E-reading Book Review of #1 Never Seduce a Scoundrel by Sabrina Jeffries
Author: Sabrina Jeffries
ISBN: 9781416516088
Publisher: Pocket Books
Part of a Series: The School for Heiresses
Type of book: Romance, Adult, Regency, war, revenge, 1825, 1828, adventure, brain, obedience, Earl's daughter/American soldier relationship
Year it was published: 2006
Summary:
"Be careful, Amelia -- you know how reckless you can be!" -- Mrs. Charlotte Harris, headmistress
Lady Amelia Plume has many admirers -- it's too bad they're all fortune hunters and fops who can't provide the exotic adventures she seeks.
But the ballrooms of Mayfair have become much more appealing since the arrival of Major Lucas Winter, an American with a dark past and a dangerous air. Lucas is brash, arrogant -- and scandalously tempting.
Every thrilling kiss sparks hotter desire, yet Amelia suspects that Lucas has a hidden motive in wooing her. And she intends to discover it, by any means necessary
Characters:
The characters are well written and believable. Amelia is an adventurous spirit who tends to take more than she bargains for when it comes Lucas Winter. Lucas Winter is a tortured hero who's haunted by his past and his duties. I had a difficult time understanding Mrs. Harris though, especially when it came to a scene of mameluke sword. Shouldn't she be aware of the book that Amelia and her classmates perused through in order to understand what she was doing? I also was puzzled by the scene with Lord Pomeroy and how Lucas has offended him. Other characters such as Venetia and Louisa North do show up.
Theme:
Obedience vs true desire, this is a bit feminist writing
Plot:
This is written in third person narrative from Amelia's and Lucas' point of view. One of the goodreads reviewers noted Lucas' speech pattern. I have to admit that the speech is unusual and I would have expected it to be Southern rather than New England in nature. (Do they honestly say hellfire and damnation in New England states?) I was also confused about the ending and felt it didn't really get resolved satisfactorily, at least to my liking. I also would have liked a brief elementary version of War of 1812 history. (Believe it or not I don't know everything!)
Author Information:
(from goodreads.com)
born
New Orleans, The United States
gender
female
website
http://www.sabrinajeffries.com
genre
Romance
member since
December 2009
About this author
If having a colorful life turns you into a novelist, then I had no choice but to become a writer. My whole life changed when my parents moved us to Thailand when I was seven. Before I was eighteen, I'd eaten chicken heads and jellyfish, been chased by a baby elephant, seen countless cobras and pythons, had the entire series of rabies shots (yes, the ones in the stomach with those lo-o-o-ng needles), and played in rain forests and rubber plantations.
But if you're wondering how the daughter of missionaries ended up a romance novelist, let me explain. When you're in the boonies in a foreign country with only your pesky siblings for company, you read a lot. And I mean, a lot. I read everything—classics, children's books, mysteries, science fiction, even comic books. Most of all, I read romances.
I cut my teeth on Cherry Ames novels, progressed to Grace Livingston Hill and Emilie Loring, graduated to Barbara Cartland, then got hooked on the hard stuff in college with my first Rosemary Rogers novel. I tried laying off the romances during my six years in graduate school, but it was fruitless. Woodiwiss and Lindsey beckoned.
Finally, I stopped fighting it. I tossed aside my Ph.D. in English and surrendered to the impulse to write a novel. And a romance writer was born! Now I live in North Carolina with my husband and son, where I write books full-time. Thanks to my colorful life, I have plenty of fodder for my novels, so I plan to be doing this for a very, very long time. Isn't life grand?
Opinion:
By an odd coincidence I have heard of her through a friend, Madison, who happens to be her niece. I recently acquired the Royal Brotherhood series and due to me not wishing to disrupt the series, so to speak, I decided to read this one first. The writing is really delightful and she has a gift for bringing out the word and personalities of the character, at least when it came to Amelia. The story is researched with the whole fantasy element of people bathing in 1820s. (Should look up when bathing became so popular) I did find the time and facts to be interesting and nicely incorporated into the story, although I wished for more details, or rather a short version of the War of 1812. (An elementary version would have been nice.) The dialogue is also nicely crafted as well as other...things.
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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