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A review by 33p3barpercent
Scoundrel by Zoe Archer
4.0
These books are so hard to label! They take place in the 1800s, but they've got action, adventure, and history in addition to the romance. What more could a girl want?
After the culmination of Archer's Warrior, I was really excited to read Bennett's story, Scoundrel. He's such an unrepentant libertine, but in the most lovable way.Then add in the fact that his lady love is the daughter of his archenemies, the Heirs, and also the widow of a man he killed. Obstacles, much? As much as I love Bennett (and I do), the character that really shined for me was the Heroine, London. She's been cosseted and stifled as only a woman in restrictive nineteenth century Britain could be. She. Was raised to not ask questions, be quiet, and get married. And she did. She married the man her father chose for her (who was, like her father, a bad guy who wants the world's subjugation for the glory of England). When London's husband dies, she's expected to marry another one of her dad's cronies. In secret, London has been nurturing her love of languages by learning ancient ones that few people know. When her father finds out about this, he is not exactly pleased but his work for the Heirs could use a translator, so he whisks London off to Athens in order to follow the trail of one of the mythical sources of magic.
This may sound convoluted and confusing, but it's not. The adventure portion of this novel is thrilling and interesting. It never bogs down the pace.
When London meets up with Bennett for the first time, she tells him how much she wishes she could go on adventures. This is the first time, she says, she's been away from England and she's loving it. As the novel progresses, London comes into her own, finding and exploring her sexuality and her thirst for adventure. This lust for life is what draws Bennet to her and what eventually makes him fall in love--real, monkeys-in-hats love--with the irrepressible Victoria Regina Gloriana London Edgeworth Harcourt.
After the culmination of Archer's Warrior, I was really excited to read Bennett's story, Scoundrel. He's such an unrepentant libertine, but in the most lovable way.Then add in the fact that his lady love is the daughter of his archenemies, the Heirs, and also the widow of a man he killed. Obstacles, much? As much as I love Bennett (and I do), the character that really shined for me was the Heroine, London. She's been cosseted and stifled as only a woman in restrictive nineteenth century Britain could be. She. Was raised to not ask questions, be quiet, and get married. And she did. She married the man her father chose for her (who was, like her father, a bad guy who wants the world's subjugation for the glory of England). When London's husband dies, she's expected to marry another one of her dad's cronies. In secret, London has been nurturing her love of languages by learning ancient ones that few people know. When her father finds out about this, he is not exactly pleased but his work for the Heirs could use a translator, so he whisks London off to Athens in order to follow the trail of one of the mythical sources of magic.
This may sound convoluted and confusing, but it's not. The adventure portion of this novel is thrilling and interesting. It never bogs down the pace.
When London meets up with Bennett for the first time, she tells him how much she wishes she could go on adventures. This is the first time, she says, she's been away from England and she's loving it. As the novel progresses, London comes into her own, finding and exploring her sexuality and her thirst for adventure. This lust for life is what draws Bennet to her and what eventually makes him fall in love--real, monkeys-in-hats love--with the irrepressible Victoria Regina Gloriana London Edgeworth Harcourt.