Book Lovers Message Board’s review of Dangerous in Diamonds by Madeline Hunter
Historical Romance published by Jove 26 Apr 11
How many times have you started a book and emailed all your friends, saying, “This is it, it’s the best evah!,” only to see the book deflate somewhat as the chapters unfold? The usual reason, for me at least, is my inability to continue to suspend my disbelief. And don’t get me wrong, I can suspend my disbelief faster than a sailor ordering a last round before closing time. I ripped through Dangerous in Diamonds and thoroughly enjoyed it, but upon reflection, I had a some second thoughts.
A few weeks ago, there was a Book Chat on the Book Lovers Message Board on Dangerous in Diamonds. A number of us counted down the days to the publication date. Our glimpses of the duke of sin during the earlier books on Hunter’s quartet had been tantalizing but potent. Castleford “entertaining” multiple women concurrently, Castleford getting things done on Tuesday, his weekly date with sobriety, Castleford stepping up to help a friend or a friend’s lady (a la mantle of a Jo Beverley Rothgar character). We were more than ready to read his story!
An evergreen question in Romlandia is “can this villain be redeemed?” But Castleford never seems the least bit interested in deviating from his self-appointed path to become a hero. Quite the contrary, he believes he has responsibilities towards his three best male friends (Hawkeswell, Albrighton, and Summerhays), “His own [responsibility] these days was to make sure that Hawkeswell did not follow his natural inclinations to allow sobriety and love to remove of all the fun in his life. It was becoming a hell of a chore, though.” But it is a truth devoutly to be respected in our genre: that the last two people left unattached at the end of the penultimate book, will, no matter how unlikely the notion, become a pair and fall madly in love and live happily ever after.
I’m going to approach my review a little differently ~ by sharing the comments of the participants in the Book Lovers Board book chat. First, thanks to Sybil for giving me this opportunity. In the interest of anonymity, the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Meet Janie (that would be me), Karen, Laura, and Tammy. All interpretations are, of course, my own.
We all enjoyed the beginning:
- Tammy: I think it says a lot for someone when his servants could be trusted even in the most scandalous conditions.
- Janie: Don’t you think, Tammy, that Daphne was sick of her half-life way of living? Of always living with fear?
- Karen: (referring to the sexual scenes in the earlier books) As for how much sex he got, I think he was really bored. Being bad had lost its fun so he kept upping the ante. Once he got sober he found new things to be excited about.
Ethics:
- Tammy: I liked that Castleford had a set of rules and ethics he lived by. I don’t think he was moral, but he was ethical: he avoided innocents.
- Karen: Tammy, we saw that in the past books too – so not too much of a shock
- Janie: But his friends were so frank and funny, saying “OMG, are you really burning the bed you slept in with all those women?” That showed sensitivity.
- Laura: I don’t know if I felt that – ethics across the board – I’m not so sure so much with all the other women. But the consensus was that the sex in the other books was consensual and the women were *ahem* professionals.
Tie me up, tie me down:
Some of us are surprised that Castleford, suspecting as he did that Daphne had probably been sexually abused by his brother duke, would have tied her up. I’m of two minds. Yes, I believe that Hunter could have dispensed with that, but perhaps it’s to help Daphne take back her power and enjoy a more outré sexual adventure, knowing that it was safe.
- Laura: I’m so tired of bondage scenes …
- Tammy: No one who had been raped would let someone tie them up, even in play.
- Karen: (after musing that some bondage scenes can be quite sweet) … with Daphne’s history, it was pushing it a bit but maybe it was the way the author showed the new trust? It would have been great if she had turned the tables and tied him up.
Really? Really! A sub-category all its own:
a) What we find fairly believable – that he would cut back on his drinking, that his servants would be so forthright with him, and that he would lose interest in his work in progress, a Londoner’s guide to whoring.
b) Castleford put a new spin on pleasure cruise as he tricks out his barge for a trip to Vauxhall Gardens for Daphne and their friends.
- Laura: the scene where he takes them on his boat and sets up tents for his/her friends to go have sex had me rolling my eyes.
c) We threw the bullshit flag on him going to his doctor and asking for a clean bill of health. What, no STD testing? Just. Not. Even.
- Karen: (somewhat disagreeing with that viewpoint) I consider my books to be mind candy so I can overlook a great deal
- Tammy: He reminded me of the John Malkovich character in the movie Dangerous Liaisons: he was appealing, even though he was a drunken sleaze.
How did we like the heroine?
Unlike Castleford, who we understand better with each succeeding chapter, some of us still find Daphne hard to read. We all like her standing up to the mealy-mouthed villain and saving the day on her own, although it could have veered into foolhardiness.
- Karen: I didn’t dislike Daphne before, but I did like her better in this book, especially after losing her house was not an issue and she got bolder.
There’s much confusion over the late revelation that Daphne has a daughter (a consequence of her rape, years earlier). Why did Daphne visit her so infrequently over the years? To me it’s an unnecessary add-on and Tammy thinks, “It would be better without the daughter angle.” We all think Castleford’s temperate and reasoned approach to the daughter situation is believable.
Grade:
Karen & Laura: C+/B-
Tammy (for the story): B-/C+
Janie … really liked the believability of Castleford’s character transformation, because Hunter showed growth through small incremental changes: B
Tammy, for the characters, since they can make or break a book: B+
Summary:
The Duke of Castleford has been so bad for so long that scandal can’t be bothered to rise up around him anymore. To alleviate the boredom of his privileged life, he occupies himself with drinking and whoring, not to mention the occasional duel. When something piques his interest, however, he has been known to emerge from his ennui and employ his considerable mental faculties to finding answers to the questions that fascinate him.
When Daphne Joyes rejects this notorious hedonist’s seduction, she assumes that he will forget about her and continue on his path to hell. Instead her beauty, grace and formidable composure captivate him, and she becomes one of those fascinations to him. That he intends to have her, and soon, is actually the least of the dangers that his pursuit of her presents. More troublesome is his interest in her past and her history, and the way he keeps poking his nose into the secrets behind the distant relative’s bequest that gave him ownership of the property where she lives.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
