"As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities.
"And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one.
Ugly duckling turned swan?Abducted by handsome highwayman?Rescued from drudgery by charming prince?
"Now Izzy's given up yearning for romance. She'll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who's never even been kissed?
"This one."
I set a new reading record with this book: The Kindle version states it's 404 pages (there are some additional pages that include an excerpt from the second book of the series, but I'm not counting those) and I started this book on my lunch break at work (12:45) and finished reading it just a few minutes after 10:00 pm the same day. I think my prior record was a 600+ page book by Teresa Medieros that I read within 24-hours, but the reading pace for this Tessa Dare book would have beaten that had it been double the length. What can I saw? I am a little bit of a sucker for a good Tessa Dare romance novel. However, I have to admit that I have read this book before (I think it was at least a couple of years ago, but still a re-read, nonetheless). I don't know if that fact aided my reading speed this time around, but I must say that I read this one long enough ago that I was still pleasantly surprised by some of the twists. If you read my review for When a Scot Ties the Knot (the third book in Dare's "Castles Ever After" series), then you know I was shocked to discover that my reviews of the first two books in the series were missing from this site! I know I read them (my Kindle account has them bookmarked at the last page of each book), but I can't remember when I did so! I remember enough of the plots where I couldn't have imagined it all. So, I did something you know I NEVER do...I reread this book.I have the second book in the series queued up on my Kindle account, so that one will be next.
I stumbled across some unfavorable reviews for this book on Amazon.com when I had to look up the back-cover-text for this review. It's not one of Dare's most popular books, but please do not let this deter you from giving it a chance. You have to get past some of the fanciful notions and nods to popular modern literary and film fandoms (yes, I admit I recall finding these references jarring the first time I read the book, but I was far more accepting this time around) and then you should be fine. I think that the negative Amazon reviews crucifying Dare for these fandom references fail to realize (or just don't know) is that there were clubs and societies for like-minded people during that time in England; therefore, the fandom created by The Goodnight Tales wouldn't have been that far our of the realm of possibility. Cos-play, clubs, and societies are not just modern phenomena. Granted, Dare has still created a borderline ridiculous situation, but I was still able to get lost in the story and enjoy myself.
Part of this aforementioned "borderline ridiculous situation" is attributed to the way in which all of the other characters treated Ransom (my opinion of his naming will be discussed later). I feel like it would have been a bit more believable had he had any other rank than duke. I don't know if this was because this book was one of Dare's earlier works, but she seemed to disregard (I'm not sure if this is the proper word for what happened in this case, but it'll have to do) the fact that a duke is an extremely high-ranking peer. There aren't many of them and they're typically very high in the line of succession to the throne. They're practically royalty. I get that she wanted to emphasize the budding relationship and intimacy between Izzy and Ransom, but it was almost too casual. I don't recall an actual significant moment where he was shown the deference due to him because of his rank -- not even when he and Izzy were "properly" introduced. The casual way in which he was addressed, spoken to, and treated felt a tad more unrealistic than they could have been. Don't get me wrong; I completely understand that he had resigned himself to living out his days in isolation in a decrepit castle and Dare was trying to create a juxtaposition between the warm way in which Izzy treated him and the impersonal way he was addressed in correspondence from everyone else, but there was still a bit too much quick familiarity.
I liked Izzy as a female lead, but the aforementioned familiarity between her and Ransom occasionally suspended my belief in the story and her character. It didn't matter that she'd been to Court or that she'd interacted with any number of fans of her father's stories, I am still convinced that encountering a duke (even a broken and battered one like Ransom) would have intimidated her more than she was in the story. At the very least, I think she would have attempted to show him more deference (at least in the very beginning). Going along with this, I occasionally struggled with the informality of some of the dialogue. While the internal dialogue was brilliantly well-paced and engaging, some of the actual dialogue between the characters felt "off." I think there were too many contractions and some of it was too simplified (and I don't mean the parts where Izzy was intentionally altering her speech to make her "fans" happy). Part of reading an historical romance is being able to escape into the time period; part of this is to have dialogue that feels authentic to the past rather than the present. While I didn't find the dialogue to be overly-off-putting, I obviously took note enough to comment on it here in my review.
I did enjoy Izzy's inquisitive personality. She was clearly intelligent and it was very easy to relate to her (i.e. her insecurities, the way she has to deal with preconceived notions everyone has of her, and how she feels the need to protect everyone's perception of her deceased father). She was a unique blend of practical and fanciful.
I also liked Izzy's unique "flaw" (I always praise Dare's ability to craft unique characters with "flaws" that make them stand out in this genre and add new depth to her character development); however, I enjoyed Ransom's "flaw" more so. While the "flaw's went hand-in-hand rather well, Ransom's overshadowed Izzy's in its complexity and severity -- blindness is no simple flaw. I think Dare did a spectacular job describing Ransom's point of view and disability. The foreword mentioned the research she did to write the book (she's taken these steps in some of her other works -- must be the librarian in her) and I really, sincerely appreciate this about her. She never fails to impress me with the attention to detail she pays to things like this (I was particularly impressed with her maritime knowledge in Surrender of a Siren).
Where do I start with Ransom? I did mention I wanted to discuss his name, didn't I? Dare has a knack for very appropriately naming her characters -- something I've noted in past reviews as well. I think she was testing the waters with this early book of hers. A duke named Ransom? It feels a little bit too contrived and romance novel-esque (like she tried a tad bit too hard). I didn't hate it, but it's not her best work (though I adored Izzy's full name). Dare, however, did a spectacular job of describing Ransom's senses and his blindness. I recall thinking it got a bit "Daredevil"-y (think the film version with Ben Affleck) the first time I read this book, but I feel less like this the second time around. I can appreciate the research Dare did in an effort to try to get this type of blindness right. I have read another book with a blind male lead (I don't have time at this precise moment to go back through my reviews, but I think it was a book by Lisa Kleypas), but this story was made unique and fun by the underlying plot with The Goodnight Tales. Overall, I really did love Ransom as a battered male lead. He was rude, crude, vulgar, and didn't give a damn. Like Izzy, I liked him a lot for this rather than in spite of this. I thought his backstory was tragic, though I could have used a bit more information on why he didn't have any friends. He said a few times that no one liked him, but I don't feel like I got a really good explanation of why. I get he can be cold and unfeeling because of his past, but I din't think that necessarily made him a terrible person.
I found this book enjoyable because I didn't take it too seriously. It's fiction. Lighten up, people. Sure, I found a few things that rubbed me the wrong way a little bit, but I would not have devoured it had I not found a lot to enjoy despite my little criticisms. Dare's characters are rich and creative, it's hard not to develop a connection with them; the plots for her books (and overarching series) are lively, exciting, and engaging; her writing style is well above-par for this genre (especially her later works).
Do I recommend this book? I am a huge fan of Tessa Dare, so of course I do. I will, however, say you must take this book with a grain of salt. It is a work of fiction. It's meant to be fun, so just take it for what it is and enjoy it. Is this my favorite book by Dare? No, and it's not even my favorite of the series thus far, but I did like it. I think the premise for the series is very fun and intriguing. I'm definitely going to reread the second book in this series next, so be on the lookout for that review!
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