"Most debutantes dream of finding a husband. Lady Pandora Ravenel has different plans. The ambitious young beauty would much rather stay at home and plot out her new board game business than take part in the London Season. But one night at a glittering society ball, she's ensnared in a scandal with a wickedly handsome stranger.
"A cynical rake...
"After years of evading marital traps with ease, Gabriel, Lord St. Vincent, has finally been caught by a rebellious girl who couldn't be less suitable. In fact, she wants nothing to do with him. But Gabriel finds the high-spirited Pandora irresistible. He'll do whatever it takes to possess her, even if their marriage of convenience turns out to be the devil's own bargain.
"A perilous plot...
"After succumbing to Gabriel's skilled and sensuous persuasion, Pandora agrees to become his bride. Bur soon she discovers that her entrepreneurial endeavors have accidentally involved her in a dangerous conspiracy -- and only her husband can keep her safe. As Gabriel protects her from their unknown adversaries, they realize their devil's bargain may just turn out to be a match made in heaven..."
This is book three in The Ravenels series. I flew through it! The series started off rough with Devon and Kathleen (whose romance I found a little bit forced), then Helen and Rhys (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and now Pandora and Gabriel (which was very nearly on-par with the story in Marrying Winterborn). Those who have read my reviews know I wasn't really a fan of the antics of Pandora and Cassandra -- they felt overly contrived and didn't quite fit in with the rest of the characters. I was truly surprised by how much I actually ended up liking Pandora. She was much more fleshed out than the caricature I'd experienced in the other books. To my great surprise...I found her funny and enjoyable. She had an absolutely perfect foil in Gabriel. His constant striving for perfection mixed with his excellent sense of humor and playfulness were written perfectly. Their banter was charming. He had just the right amount of protectiveness and a backstory that served the plot extremely well. I loved how Gabriel didn't fight the way in which he was drawn to Pandora -- it felt refreshing and made this (mostly) light-hearted romance very readable and fun.
I thought -- given the first chapter or two -- that this would be a fairly "common" plot for the genre (i.e. man and woman caught in unintended compromising situation, they're forced together, they resist, but they end up falling in love anyway, etc.), but some very unexpected twists toward the latter half of the book were a pleasant surprise
***SIDE NOTE: Gabriel's parents have their own love story told in "Wallflowers" book 3. Devil in Winter (see the trend with the titles going on here? Clever, Mrs. Kleypas...very clever. In case you want to see how much I enjoyed that book when I read it back in December of 2008, HERE is the review.)
I enjoyed this book a great deal more than I thought I would. I finished it very quickly, attesting to the enjoyment I found in the plot and the ease of the reading. I also really appreciate how Kleypas has woven different series together -- quite the tricky thing to handle well.
No comments:
Post a Comment