LynneC’s review of Taken By Desire by Lavinia Kent
Historical Romance published by Avon 30 Nov 10

I received this book as a galley. When that happens, I feel obliged to review the book, otherwise I would have quietly put it aside and not mentioned it.

I am desperate to find a new writer of historical romance who I can read with pleasure. So far, I haven’t found one, but the fault may be as much mine as it is anyone else’s. I write historical romance, you see, and I love doing the research, so I probably know more than is comfortable about the Georgian era, which encompasses the Regency, in which this book is set. Sadly, I think I have to cross Lavinia Kent off my list of possibles.

All through the part I read, I kept thinking, “Is it me?” Because I felt a lack of connection to the characters from the start. They didn’t feel real, they acted and behaved, but I didn’t believe them. Very strange, and this may not be your response.

The book is well written, that is, the grammar, the sentences and the general flow worked well, was of a reasonable standard.

I’m used to ignoring the odd anachronism, and even Americanism. Nobody ever gets it completely right, and unless the anachronisms are glaring and obvious, I can usually ignore them when I’m enjoying a book. Americanisms are usually only a problem to me, a Brit, and every day I thank the powers that be that I have American editors who stop the mistakes I inevitably make when I’m writing American characters. It was when they grated that I realized I wasn’t invested in the story enough, and it was time to stop reading.

So, to start at the beginning. Our heroine, Anna, is a single lady attending a house party. She sees a man, Struthers, leave her sister’s room, and hears her sister’s husband approach. So she flings herself into Struthers’ arms and lets them think the worst. She is married to him in pretty short order, especially when she hears that her American cousins are planning to have her locked away for insanity.

So far, okay. The plot works, and I liked that the hero was a mere Mr. — one of my favorite heroes is Mr. Beaumaris from Georgette Heyer’s Arabella. However, Struthers is no Beaumaris.

I really didn’t like Anna. Neither did I believe in her. She is a wealthy, single woman living on her own and she’s created a few scandals in her time, had a few doors closed to her, but is still acceptable to most of society. Hence, the houseparty. A few things wrong with this—there is no chaperone in sight, not even the whisper of one. So already Anna would be completely unacceptable. And she’s never been married, but has had several affairs. Also not acceptable to Regency society. The lack of concern about disease or pregnancy made me a little skeptical, too. Basically, Anna couldn’t have existed in this era. Single women of a certain age could live on their own, but only with a companion/duenna and only in perfect respectability. I tried to think of a real-life example of such a woman, and in the wealthier classes, there were none that I could find.

Struthers never really came together, so to speak. I appreciate that Lavinia Kent is trying to create a fuller character, but he didn’t seem to work. He’s made his fortune in India and has a tragic past, but when he thinks about it, it seems to be without emotion.

Then there’s the American cousins, the Townsends, who I started to label Laurel and Hardy. They were about as menacing, too, though I think they were meant to be the villains.

The anachronisms started to come faster, and I found it harder to ignore them. In case you’re wondering – “sex” as a word for the sex act wasn’t used until the 20^th century, men’s shirts didn’t open all the way down the front with buttons, they didn’t have collars, men wore breeches for balls, not trousers, and definitely wore underwear. Women’s garments were not called “dresses,” they were “gowns” (your “dress” was the whole outfit). And the Americanisms – English cities don’t have “blocks,” people don’t ask “for a ride” and the dreaded “g” word started to get more frequent. To a modern British reader, “gotten” screams “American.” I did a quick survey of my fellow Brits (and even a couple of Aussies) at the recent RNA conference, and every one of them said the same thing – a book with “gotten” in it, especially a historical, screams “American.” Jo Beverley’s excellent suggestion of rephrasing the sentence seems to work well. I’d like to have seen that here, together with a little more care over the language used.

Getting hold of the theme or the plot of the book was a bit like trying to grab sheep and getting clouds. Or something like that. It dissolved as you touched it, and I’m still wondering why. There were a few plot threads, and I wasn’t sure which one would turn out to be the one, or to define the theme and mood of the story, but none seemed to dominate or even work for me.

The chemistry between the hero and heroine wasn’t there. It just didn’t seem as if they thought about each other, wanted each other enough. Their wedding night was a farce, but I’m still not sure why Struthers barely consummated it. He was angry about something, but I can’t remember what it was. Certainly it wasn’t about her previous lovers. After that, they do some lusting, then one night of passion. Their sexual encounters are mechanical, and although they appreciate each others’ bodies, it doesn’t seem to go much deeper than that. And when they’re married, they live in separate houses. Completely unlikely, though the way Kent worked this aspect made it at least possible. That was where I stopped reading, when I realized that I wanted Laurel and Hardy to lock her up, so I wouldn’t have to read any more clinical love scenes.

Sorry, but this one didn’t work for me. It might work for you.

Grade: DNF

Summary:

Strong and independent, she dreams of him in secret.

Fierce, yet world-weary, he’s always desired her.

Neither considers marriage an option.

But when a single kiss has unforeseen consequences, and wedding bells follow, they’ll both learn the power of passion. Desire can change everything.

No excerpt found.