Hello everyone!
So I've realized it's been a while since the last book that I read out of the so-called 'beach reads', or as I like to call them 'doctor novels' after a saying in my language. Basically, the point of these books is not to make much of a point in the long run, the premise is the love story and it doesn't force you to think deep thoughts while the hero and heroine are acting like Bollywood lovers ("I love you! I want to marry you!" "No, I can't!" "Come back, now I want you!" "I can't now!").
I wish I could remember precisely how or why I got to this book, because I know I realized later that there's a physical copy of it in the house, but how I got to it is a mystery. I might have seen it advertised or it popped up on Goodreads ... I'm pretty sure it wasn't recommended.
In any event, what happened was that I needed a bit of a break from my usual reading material, and this means that whenever I do this, I pick up a cheesy romance novel.
This time I went for a sort of my thing, as it was a historical romance, Meredith Duran's Duke of Shadows.
I thought this was going to be bad. Like, bad, bad.
Every time you get a book that features a shirtless guy on the cover, you know it's going to be one of those iffy things where you'll have zero plot and a whole lot of sexy. If there's a half-naked woman on the front, that, too, is a good enough alarm for you. Interestingly enough, it didn't happen here.
To be precise: the number of sexy scenes in a book that's roughly five hundred pages long? Three times if I remember my count correctly.
Yup.
The book mainly centers around Julian Sinclair, Duke of Auburn, and Emmaline Martin; Emma is British and on her way to India to her fiancé, while Julian is half-British and half-local, making him a sort of no-man guy since neither side wants him.
The story begins properly with Emma the only survivor of a shipwreck and now her intended basically thinks she's been compromised because another ship saved her and it was full of men. Male thinking back then, huh? Anyway, she seems to connect with Julian at once way better than with the other guy, which is obvious seeing as it's a plot device, and they spend some time together even though Marcus (the intended) isn't happy about it. Not to mention Julian saves her from some locals who would have done some serious damage.
Now by this point there's nothing to recommend the book, is it? Well, the thing is, it covers an interesting time in India history when the sepoys rose against their imperialist masters, and Julian and Emma both get caught in this. While Marcus basically leaves her to fend for herself, Julian takes her out of the city and promises to bring her to a safe place.
Enter sexy scene number one in the middle of India nowhere (there was a temple or some ruined building involved too, though).
Julian takes her to a fortress where his friend rules, who is also a maharajah (oh yes), and then leaves because he has to go back for his family or to see how it's going or ... I can't remember. Case in point, he leaves, and soon after Emma has to flee for her life. She has a plan (that makes no sense), that she will travel towards the sea and show herself if she hears about someone asking for her, counting on the fact that Julian will come looking for her.
Since the story fast-forwards to four years later in Londo, we can assume he didn't find her.
Really, though, the plan was far-fetched either way.
Anyway, Julian and Emma meet again at a gallery showing of her paintings, which are her way of dealing with PTSD. To this point, Julian has believed she died in the sepoy uprising, and he is engaged to someone else who he really doesn't care much about. She, in turn, thinks that he left her in India. So their reunion is a bit ... frosty, shall we say, but because of Urdu writing she got out of a letter, Emma is a target for a villanous plot so she and Julian team up to figure it all out.
Enter sexy scene number two in a sort of BDSM boudoir ... don't ask.
At this point, they're game for a liaison, but Emma is still detached since she's obviously not healed, and well they need to save her life first. As readers, we can see they both love each other still though so you know how this is going to go.
But the surprise comes in the form of Marcus who is revealed to be a spy from back in the uprising days, and that he put the blame on Julian because ... well, hate, not to mention he's always hated Emma's independent streak. This gets him shot, and Emma is saved.
Enter sexy scene number three, finally in an actual bed in an actual house, Julian's house.
They've now resolved to marry, and we get to see the only light picture Emma made in that dark time, which is a portrait of Julian.
D'aw.
I will admit, I liked the book much more when I didn't have to think about how ridiculous the heroine was half the time. She held grudges where she shouldn't, her plans weren't exactly thought-through, and well, I just didn't connect with her. Julian was a good character though with a lot of extra potential, and I always enjoy a spice of history along with the love story, and seeing as this was set in India, it sounded even better. I might even have chosen it specifically for the Indian theme, actually. It would make sense.
I do like the author's writing style though, so I may read more of her books. This one wasn't bad by any means, it just wasn't spectacular, so if you're looking for a non-complicated read, look no further.
xx
*image not mine
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