The Untamed Heiress is the sixth regency period novel I've read authored by Julia Justiss and the heroine she created in Helene Lambarth is unlike any other heroine I've encountered in this entire genre over the past several years. Some of the things Helene says will rock you back on your heels. In this particular genre nearly all story lines are essentially the same, to wit: the hero and heroine must go through a number of misunderstandings, hardships, and other hurdles before they get together at the end of the story and all is well in their lives. But Ms. Justiss makes the journey from the beginning to the anticipated conclusion of the story more than ordinarily interesting largely through Helene's character. As a bonus the author throws in some unexpected twists and turns in the plot to keep the reader's attentiion focused. After reading six of her novels I must say that I am impressed by this lady's creative imagination and her talent for effectively getting her ideas into words. I particularly enjoyed a lot of the heroine's dialogue and found myself laughing more than once, which is certainly a more pleasant response than I've had from reading trial and appellate legal briefs for nearly 40 years.
For readers who have not read any of Ms. Justiss's many novels yet you should know that she is of the tribe of modern writers who are not reticent about penning explicit sex scenes, and The Untamed Heiress is no exception. I concede the philosophical point that authors can do whatever they please with characters of their own creation, but I have grave reservations about taking liberties with characters of another author's creation such as Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. To the best of my knowledge Julia Justiss is not among such writers.
I give this book a strong four stars with the conviction that maybe I'm being a little stingy. It's not often that you come across a character like Helene Lambarth in modern literature relating to the regency period.
