by Wendy LaCapra
Series: Furies #1
Pub. Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Entangled Scandalous
Pages: 318
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
My Rating:
Sultry Scale:
Not every lady plays by the rules…
Lady Lavinia Vaile knows what happens to a woman who puts her faith in society. For her, it was a disastrous marriage to a depraved man—one she threatened to shoot when she left him. Now Lavinia lives outside of society's strict conventions, hosting private gambling parties. It's only when her husband is shot dead that Lavinia finds herself in terrible danger...
Lady Lavinia Vaile knows what happens to a woman who puts her faith in society. For her, it was a disastrous marriage to a depraved man—one she threatened to shoot when she left him. Now Lavinia lives outside of society's strict conventions, hosting private gambling parties. It's only when her husband is shot dead that Lavinia finds herself in terrible danger...
A former judge in India's high court, Maximilian Harrison will do anything he can to help Lavinia. In the darkest of times, he held on to thoughts of her and the love they once shared. Now he risks his own position in society―along with his ambitions―in order to clear her name. Yet as desire reignites between them, Lavinia remains caught up in secrets and shame. Her only salvation is to do the unthinkable...and trust in both Maximilian and love.
I was excited about this book. The cover is great and the blurb got me interested in learning about these ladies of vice. Lavinia, Lady Vice, has left her debased husband and taken refuge with Lady Scandal and Duchess Decadence. When the debauching husband is murdered, former love Maximilian Harrison runs to Lavinia's rescue and we have a second chance romance blooming. All sounds very intriguing.
But reading this felt more like a chore to me - it just was not very enjoyable. The writing was too florid, switching between convoluted dialogue to purple prose and back again. The characters quoted Shakespeare a lot, so I am not sure if the author was writing with a Shakespearean bent, or she just has a serpentine writing style. I know some people may like this type of writing and, don't get me wrong, I would prefer complex, detailed writing to something overly simple. However, I was reading this late at night and I found myself having to read sentences twice to understand what the author was saying. Here are a few examples that made me particularly grumbly:
Crisis separated the superfluous from the necessary. You, as it turns out, are necessary. Would you accept such a gesture?
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He understood her reticence— how could they settle into a minuet of familiar lovers when, for so long, they had lived in fantasia, playing extemporaneous chords of aspiration and memory? Years yawned between their present experience and the solid ground of their prior connection.
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Was he to believe her accusation ? How could she have, in reverse alchemy, turned his intentions of gold into base actions done by rote? Was the honor he so esteemed just a loose configuration of dry duties?
So this one just wasn't for me. Maybe in another time and another place, but after a difficult day in court, my brain wanted to relax instead of work for it.
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About the Author
Wendy LaCapra, a 2012 Golden Heart® Finalist, has been reading romance since she discovered Victoria Holt (in the library's adult section!) From that point on, her only dream was to create worlds with historical richness, intrigue and pleasure. She lives in NYC with her husband and can occasionally be found gossiping about history and romance with the Dashing Duchesses or burning up the web with those mystical mistresses of resilience, the GH class of 2012 aka the Firebirds.
Furies Series
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| My Review | Review Coming July 15 |
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