Review

Dialogue, oh sweet dialogue! Where fore art thou sweet dialogue?

Chase brings to life two delicious characters in the course of 384 pages with description, but more so with dialogue that cut, bit, and teased me until I had finished every last word.

I’ve read previous books in these series, but none of them did I enjoy as much as I enjoyed firey redhead, Leonie’s descent in to love with Simon, Marquess of Lisburne. These two are quite a match, in wordplay and in actions.

Here’s an example:

He adopted a hurt expression. “I helped somebody’s great-grandmother choose ribbons.”

“You ought to be careful, plying your ‘mercy’ upon elderly persons,” she said. “Their constitutions may not withstand the onslaught of so much manly beauty and charm. You may not realize how bad it is for business when ladies go off into apoplexies in our showroom.” She put the watch away, folded her arms, and donned a blankly amiable expression.

Careful to keep his voice smooth, he said, “Thank you for the reminder, madame. In future, I’ll take care to inflict my beauty and charm only on big, strong wenches.”

“I know you can’t help it,” she said. “You were born that way. But some of my best customers are the older ladies, and I don’t wish to send them off before their time.”

“I promise to try not to murder any elderly ladies by accident.”

The story starts slow, and things are slow to build but when everything takes off—romance, action, and conflict, the triad of all three kept the pages flying under my fingertips. I couldn’t get enough of either heroine or hero. I wanted to breath in their very essence and never let go, especially the witty comebacks and even the poetry.

This book specializes in more flowery descriptions of clothing, as only Chase can do, and plenty of poetry from the hilarious to the depressing. I enjoyed reading both, but got lost in the sensuality exuded by the main players.

For readers who enjoyed the series previous villains, heroes, and heroines all make an appearance with everyone getting a little taste of what they deserve. I won’t say what, you’ll have to read to find out more. In the end this book delivers a couple of HEA’s and a wonderful wrap up to the entire series. If it’s been a while since you picked up a Loretta Chase book I recommend Vixen in Velvet.

Reviewed by Landra