dear isobel

Title: The Lost Duke of Wyndham Author(s): Julia Quinn Purchase: Amazon Grade: B +

There’s a problem with great secondary characters. Sometimes, they take over. I enjoyed Grace and Jack’s story to be sure, but I kept hoping there’d be more about Thomas and Amelia. Which is good, because coming out in two months rather than next summer.

The Lost Duke opens with Grace Eversleigh traveling with her employee, the Dowager Duchess of Wyndham. I’ve read the companion with an annoying noble employer before, but I have to say the Dowager was on a whole other level of pain in the ass. The fact that Grace not only puts up with it, but lets it slide over her most of the time is both a testament to her character and shows that she clearly doesn’t feel like she has much choice in the world. She has to put up with the Dowager because there’s no other place for her.

Grace and the Dowager are accosted by a highwayman who is, naturally, charming and probably handsome (it’s dark, there’s a mask). Something about this man makes the Dowager sit up and look closer — his bottom features are almost an exact match for her long dead son. And so begins the story.

Jack Audrey (born Cavendish) is indeed the son of the Dowager’s middle son. His father perished at sea, and his mother died shortly after his birth. The reader is let in on this very early in the book so the suspense of that moment is done with. Will he take his place as the Duke or will he allow the current duke, Thomas, to continue as he has so ably?

I liked this book. I’m not surprised by that fact, of course. JQ’s one of my favorite authors and I don’t believe I’ve come across anything by her that I don’t love to pieces. (I even thoroughly enjoyed the last Bridgerton book, though some of my friends felt the series had run its course a few books earlier. Crazy people.) The characterizations were great, though yes, sometimes Jack was just a bit too charming. If only the men in my life had that problem, right?

I think that this book could have easily been an A grade, except I think Amelia and Thomas stole the story in a lot of places. Where I should have focused on Grace and Jack, I was more interested in what could come out of Thomas’s mouth or how Amelia might react. That’s the problem with some characters. You bring them onto the stage but then they kind of direct the action from there.

Another excellent addition to my bookshelf, of course, and I’ve already marked my calendar for September 30 and the next book, Mr. Cavendish, I Presume.

Title: Agnes and the Hitman Author(s): Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer Purchase: Amazon Grade: A+

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I bought this. I love everything that Jennifer Crusie has ever written, no matter how long ago it was but I didn’t enjoy Don’t Look Down very much. A little too much action, underdeveloped secondary characters and a plot that just didn’t feel right. Plus a couple that didn’t really inspire me to root for them. The writing was good and I certainly enjoyed portions of it as it’s still lightyears ahead of some of the things I’ve read in the past.

But about a page into Agnes and I was sold. This is a heroine that I thoroughly enjoyed. She’s not perfect, she’s not sweet and special and considerate. This is a woman who has a temper and loses it on occasion. She’s got some rage and the portions where it comes out…that’s just god damn funny to read. Agnes does the things we only dream about. For example, if you came in and found your boyfriend having sex on your table, you’d certainly want to hit him with a frying pain or threaten him with a meat fork, right?

The hero was a little harder to pin down much but it’s refreshing to read about a hero that’s written by a guy. I’m not saying women authors don’t generally hit the nail on the head with their guys, but sometimes there are just things even we can’t explain and that’s when it’s nice to have a guy involved. Shane was definitely a little mysterious but it was a pleasure to watch him to try to keep up with Agnes all week. By the book’s end, he knew her better than anyone else and it’s mostly because he paid attention. Something we can dream about right?

The romance might have felt like it was all about sex to other readers, but I liked when Shane grabbed Agnes’ To Do List so he could help her with it and that he was pretty laid back about her violent tendencies (well, he is a hitman). There were no huge moments, no misunderstandings. With Shane and Agnes, it was all in the details and they were some great details.

The secondary characters were there this time around. Lisa Livia, who is f*cking fabulous. I don’t know if I could handle her as the lead in any book, but she was an outstanding supporting character as were Carpenter, Maria, Garth, Doyle and Joey.

Brenda Fortunato has to be, hands down, the most enjoyable bad guy I’ve read in a romance novel. I’ve liked the villains before. I’ve indentified with them, sympathized and loved to hate them. (Sometimes, I’ve just hated them), but I don’t think I’ve laughed as hard as I have with Brenda. She was a tour de force and just fabulous. I enjoyed every single moment she was on the page. I don’t think this book would have been as marvelous without her.

I liked that the plot didn’t feel like it was wrapped up tightly. At first, there felt like there were a lot of coincidences and catastrophes happening the same week, but when they finally realize that not only are they all connected but they lead back to the same person, I never felt like it was the convienent ending. I could only think Of course! It makes sense now! It felt right and that’s always an accomplishment when you have a complicated plot with many little threads that wraps up tightly, but not too neatly.

A fabulous effort by my favorite author and I look forward to their next project.