Action: -- / Emotion: ♣♣♣♣ / Romance: ♥♥♥♥. ♥ / Sensuous: ♦♦.♦ / Suspense: ♠.♠
Action: 0 / Emotion: 4 / Romance: 4.5 / Sensuous: 2.5 / Suspense: 1.5 / Regency Flavor: 3.5 / Humor: 2 / Tears: 2
" . . . I've heard you are considered, at best, a rake about town, and at worst, a debaucher of women and maiden sensibilities. I certainly hope you are not going to ply your trade here this evening."Beverley Kendall's second book of the series, A Taste of Desire, grabbed immediate interest as Lord Harold "Harry" Bertram, Marquess of Bradford, all but begged Thomas to take his trouble-making daughter, Amelia, under his wing when he left for a three-month business trip to America. Thomas made his liking for the request (and his dislike of the disrespectful termagant) bold and vivid:
"If you requested I take your place at the guillotine or the hangman's noose I would consider that less of an imposition."Did not think much of Thomas in the first book of the series because was looking at him through the eyes of his sister as he offered strong opposition to Missy's fervent efforts to marry the love of her life, one of Thomas's best friends, James Rutherford. A Taste of Desire presents an entirely different picture of Thomas. Thomas became Viscount at the young age of seventeen and was forced to bear the responsibility for a mother and three sisters. Thankfully, Harry mentored Thomas and helped him climb his way out of his inherited financial destitution. Not only did they become successful business partners, but Harry and Thomas bonded -- almost to the point of a father and son relationship.
And therein lies the basis for Amelia's hatred of Thomas. Harry cannot figure out why Amelia has made it her mission in life to create havoc to his steadfast lifestyle; first by running away to marry Mr. Joseph Cromwell, a merchant's son, and just last week by trying to elope with the gambling, fortune-hunting Lord Clayborough. Thankfully, Harry has managed to keep Amelia's scandalous behavior from being made known to the ever-present, censoring eyes of the ton.
Having experienced some of the same misconceptions regarding a parent, it was very easy to identify with Amelia's determination to read negative connotations into everything her father did. Instead of seeing that Harry was trying to keep her from ending up as the unhappy, destitute wife of a gambler, all Amelia can see is that her father resents her for costing him so much money in providing her clothing and paying off the men with whom she runs away. While Amelia's harsh, eyebrow raising behavior should be justified to promote the emotional angst of the heroine, Kendall seemed to spend way too much time on Amelia's every mistrustful thought towards her father. Amelia's perception of her father is:
"Only when she was embroiled in a scrape that might affect her standing in society was she worthy of his full attention."Near the end of the book, Amelia reconciles with her father, and receives an explanation about why Harry seemed to constantly ignore her. If ever there was a moral to this book, it has to be "do not judge your parent by one action made on your thirteenth birthday."
Having read the back cover synopsis, we all know how Amelia came to be under Thomas's watchful eye. After Amelia eviscerated Thomas' prowess as a lover before the ton at Lady Coverly's season-ending ball, Thomas decides to make Amelia back up her words. Thus, Amelia finds herself working for Thomas (as a secretary of sorts) while residing in Stoneridge Hall with Thomas, his mother and two sisters.
Amelia is determined to be the author of her own destiny so she writes Lord Clayborough telling him to make his way to Devon so they can elope from there. Amelia is not the only lady writing letters. Now that Louisa Pendergrass, Duchess of Bedford, (the girl who taught a youthful Thomas that women preferred a title and wealth to young love) was widowed, she began a campaign to find her way into Thomas' life once again. Thomas was not the least bit tempted -- all her letters found their way into the fire. The purpose of this little venture into Thomas' past was featured to allow readers to witness Thomas' unforgiving nature and to give readers a small taste of "the big misunderstanding" before Thomas and Amelia found their happily-ever-after.
Kendall does a great job exploring the romantic inclinations of Thomas and Amelia as they are both puzzled by the attraction they feel towards the other. As the story progresses, Thomas and Amelia are fighting their sexual awareness of each other as they slice wounds upon the other with sharp words. Amelia does not restrict her sharp tongue to Thomas. She becomes almost unlikeable when she inappropriately wounds Dorothy Roland, an innocent miss who is being thrown at Thomas by her domineering mother during a meal at Stoneridge Hall.
One character is written into the book for an inexplicable reason; namely, Elizabeth, Countess of Cresswell, Amelia's only friend. Wondered why Kendall threw this acquaintance into the mix. To illustrate that Amelia was capable of having a friend? Elizabeth was never introduced, nor did Amelia ever "remember" how that friendship developed and flourished. Loose ends like this are frustrating. (Kendall did the same thing in Sinful Surrender with Missy's best friend, Claire Rutland.)
Thomas' benevolence towards Camille Foxworth, the sister of Officer Marcus Foxworth, another character mentioned as Thomas' good friend in the first book of the series, is featured again in A Taste of Desire. It was incredibly difficult to like Amelia (even though it was obvious she was acting out of unacknowledged jealously) when she was spitefully rude to poor Camille, who was asked to become Amelia's chaperone. Surely there is a book out there for Camille, the spinster who looks at Thomas with longing in her eyes.
When Thomas and Amelia do make love, Kendall uses all the right words and Thomas is amazingly masterful, but somehow Kendall fails to deliver the heat and magic that would render the scene full of sensuality. Maybe it was the way Amelia accidently came to be in Thomas' room . . . that just did not work. But it seems to have worked for Amelia, because after making love to Thomas that first time, Amelia finds it difficult to stay away from him.
Lord Alex Cartwright, friend to Thomas and James, appears in A Taste of Desire to flirt with Amelia, and point out to Thomas that he is jealous because he fell in love. Kendall also paves the way for Alex's book (fourth book in the series, An Heir of Deception) by reiterating that Alex does not get along with his father, the Duke of Hastings, and is a dangerous man. Wish Kendall had spent a bit more time developing the camaraderie between Thomas, Alex and James when they were together during the Christmas season.
There were two bothersome "name" issues. Again, Thomas' mother appeared in the book as the Viscountess Armstrong, but her first name was never revealed. Secondly, why doesn't Thomas have a title name different from his last name. Note: {1} James Rutherford, Earl of Windmere; {2} Harold Bertram, Marquess of Bradford; {3} Viscount Thomas Armstrong. This doesn't feel correct.
A Taste of Desire is a good, enjoyable read, but it shall languish away into obscurity on the bookshelf as it will not be added to my "to be re-read" list.
--Vonda M. Reid (Wednesday, March 23, 2011 : 5:07 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. | 05-2011 | All's Fair In Love and Seduction | Mr. Derrick Wendel | Viscountess Elizabeth Armstrong |
| 04. | 09-2011 | An Heir of Deception | Lord Alex Cartwright | Charlotte Langston Rutherford |
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A Taste of Desire Quotations:
279 . . . Feeling again was exhilarating, like coming back to life. But it had its dangers, . . .
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A Taste of Desire Reviews:
| Rated | Posted | Site | Notes, Comments, Etc. |
| B- / hot | 02-01-2011 | All About Romance | |
| 4.12 average | {14 reviews} | Amazon | as of: May 3, 2011 |
| 4.0 | 04-...-2011 | Coffee Time Romance | |
| -- | 01-03-2011 | Dear Author | No Review / Interview |
| 4.0 | 01-04-2011 | Diva's Bookcase | also posted on Good Reads, Shelfari |
| 3.77 average | {30 reviews} | Good Reads | as of: May 3, 2011 |
| 5.0 | 05-03-2011 | Joyfully Reviewed | also posted on Amazon |
| -- | 02-04-2011 | Monica [Burns] & Her Muse | Kendall Guest Post |
| 3.0 | -- | Nocturne Romance Reads | also posted on Good Reads, Shelfari |
| -- | 01-06-2011 | Romance Bandits | Kendall Guest Post |
| 2.0 | 01-06-2011 | Romance Reviews By Alice | |
| 3.0 / hot | 11-11-2010 | RT (Romantic Times) Book Review | |
| 3.33 average | {6 reviews} | Shelfari | as of: May 3, 2011 |
| 3.0 | 02-...-2011 | The Bibliophilic Book Blog | |
| B | 01-03-2011 | The Book Pushers | |
| -- | 12-30-2010 | The Romance Dish | No Review / Interview |
| 2.0 | 03-13-2011 | The Romance Reader | |
| 4.0 | 03-17-2011 | Tigris Eden's Garden of Books | also posted on Good Reads |
| 3.50 | 05-04-2011 | Wolf Bear Does Books | shorter post on Amazon, Good Reads, Shelfari |
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♥ Disclaimer: I Purchased This Book
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