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A review by mephala
Darius: Lord of Pleasures by Grace Burrowes
4.0
This book is tricky; I’m still not quite happy with the rating I gave it...
On one hand, Grace Burrowes prose is beautiful; elegant and rich, flush with wonderful imaginary and atmosphere. If nothing else, it’s simply a tremendous pleasure to just read words written by this author.
On the other, I find myself feeling slightly dissatisfied by the story. Especially when the premise of impoverished Earl selling himself to collect funds for his family and crumbling estate was so intriguing.
At first Darius Lindsay seemed to be really complex character: charming antihero, with deeply caring nature, so loyal to his family and duty driven, that he decides to sell his sexual favors for money to repair his already stretched thin finances. An unique, unconventional hero.
Sadly, as the story progressed he became almost too good to be true, and any edge he had disappeared. Unfortunately, because the heroine was really reserved and quiet, they at first balanced each other very well, but somewhere around the middle of the story, their relationship of mutual pining got tedious.
I liked the first half of the book; it was almost a character study of two strangers – complete opposites - caught in an incredible emotional and difficult situation trying to make the best out of it.
Lady Vivian, a young second wife to a much older gentlemen, appeared almost detached from herself when she meets Darius. It’s almost like there is no Vivian, only Lord William Longstreet’s caretaker. Slowly, that brief, yet incredible intense month with Darius encourages her to find her own identity.
I was hoping this would be a start for them both: for her to fully find her own strength and him understanding his own value.
Their month together was emotional and incredible intimate; once again Grace Burrowes’s signature mature tone of storytelling shined there.
Unfortunately, while Vivian somewhat opened up, Darius seemed to lose his complexity and ended up almost too… good.
The second half of the book covers almost a year of Darius and Vivienne pining for each other, and while I enjoy this theme, I feel like here it was overdone.
Moreover, after their month together the story lost its momentum and became a very slow paced. There are of course good reasons for that, but as one previous reviewer mentioned, there was so much telling not showing, which made some fragments very difficult to read through.
As for the romance, it’s not only slow paced but very gentle in a way. I’m still looking for an appropriate adjective to describe Grace Burrowes’s romances; elegant comes to mind. Gentle and subtle too. The passion between her characters is simmering, hardly ever wild with abandon, and the characters themselves almost always seemed to be either older or at least mature.
Last thing I want to mention is how Vivienne never truly became a character of her own.
As I mentioned, at first she’s almost non-entity, her solely characteristic being that she was Lord Longstreet’s wife. After meeting Darius, she seems to want to find her own agency, but quickly reverses to her old role. When her husband dies, she’s now a mother and that seems to give her strength and will to stand up for herself and her child, but in the end it’s Darius who single handedly takes care of all the people who could potentially harm them. He is a lovely caring hero and I was hoping she would be more of his equal.
Darius: Lord of Pleasures was good book with even better premise, that sadly didn’t use its unique characters to their full potential.
3,5/5 stars
On one hand, Grace Burrowes prose is beautiful; elegant and rich, flush with wonderful imaginary and atmosphere. If nothing else, it’s simply a tremendous pleasure to just read words written by this author.
On the other, I find myself feeling slightly dissatisfied by the story. Especially when the premise of impoverished Earl selling himself to collect funds for his family and crumbling estate was so intriguing.
At first Darius Lindsay seemed to be really complex character: charming antihero, with deeply caring nature, so loyal to his family and duty driven, that he decides to sell his sexual favors for money to repair his already stretched thin finances. An unique, unconventional hero.
Sadly, as the story progressed he became almost too good to be true, and any edge he had disappeared. Unfortunately, because the heroine was really reserved and quiet, they at first balanced each other very well, but somewhere around the middle of the story, their relationship of mutual pining got tedious.
I liked the first half of the book; it was almost a character study of two strangers – complete opposites - caught in an incredible emotional and difficult situation trying to make the best out of it.
Lady Vivian, a young second wife to a much older gentlemen, appeared almost detached from herself when she meets Darius. It’s almost like there is no Vivian, only Lord William Longstreet’s caretaker. Slowly, that brief, yet incredible intense month with Darius encourages her to find her own identity.
I was hoping this would be a start for them both: for her to fully find her own strength and him understanding his own value.
Their month together was emotional and incredible intimate; once again Grace Burrowes’s signature mature tone of storytelling shined there.
Unfortunately, while Vivian somewhat opened up, Darius seemed to lose his complexity and ended up almost too… good.
The second half of the book covers almost a year of Darius and Vivienne pining for each other, and while I enjoy this theme, I feel like here it was overdone.
Moreover, after their month together the story lost its momentum and became a very slow paced. There are of course good reasons for that, but as one previous reviewer mentioned, there was so much telling not showing, which made some fragments very difficult to read through.
As for the romance, it’s not only slow paced but very gentle in a way. I’m still looking for an appropriate adjective to describe Grace Burrowes’s romances; elegant comes to mind. Gentle and subtle too. The passion between her characters is simmering, hardly ever wild with abandon, and the characters themselves almost always seemed to be either older or at least mature.
Last thing I want to mention is how Vivienne never truly became a character of her own.
As I mentioned, at first she’s almost non-entity, her solely characteristic being that she was Lord Longstreet’s wife. After meeting Darius, she seems to want to find her own agency, but quickly reverses to her old role. When her husband dies, she’s now a mother and that seems to give her strength and will to stand up for herself and her child, but in the end it’s Darius who single handedly takes care of all the people who could potentially harm them. He is a lovely caring hero and I was hoping she would be more of his equal.
Darius: Lord of Pleasures was good book with even better premise, that sadly didn’t use its unique characters to their full potential.
3,5/5 stars