Seduction & Scandal (Brethren Guardians) [Mass Market Paperback]

Charlotte Feathertstone was a new historical romance author for me and this is definately not the last I will read from her.

Isabella is a aspiring novalist and the story starts with the beginning of the novel she is writing. She was an interesting character, with flaws and strengths, that made her seem more human compared to some heroines you can get in this genre. From the first page (do I say page when I was reading via Kindle?) I was hooked. Lord Death / Black was a dark sexy brooding hero....in fact I kept imagining David Boreanaz when reading from his perspective. Definately drool worthy.

I also really enjoyed reading about the other secondary characters and especially look forward to reading the next 2 books in the series and Lucy and Sussex's story.

The writing style in this book was very good, very descriptive without being too much so and if you like a good love scene, there were definately plenty of them and very hot, but not too much so, that it was soft porn. They didn't disrupt any of the storyline, which was very interesting and I am dying to get to the next book and see who the bad guy actually is.

I will definately read more from this author in the future. Great book!

"THE FIRST TIME I MET DEATH, IT WAS AT A BALL AND WE DANCED A WALTZ..."

Well, with an opening line as intriguing as that I found my already high expectations sky-rocketing. I admit that I don't usually read historical romances as I tend to be rather against the patronisation of women and the whole death-by-corset thing they had going on back then. This, however, had excellent ratings by the few lucky enough to get an ARC copy and also that title speaks to me - I cannot resist a bit of scandal (or seduction, for that matter).

As one of my first historical romances (I'm not going to count Outlander), the novel was fairly good. I've heard it said before that Charlotte Featherstone writes with a poetic style that you either love or hate... well, I beg to differ because it was just rather so-so. I like beautiful, flowy writing; I think that's why I can't resist those books written in verse. However, apart from the opening that made me sit up straight and take notice, the rest of the book's writing bored me somewhat. In fact, there were quite a few things about this book that were, at best, dull.

The romantic aspect held all of my attention. I found the love scenes both sweet and steamy, and you could also see how the relationship would develop from curiosity and attraction to love and caring... without any of the unconvincing jumps to insta-love that romance novels today seem highly fond of. Isabella was a far better developed character than Lord Black, as a reader I felt an instant connection with her that was only strengthened by the delving into her past and writings. I loved the idea that she wrote as an escape from a society that holds such high and restricting expectations of people - and especially women. Lord Black, on the other hand, never seemed real to me. I mean that we never got inside his head properly and I felt constantly distanced from him throughout the novel, despite the author's attempts to bring out his character through discovering the mysteries of his past. I did think he was incredibly sexy and dark and dangerous and many other characteristics that are attractive in a romantic hero... but he was also highly one-dimensional.

The thing about romance stories is that romance alone is rarely enough. There needs to be a subplot or two going on to make it work - maybe a mystery or family problem to fill the blanks in between our lovers getting together. This book had that, but I found it incredibly weak and boring. I didn't care at all for the mysterious murder stories, the seances, and the attempts to delve into a bit of Greek mythology. If I'd just read the romance scenes then I would have enjoyed the book a whole lot more, but then it wouldn't have even been long enough to get published as a full novel.

I'm not sorry I read it and I would recommend the book to fans of the romance genre but I thought there were a great deal of things that needed improvement - most importantly, it needed a more engaging subplot.

Seduction & Scandal was my very first Charlotte Featherstone novel, but maybe it wasn't lucky that I was introduced to her writing by this novel...

It all started out rather well, despite Seduction & Scandal being heavy on the gothic and overly dramatic side (reminded me a lot of Jane Eyre), I enjoyed it and found it an entertaining and quirky almost parody-like historical romance. I even enjoyed the over-the-top melodramatic lines and scenes, but unfortunately in the second half of the novel it all went downhill.

At first there were just a few details which were nagging me, but after a while there were so many that they hindered my enjoyment and I couldn't immerse myself in the story anymore. I'm sorry, this will not be a coherent review, but rather a string of pearls of my thoughts of what I disliked and liked about the novel and the story.

My first complaint was the hero's name: Earl of Black. Really? First of all it doesn't sound very aristocratic, second of all I'm all for speaking names, but can't they be a bit more subtle? But I even got over my first dislike of his name, however when he said to the heroine "Just call me Black." and she did! It left me stunned. (She even called him Black after they first made love, even though she previously called him by his first name, talk about jarring you out of the afterglow scene..) This detail always made me stop while reading to remark how utterly ridiculous it sounded. But let's get on shall we?

The heroine Isabella is a poor girl, who after the death of her grandmother and mother was taken in by some rich and noble relatives. She lives now with her cousin, Lucy and Lucy's father. Isabella fancies herself a novellist and writes historical romances in her spare time. Her current story is a tale of seduction between a young girl (=herself) and the dark lord of Death.

All through the novel I was completely puzzled and constantly pondered why she would write about sensual love scenes with Death when she was absolutely terrified of death and dying?

"How could I forget his kiss? I couldn't. My body ached for more - it longed for Death and his dark embrace."
How can she have this romantic obsession, crush on Death when she keeps having terrifying nightmares?

Isabella is not my favourite kind of heroine (she is fragile and weak, prone to fainting), but I could have accepted her if she had acted at least sensibly. However, this was not the case. One of a recurring line of hers particularly irritated me then made me laugh at its sheer ridiculousness. She states several times that

"I'm of hearty Yorkshire stock, it'll take more than a cuff on the head to make me swoon."

But she is a faint, swooning girl with a fragile, weak constution and constant headaches. So this repetitive contradiction between her frequent declarations and her actual state really got on my nerves.

The writing is very over the top, melodramatic and gothic, those who love Jane Eyre and the old gothic romances will enjoy this.

"Silent as wraiths and as unseen as ghosts, the three of them dispersed deep into the shadows, their ancient order calling them forth to find the relics, and protect them from greedy humans who would use them for their dark powers."

And even though I don't like cheesy dialogues, for some time I could tolerate and even have fun with the story, but after a while all the overly passionate and melodramatic declarations stifled me.

"You'll not be alone tonight, Isabella," he said. "I won't leave you in the dark. Tonight, I'll keep the shadows away."
"When I saw the blood...-" she shuddered "-my heart shattered."
"He was aiming for you, and when I realized that, my heart stopped."

This much syrupy sweetness was just too sticky for me.

Seduction & Scandal is the first book in a new historical romance trilogy which is about three heroes who are freemasons. I only know the basics about freemasonry, but I know it was very hushhush and handled in big secrecy, so I found it improbable that here the freemason members spoke of the ritual, the lodge, etc. freely in front of non members and women during dinner parties!?

However, my biggest problem and complaint was regarding the romance: we get some glimpses into the hero's inner thoughts and it is clear that he is very much in love with the heroine, has been for some time now, even long before the heroine noticed him. But despite this, he only ever speaks of his lust for her, how much he wants to bed her, feel her beneath himself, etc.

"...from the moment I first saw you, I knew that I would one day have you naked in my arms."

Please, let's stop for a moment. The heroine is a young, innocent virgin. Of course such talk frightens her a bit (even if it arouses her), but besides that, due to her mother's scandals caused by her passionate and immoral behaviour, as well as the dictates of society and propriety she justly refuses his dishonourable attempts.

Doesn't he think that if he first mentioned his love for her and proposed marriage, her biggest concern that he will have his way with her and then discard her in disgarce would be moot? Especially since he IS in love with her!

"What has gotten into you?" she asked.
"You have gotten into me. You're in my blood. I want you beneath me, the scent of you on my body, the taste of you on my tongue."

Normally these words would induce shivers and appear sensual, but Black sounds like a broken record, always repeating himself, only talking about lust, sex and seduction, never once of love, tenderness and caring.

"There must be a way, he told himself. Some way to make Isabella see that life with Knighton would be a disaster. If only he could make her believe in his love. Make her understand that love was like an endless ocean, with no beginning or end."

Err what about opening your mouth and saying plainly: I love you Isabella? I think it would work better than simply thinking these worrying thoughts telepathicly...

But then he commits something I have a hard time forgiving a romantic hero for (if I can at all): he tries to blackmail Isabella to have sex with him or else he will ruin Lucy reputation. Forcing a woman (he declares he loves above everything) to have sex with him? A man could do no worse thing than that! And his tendency to start his seduction, repeatedly starting to ravish her against the wall when others are just outside in the corridor and waiting for them to appear in a few minutes? I love to forget reality when reading novels, but this is plainly ridiculous.

The writing is very evocative and paints the dark and foggy atmosphere of the story masterfully. Besides the dramatic and passionate overtones, a few winks of humour also appear in the novel:

"Why...yer blackmailin' me."
"Call it strenuously persuading you. It sounds so much more polite."

Verdict: Despite my quite detailed pet peeves of the novel Seduction & Scandal wasn't as bad as it sounds. It could have been much better, but if you are looking for an atmospheric, gothic and over the top historical romance you might enjoy it. Despite my problems with Seduction & Scandal I will read the second book as I am curious to read about the other characters and hope that as this big storyline of personification/crushing on Death won't be present, it will be better.