Historical Romance Book Club discussion

Discussion thread for the Second BOTM of February, 2020. Please remember to use the spoiler tags when necessary! (Please see 'some html is ok' for instructions.)

Happy Reading!

Ravished


The New York Times bestselling author of Rendezvous presents a spellbinding new Regency historical destined to be a hot beach read this summer. Moving from the cozy confines of a tiny seaside village named Upper Biddleton to the glittering crush of a fashionable London soiree, Quick offers an enthralling tale of a mismatched couple poised to discover the rapture of love.

There was no doubt about it. What Miss Harriet Pomeroy needed was a man. Someone powerful and clever who could help her rout the unscrupulous thieves who were using her beloved caves to hide their loot. But when Harriet summoned Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. Justin, to her aid, she could not know that she was summoning the devil himself. . . .

Dubbed the Beast of Blackthorne Hall for his scarred face and lecherous past, Gideon was strong and fierce and notoriously menacing. Yet Harriet could not find it in her heart to fear him. For in his tawny gaze she sensed a savage pain she longed to soothe . . . and a searing passion she yearned to answer. Now, caught up in the Beast’s clutches, Harriet must find a way to win his heart–and evade the deadly trap of a scheming villain who would see them parted for all time.

RAVISHED is a retelling of the classic tale, Beauty and the Beast.

I adore this but I won't be rereading with the group. I have discovered over my years on GR that there are are some old favourites where I prefer not to know the opinions of others. Particularly books that I read when I was much younger.

Loriidae wrote: "I adore this but I won't be rereading with the group. I have discovered over my years on GR that there are are some old favourites where I prefer not to know the opinions of others. Particularly bo..."

I totally get that. Particularly with this theme!

I read this with the group in 2017 and enjoyed it. It was my first book by the author. Since then, I've read a couple more; and I really enjoy Quick's writing style. It's unique and may not be for everyone. I haven't ever read any of her series though, just standalone like this one. Not sure if I'm ready for a reread yet.

Unfortunately this book isn't available on kindle Australia. Not sure whether I want to buy a paper copy or not. I used to read Amanda Quick back in the day but I'm not sure whether I will like her enough these days to make the purchase worthwhile. I will see if the library has it (probably not cos it's 1992 LOL). Hmmm. Still thinking.

My library surprisingly has quite a few Amanda Quicks, but unfortunately not this one :( I have decided not to to buy the paper book so won't be joining the read.

I just checked my library and how fortuitous, it actually has the ebook available which I quickly borrowed. The library was my primary source of Quick books about 20-25 years ago in my early HR days. Sorry, your local library doesn’t stock it, Jan.

I didn't think of library ebooks cos I rarely borrow them (I find it hard to read on my phone) but I just checked and they don't have it there either. Oh well *shrugs*

I re-read this book last year. I think I enjoyed it more the second time.

Jan wrote: "My library surprisingly has quite a few Amanda Quicks, but unfortunately not this one :( I have decided not to to buy the paper book so won't be joining the read."

My library has most of its HRs in paperback on a spinning rack. The Amanda Quick ones are in hardback in the General Fiction section and there are a ton. I haven’t checked on this one though.

Jultri wrote: "I just checked my library and how fortuitous, it actually has the ebook available which I quickly borrowed. The library was my primary source of Quick books about 20-25 years ago in my early HR day..."

Oh good deal!

I started reading it today but since it is my first time reading with a group and I am not quite sure what constitutes a spoiler alert , I'll keep my opinions to myself until I figure out what goes and what doesn't. Happy reading, everyone!

Darbella wrote: "Ana, welcome aboard! I hope your are enjoying your first botm read. I am not exactly sure of the boundaries of a spoiler alert. I try to do my best not to spoil big plot stuff, but I do tend to ran..."

thanks! So far they seem like interesting people and the setting is rather nice.

I am a few chapters into the book, it is not the type of smoothly going romance I have been reading lately (I just finished the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn for reference to what I mean) but it is enjoyable even with the occasional "OMG! I can't believe she went and did that! How will they make it out of it?!" I even covered one love scene (hope it is not a spoiler, we all knew they'll get there, right?) and all I can say is that even with suspended disbelief, I could not imagine it being remotely comfortable. But hey, I suppose true love can conquer chilly dampness and hard surfaces.

Darbella wrote: "Ana, did you also notice when Harriet got close enough to the hero in the cave to smell him that he smelled of wet wool and leather? I know most people think leather smells good, but wet wool?--sid..."

Well, Harriet obviously has very peculiar tastes. If she likes spending time in caves looking for bones and she thinks Gideon is handsome in spite of what everyone else thinks, it might be just as well that the smell of wet wool is appealing to her. Or maybe it's because it's on him.

I started reading this a bit ago because I saw it coming up in this book club, but I had to put it down at the beginning.

I liked the book at first, but the heroine’s immediate reactions to the allegations against the hero were a big no for me. The allegation itself doesn’t necessarily bother me (I get that it’s going to be a big misunderstanding or falsehood later), but I have a really big problem with the her being so incredibly dismissive of something like that based on nothing. I’d go into more detail, but I don’t want to give any spoilers? (Although what I’m talking about is within the first 10%)

I think that at least in that regard, the book shows its age. The same reaction in any modern romance would be condemned in some way by the narrative, thankfully. I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parade, that part just made the rest of it a no-go for me.

I think it's a shame you decided to stop reading it because of that, it's a really nice book and the characters are lovely and have great chemistry later on. While I must admit I never did quite understand why there seems to be such an issue with the allegations you are talking about in fiction, I think in this case the heroine's reaction is rather understandable.
(view spoiler)[ the person she first hears about it is Mrs Stone who I think we can all agree is a rather simple being and tends to exaggerate things- she surely faints a lot. If somebody like that rendered some horror story about somebody else to me, I wouldn't exactly take it to heart either. Furthermore, Harriet has written to this man and he responded quickly then appeared interested in what she had to say and offered his assistance. Her purpose is to get the cave emptied so she can work. That would be utterly defeated if she gave into hysterics over what Gideon might have done in the past and refused to collaborate with him. So with the initial source of the story combined with Harriet's tendency to focus on what she really cares about I don't think her lack of over reaction is a problem. Furthermore, I don't see what exactly she should do - fret about it at night? start investigating what had happened? Show so much apprehension that she stops dealing with The Beast? As it is obvious later in the book she is not scared in the face of proved criminals, why on Earth would she be worried about something an over-sensitive idiotic housekeeper says? Once she finds that the unsavory version about Gideon's past is universally believed she already knows him a little better and is smitten so it makes sense she would trust him in spite of everything else. (hide spoiler)]
I honestly think the way Harriet reacts was the sensible thing to write in order to move the story forward and get to the truth. I would have been disappointed if she fell in line with everybody else instead of trusting her instinct.

I understand what you mean. For me, the things she said were just so similar to the way that real life victims of abuse are discredited and ignored. Ultimately, that made her a heroine that I really can’t get behind, which defeated my purpose of reading it.

I think that if that scene had been handled differently (but with the same overall result), I would have kept reading. For example, if she’d been told a more detailed story and thought that those details didn’t add up or something? That would also have built up her intelligence, whereas I feel that her reaction in the book did the opposite.

I would point out the quotes that were alarming for me, but I’m not sure what counts as spoilers here. I can tell that it probably would have been a good book otherwise, but I just can’t like her after what she said.

I like how most of the female characters are in this book - not that dreadful housekeeper, of course, and certainly not Deidre. Aunt Effie is down to earth, cares about propriety but is not an imbecile and Felicity is quite a sassy young woman, I especially liked her comment about the Adonis twins and all the things they may be doing together.

Does anyone know if Felicity/Adonis Twin is a book because I may be interested in that.

Sha wrote: "Does anyone know if Felicity/Adonis Twin is a book because I may be interested in that."

I remember wondering the same when we read this book as a group read 2 yrs ago. Sadly, there is no book for Felicity/Adonis twins.

:(

lilratboy wrote: "I understand what you mean. For me, the things she said were just so similar to the way that real life victims of abuse are discredited and ignored. Ultimately, that made her a heroine that I reall..."

I understand where you're coming from, lilratboy. We all have certain things we feel strongly about. It's a pity, you won't join us for the rest of the buddy read, but I hope you will participate in future BOTMs.

I'm just a few chapters in so far. I like that Harriet did not fall in instant lust with Gideon. Sure she was intrigued by him, but she was often more captivated by her bones than following him with her eyes. Except I hope the cave scene is not a sign of them jumping each other's bones too soon. I do prefer slow-burn romance.

The "wet wool" scent is strange, Darbella. I did remember thinking, that I, a city dweller, must have been deprived all my life. :)

I just finished the book and I enjoyed it. I actually think it has held up, overall. One thing I will say is that Gideon could sometimes be too autocratic and overbearing, but knowing his backstory and understanding that a lot of it came from a place of hurt and loneliness made it more palatable for me. I also am slightly annoyed that Harriet didn’t seem to ever learn her lesson about throwing herself into dangerous situations. You’d think she would use more caution after the amount of times she found herself a victim!

Patti wrote: "I just finished the book and I enjoyed it. I actually think it has held up, overall. One thing I will say is that Gideon could sometimes be too autocratic and overbearing, but knowing his backstory..."

Glad, you enjoyed the read. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and I am already finding Harriet's impetuousness a bit tedious. So far, Gideon is a good character. I like that the author explains to us quite well how the loss of his good name has affected him and turned him into the man he is.

Hmmm... This BOTM has been abandoned by everyone. I can't blame people. It's taken me the whole month to get to 50%. I was hopeful to take advantage of the extra day in February to finish it, but I'm bored out of my wits, so I shall call it quits now.

Jultri wrote: "Hmmm... This BOTM has been abandoned by everyone. I can't blame people. It's taken me the whole month to get to 50%. I was hopeful to take advantage of the extra day in February to finish it, but I..."

I think since this book was read by the group only two years ago, some members did not joint this read as well. I found it quite a good story and enjoyed the characters. I too was disappointed with the scarcity of discussion but maybe we'll have a more animated conversation on the next one. If you do decide to finish it and want to talk about it, I'm game :)

Ana wrote: "Jultri wrote: "Hmmm... This BOTM has been abandoned by everyone. I can't blame people. It's taken me the whole month to get to 50%. I was hopeful to take advantage of the extra day in February to f..."

Thanks for the offer, Ana, but I got distracted by real life today, and now February is over in a few minutes in my corner of the world, and you know, March BOTMs and other commitments await... Bottom line, I gave up. It's not a bad book and the writing is good. I must say, the heroine annoys me with her antics. Much that I'm a bona fide nerd (my kids definitely can vouch for this), I actually hate it when bluestocking heroines get so single-minded in their pursuit of knowledge, that they don't pay attention to people and clues in their environment. Surely bookish intelligence and common sense are not mutually exclusive concepts? The secondary characters are good. I like the hero. The pacing just slowed right down in the middle. (view spoiler)[Once they got together, there was no more bantering and little spark (hide spoiler)] I think, perhaps after a month of not so exciting reads, I just didn't have the patience for another unexceptional book. I'm glad you finished it and enjoyed it more than I did.

February finished and I couldn’t pass from chapter 1. I just couldn’t make myself reading. It just didn’t hook me. So sad 😢

I started chapter 1 and then it started to come back to me that I had read this before so I didn’t continue.