky), but as many times as Missy's mother appeared in the story, we never learned her first name. She was beautiful, accomplished, a wonderful supportive mother, but the fact that she was never given an identity beyond "the Viscountess" almost made her a non-entity. But she was interesting -- and there was the potential for her to have her own romance with one of Thomas' business partners, Mr. Derrick Wendel. Just want to know her name!
While there were times when Sinful Surrender was so engrossing, it was difficult to put down, there were just too many things absent from the book to make it a favorite. Although Kendall evoked the magical feelings of sensuality during the love-making scenes, other aspects to the story were missing. {1} There was no adventurousness to the story. {2} The tad bit of suspense was intriguing, but short-lived. {3} The characters "felt" too modernistic. {4} The characters seemed to "think" about their love, rather than "feel" it.
Although Sinful Surrender will not be added to "re-read" list, am anxious to read Thomas' story, book two of the series, A Taste of Desire.
--Vonda M. Reid (Monday; February 14, 2011 : 12:22 p.m.)
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Books In The Series: "The Elusive Lords Series"
| # | Date | Book Title | Hero | Heroine |
| 01. | 01-2010 | Sinful Surrender . . . . . . . . . . . . | James Rutherford, Earl of Windmere. . . . | Millicent "Missy" Eleanor Armstrong. . . |
| 02. | 01-2011 | A Taste of Desire . . . . . . . . . . . | Thomas Armstrong, Viscount . . . . . . . . | Amelia Bertram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
| 03. | 04-2011 | All's Fair In Love and Seduction. | Mr. Derrick Wendel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | Viscountess Elizabeth Armstrong. . . . . . . |
| 04. | 08-2011 | An Heir of Deception . . . . . . . . . | Lord Alex Cartwright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . | Charlotte Langston Rutherford. . . . . . . . . |
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Sinful Surrender Quotations:
29 . . . he fell into the vast category of all men other than James . . .
34 . . . She was his. Always had been and would always be . . .
108 . . . It was disconcerting, this power she seemed to have over him -- this ability to shatter his control so effortlessly.
260 . . . Decisions made when tempers are still high . . . are usually those we come to regret."
306 . . . The man was not a day cold and she could still find fault with him. . . . Would she allow her sons to grieve their father without her poisonous barbs?
319 . . . if she allowed it, this man would break her heart all over again.
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Sinful Surrender Reviews:
| Rated | Posted | Site | Notes, Comments, Etc. |
| 4.00 | 08-..-2010 | A Romance Review | |
| 3.88 average | {17 reviews} | Amazon | as of: 02-21-2011 |
| 3.81 average | {37 reviews} | Good Reads | as of: 02-21-2011 |
| 4.00 | 01-09-2010 | Harriet Klausner | |
| 58 out of 100 | {unknown} | Mrs. Giggles | |
| 5.00 | 01-11-2010 | My Book Obsession | |
| 4.50 | 06-11-2010 | Romance Junkies | |
| 4.00 | 03-30-2010 | RT Book Reviews | |
| 3.80 average | {5 reviews} | Shelfari | as of: 02-21-2011 |
| 4.00 | 01-05-2010 | Smexy Books | |
| 4.50 | 01-23-2010 | The Book Pushers | |
| 3.00 | 02-21-2011 | Wolf Bear Does Books |
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♥ Disclaimer: I purchased this book.
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