LynneC’s review of Say It With Diamonds by Lucy King
Contemporary Romance published by Mills and Boon Modern Romance 1 Jan 12
Lucy King has considerable talent as a writer, and her first book for Harlequin was fabulous. However, the subsequent ones are evidence that she hasn’t yet settled in properly. It is fascinating to see the development of a writer with this house, since their requirements are so stringent. I do have hopes that eventually Lucy King will become one of Harlequin’s stars. Or she could break out and join another house, writing the books with more open requirements.
In this one, the heroine is old for a Harlequin heroine, thirty-five, but she doesn’t always behave that way. But then, what thirty-five year old does? Bella has her own jewelry business, and a man visits her out of the blue to ask for her opinion on several pieces he produces from his pocket and tosses carelessly on the counter. Lucy examines them and realizes that despite their fabulous appearance, the stones in them are fake. She accompanies the man, Will, to a bank vault, and it’s here that she learns that her new client is a duke. He takes her to the vault and she spends time splitting the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Then a woman enters, a lovely blonde in fashionable clothing, and Will realizes that she has been taking the gems and replacing them with fakes.
I had a few problems with this beginning. First, if Bella is a jeweler and she knows her stuff, surely she’d recognized pieces from a great and famous collection? Second, Will wouldn’t be carrying the pieces in his pockets, because of the potential damage that would cause. They’d be in boxes, carefully packed. Third, I would have thought that she’d need some kind of security. The security at the bank vault seems worryingly lax, too. There is this lack of attention to external plot detail throughout, and sometimes I stopped and went “huh?” Like the time Bella is working on an emerald in a pendant. In a pendant? Surely the jeweler works on the gem before it’s set? And we didn’t hear if the jewel was an engraved cabochon or a faceted one, in which case she wouldn’t be cutting it in situ. Things like that kept recurring. I’d have liked a more authentic background and a bit more research. I know the background and setting are secondary considerations to the romance, but done properly they can enhance and add to the characters and the individuality of the story. I can’t help comparing this story to Day LeClaire’s Dante’s Inferno series, where the jewelry background has helped to make the series something really special.
The lovely blonde turns out to be Will’s aunt, who looks younger than she is, and she’s been selling the gems to make money to feed her internet bridge addiction. Bridge? Not poker or casino games? And the problem is easily solved. Will makes her promise not to do it again, and off she goes. The whole situation reeks of plot device, just something to bring the hero and heroine together and to hint at Will’s difficult background.
Bella is desperate to marry and have children. I wasn’t too keen on that aspect. While I could understand it, the desperation seems to indicate that she hasn’t thought of alternatives, like artificial insemination, asking for a donor, or even adopting. Is it marriage or children she wanted, and why? The motivation doen’t reflect on her behavior in the book, which starts with her bonking Will in the back of his chauffeured car and then lusting after him afterward. She confides in him that she wants a lasting relationship, and they part, only to come back together in uncontrollable lust later on.
Will is as thinly drawn as Bella. He has deep motivations for not wanting what Bella wants, but until later in the story, it seems like another contrivance, something taken out of the “how to write romance” textbook in the “provide a conflict” chapter. As a writer who sometimes finds that bit tricky herself, I do sympathise with Lucy King, but the conflict is a bolted-on one, provided because they need something to keep them apart. Although that’s better than providing a conflict from outside the relationship, I still find a disconnect between what the characters say they want and what they actually do. Will chases Bella, even when he knows she wants the thing he doesn’t, and she goes with him. When she states they would have a short, torrid affair, my heart sank a little, because this is a trope that is fast tiring me. “Let’s go at each other until it burns out.” The problem with it is that if they do that, and if they do burn out, there’s no story as far as a romance writer is concerned, so it’s one we know will end in a lasting relationship. There’s no danger there, no worry they’ll split.
But King can write. Her descriptions are excellent and she doesn’t often veer into purple territory. The sex is hot, and it’s nice to have the woman in charge for a change. Good that Bella carries condoms with her, as well as Will, although that does rather run counter to her wish for a lasting relationship. I would have liked more depth in both characters, more of the desperation in Bella, for instance. And a reason why she wants the whole caboodle instead of part of it. So a nice read, but needs more work, I think.
Grade:C-
Summary:
All that sparkles… At thirty-five, Bella might be an expert on diamonds – but she’s still missing a big fat one on the third finger of her left hand. However, at least she has her successful jewellery business – with very interesting new client William Cameron, AKA the Duke of Hawksley, no less! She’s expecting portly and chinless – but actually Will’s tall, dark and so distractingly good-looking it’s hard to concentrate on his jewels! More of a surprise: this weird chemistry between them is actually mutual. Urgent… And it catches them completely unawares in a black London taxi… All that glitters is not gold. All that sparkles isn’t diamond. All men who turn you on aren’t the real thing. But being cynical gets boring…maybe it’s time for Bella to throw caution to the winds…?
