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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
*** Book Q & A***
* How did the book make you feel?: This is an ‘80s bodice ripper, so I don’t judge it by current romance standards. It was an infuriating read at times, but a very good story.
* How do you feel about how the story was told?:The writing is good and the characters were well-developed. Jocelyn’s story was sad. I wanted him to have a HEA. What happened to him, did I miss it?
* What did you think about the main characters?: Gavin was probably one of the most cruel, pigheaded H’s I have ever read. The way he treated Judith was deplorable. He strikes her at their wedding when she confronts him after she overheard him pledge his undying love to the evil OW, Alice. Then Gavin rapes Judith on their wedding night. It was not considered rape during this historical time period, however, because a man owned his wife. It was frustrating to watch Gavin be so callous and cavalier about Judith while he steadfastly defended and championed the evil Alice. He never truly atoned for this, IMO. Ten he doubted the parentage of his child and accused Judith of the worst after she risked her life to save him. He was never worthy of her.
* Which parts of the book stood out to you?: I really enjoyed the historical setting of this story.
* What themes/tropes did you detect in the story?: MOC, H loves OW
* What did you think about the ending?: It was very abrupt. The copy I read ended right as Alice gets injured, but it’s less than what she deserves. Gavin tells Judith she is safe, but we don’t get to glimpse a HEA or epilogue. It’s only implied. Judith deserved a lot more!
* What is your impression of the author?: A Knight in Shining Armor is one of my favorite books.
Triggers: Rape, violence, miscarriage
* How did the book make you feel?: This is an ‘80s bodice ripper, so I don’t judge it by current romance standards. It was an infuriating read at times, but a very good story.
* How do you feel about how the story was told?:The writing is good and the characters were well-developed. Jocelyn’s story was sad. I wanted him to have a HEA. What happened to him, did I miss it?
* What did you think about the main characters?: Gavin was probably one of the most cruel, pigheaded H’s I have ever read. The way he treated Judith was deplorable. He strikes her at their wedding when she confronts him after she overheard him pledge his undying love to the evil OW, Alice. Then Gavin rapes Judith on their wedding night. It was not considered rape during this historical time period, however, because a man owned his wife. It was frustrating to watch Gavin be so callous and cavalier about Judith while he steadfastly defended and championed the evil Alice. He never truly atoned for this, IMO. Ten he doubted the parentage of his child and accused Judith of the worst after she risked her life to save him. He was never worthy of her.
* Which parts of the book stood out to you?: I really enjoyed the historical setting of this story.
* What themes/tropes did you detect in the story?: MOC, H loves OW
* What did you think about the ending?: It was very abrupt. The copy I read ended right as Alice gets injured, but it’s less than what she deserves. Gavin tells Judith she is safe, but we don’t get to glimpse a HEA or epilogue. It’s only implied. Judith deserved a lot more!
* What is your impression of the author?: A Knight in Shining Armor is one of my favorite books.
Triggers: Rape, violence, miscarriage
I like the character of Judith already; she rather become a prioress (high ranking nun) than get married and "become a servant to a man". I sense the beginnings of a strong woman character.
Judith is turning out to be quite a woman! When she accidentally spies Gavin, newly her husband, and Alice (vindictive, crazy, lover of Gavins) talking she tells Gavin exactly what is on her mind. Judith doesn't run away crying instead she claps and says Alice put on quite a performance and basically how dumb Gavin is for falling for it.
The author does a commendable job with the time period and setting. Ms. Deveraux actually describes the type of dress, housing, and culture she is writing about to help the reader get a good feel for the time, instead of just say "hey it's the 1500s and everyone rides horses, the women wear dresses, and the men carry swords".
I can definitely tell this book was written awhile ago (1981) and their marriage night is less than desirable reading. N.O.W. would probably have some issues with how Gavin treats Judith from time to time, however, considering the time period I can't fault Deveraux too much.
This is decidedly Judith's story, her force of will and strong personality overshadows poor Gavin many times.
For the last half of the book I was practically salivating waiting for Alice to get her comeuppance. It started to get a little ridiculous how blind Gavin was to Alice's true personality (psycho bitch). Hard to have respect for a guy who was pretty oblivious/dumb throughout most the book. In fact it wasn't until the last 5pgs that Gavin finally realized Alice was ka'raaazzzy. Alice snarls and he sees for the first time she has crooked teeth; crooked teeth apparently coincides with evil woman in Gavin's mind.
The ending was so completely abrupt I think I was still like wtf for 10 mins after. This book had some good moments but for the most part I think it is past its prime.
Judith is turning out to be quite a woman! When she accidentally spies Gavin, newly her husband, and Alice (vindictive, crazy, lover of Gavins) talking she tells Gavin exactly what is on her mind. Judith doesn't run away crying instead she claps and says Alice put on quite a performance and basically how dumb Gavin is for falling for it.
The author does a commendable job with the time period and setting. Ms. Deveraux actually describes the type of dress, housing, and culture she is writing about to help the reader get a good feel for the time, instead of just say "hey it's the 1500s and everyone rides horses, the women wear dresses, and the men carry swords".
I can definitely tell this book was written awhile ago (1981) and their marriage night is less than desirable reading. N.O.W. would probably have some issues with how Gavin treats Judith from time to time, however, considering the time period I can't fault Deveraux too much.
This is decidedly Judith's story, her force of will and strong personality overshadows poor Gavin many times.
For the last half of the book I was practically salivating waiting for Alice to get her comeuppance. It started to get a little ridiculous how blind Gavin was to Alice's true personality (psycho bitch). Hard to have respect for a guy who was pretty oblivious/dumb throughout most the book. In fact it wasn't until the last 5pgs that Gavin finally realized Alice was ka'raaazzzy. Alice snarls and he sees for the first time she has crooked teeth; crooked teeth apparently coincides with evil woman in Gavin's mind.
The ending was so completely abrupt I think I was still like wtf for 10 mins after. This book had some good moments but for the most part I think it is past its prime.
This hate to love romance is divine. The Hero, Gavin, is such a frustrating hero but that makes it so much sweeter when he comes around. I love the Montgomery brothers. The conflict keeps you reading until late into the night.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
********** 4 Stars **********
First, a little background: I read this book back in high school and loved it to fervent death. It was my first experience with a proper romance (other than Harlequin Presents) and I fell in love with this epic tale involving knights and ladies and all sorts of sprawling medieval goodness. I was in heaven. Jude Deveraux became my hero and I declared romance my favourite genre. I pulled out pencil and paper and began to write my very first novel (which sucked of course) and declared I wanted to be a romance author just like Jude when I grew up.
Fast forward to present day, many years later. My girl Feifei and I are hanging on GR talking about A Knight In Shining Armor by this same author, and we realize we'd love to BR the Velvet saga. Will it live up to the love we both professed for it?
And the verdict is:
Yes.... and no. LOL. I Know Feifei nearly hated it this time around and I totally get why. I didn't hate it as much but this wasn't the perfect read I remembered from back then. Gavin, who I used to declare as my favourite out of the four Montgomery brothers, stood out stark and clear this time around for being a total scumbag douchecanoe. What clearly impressed my young 15 year old, 90's self, today felt annoying and horrifying at the very least. This dude, for all his sexy, hot, knight self never truly redeemed himself after the despicable way he treated Judith, the heroine. Enter Ye ol' Gavin Montgomery rant fest ahead, come all ye! (tagged with Spoiler tags for the Super Spoilery Spoils within):
But let's just stop there, because it's hard not to slag off Gavin without giving away the whole damn story. The point is, I doubt there will be many readers who will consider this hero swoon worthy and will not end up wanting to cut up his nuts, fry them in butter and serve them to him on a platter.
Don't get me wrong, this book is still good as far as well written, well paced epic historical medieval romances go. If you like high drama and a flair of soap opera with your romances, this will be a hit. Gavin may be hard to take, but Judith Revedoune, the heroine is mostly a delight to read about (if a bit Mary Sue-ish by the end). Truth is I couldn't put this down and the premise itself intrigued the hell out of me. The ending though, left much to be desired. Seriously, too much drama for it to end in the literary equivalent of a deflating balloon.
The other Montgomery brothers are delicious and I cannot wait to read their story.
Thank you, Feifei!! xoxoxo... unearthing and rereading these classic romances is fun as hell. On to Stephen! *crosses fingers*
Buddy Read 23/06/14 with the awesome Lady Vigilante (Feifei). Can't wait!!
First, a little background: I read this book back in high school and loved it to fervent death. It was my first experience with a proper romance (other than Harlequin Presents) and I fell in love with this epic tale involving knights and ladies and all sorts of sprawling medieval goodness. I was in heaven. Jude Deveraux became my hero and I declared romance my favourite genre. I pulled out pencil and paper and began to write my very first novel (which sucked of course) and declared I wanted to be a romance author just like Jude when I grew up.
Fast forward to present day, many years later. My girl Feifei and I are hanging on GR talking about A Knight In Shining Armor by this same author, and we realize we'd love to BR the Velvet saga. Will it live up to the love we both professed for it?
And the verdict is:
Yes.... and no. LOL. I Know Feifei nearly hated it this time around and I totally get why. I didn't hate it as much but this wasn't the perfect read I remembered from back then. Gavin, who I used to declare as my favourite out of the four Montgomery brothers, stood out stark and clear this time around for being a total scumbag douchecanoe. What clearly impressed my young 15 year old, 90's self, today felt annoying and horrifying at the very least. This dude, for all his sexy, hot, knight self never truly redeemed himself after the despicable way he treated Judith, the heroine. Enter Ye ol' Gavin Montgomery rant fest ahead, come all ye! (tagged with Spoiler tags for the Super Spoilery Spoils within):
Spoiler
He beats her and rapes her during her wedding night, he constantly utters sexist slurs at her, acting like an oaf and a bully asshat, he constantly defends his beautiful, innocent ex-mistress Alice, who he never really saw for the awful bitch she was until the very end, even after she tricked Judith into catching her in bed with his too-drunk ass and causing her to nearly break her neck by falling down some stairs and losing her baby. Did he cut her a new one? You'd think he would right? After all, what that bitch did was heinous and murderous, but no, it took the idiot a while to realize the extent of her evil, and even then... let her go easy, thus precipitating a final bit of drama where she kidnapped and nearly disfigured Judith. To all that I say:But let's just stop there, because it's hard not to slag off Gavin without giving away the whole damn story. The point is, I doubt there will be many readers who will consider this hero swoon worthy and will not end up wanting to cut up his nuts, fry them in butter and serve them to him on a platter.
Don't get me wrong, this book is still good as far as well written, well paced epic historical medieval romances go. If you like high drama and a flair of soap opera with your romances, this will be a hit. Gavin may be hard to take, but Judith Revedoune, the heroine is mostly a delight to read about (if a bit Mary Sue-ish by the end). Truth is I couldn't put this down and the premise itself intrigued the hell out of me. The ending though, left much to be desired. Seriously, too much drama for it to end in the literary equivalent of a deflating balloon.
The other Montgomery brothers are delicious and I cannot wait to read their story.
Thank you, Feifei!! xoxoxo... unearthing and rereading these classic romances is fun as hell. On to Stephen! *crosses fingers*
Buddy Read 23/06/14 with the awesome Lady Vigilante (Feifei). Can't wait!!
So I three years ago my husband and I I bought a ginormous house. Tons of space. This was an upgrade from our previous relatively tiny house. While we were living in that tiny house with no space, we had no place to store our books. We have about 40 of those big plastic storage bins stuffed full of books stored in his parent's barn.
So we've been slowly returning our books back and shelving them lovingly in the a random unused first floor bedroom we are now grandly calling The Reading Room.
So this past week we migrated a few more of the bins and lo and behold it was chick full of 80s bodice rippers. Of which this was one.
I promptly decided to read it because while I am sure that I loved it (I had after all saved it for over 20 years) the back blurb did not ring any bells for me.
I am sure that my then younger self probably loved this book. My now older self is reading this incredibly impatient by what an utter ass-clown the hero is. The heroine kinda rocked, though.
So we've been slowly returning our books back and shelving them lovingly in the a random unused first floor bedroom we are now grandly calling The Reading Room.
So this past week we migrated a few more of the bins and lo and behold it was chick full of 80s bodice rippers. Of which this was one.
I promptly decided to read it because while I am sure that I loved it (I had after all saved it for over 20 years) the back blurb did not ring any bells for me.
I am sure that my then younger self probably loved this book. My now older self is reading this incredibly impatient by what an utter ass-clown the hero is. The heroine kinda rocked, though.
The Velvet series was absolutely my most favorite set of books by Jude Deveraux. I have read them a dozen times, and loved them every time! Quite typical romance novels, but fun to read!
