Avon
September
25th, 2012
978-0-06-206863-7
Historical
Romance
Mass
Market Paperback
Reviewed
by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)
Obtained
by Publisher
Miranda
Clifford has respectability down to a T and for Miranda, Neville Roscoe is one
man she wants to avoid at all costs. He is unpredictable, lives outside society
and a rake to the core, or so she thinks. After being the caretaker for her two
elderly aunts, who have kept her on a tight leash and raised her little brother
Roderick, Miranda is at a crossroads. She knows she needs to let her brother
go, to find his path in life but she has no idea what to do without him to take
care of. When Roderick disappears, well let’s just say Miranda knows her
disreputable neighbor, Neville is behind it.
Neville
Roscoe is a man with secrets, a man who has, over time, lost bits of himself as
he played the part of someone he wasn’t born to be. A man who won’t let many
get close to him, he is stunned to find himself weakening when Miranda comes
asking for his help in finding her brother. She is a woman who is passionate,
fiery and has a heart that can melt the iciness inside him. But can Miranda
love Neville, the man he is inside rather than the hard headed man she knows
of?
I
got to admit, I love Stephanie Laurens books. Her Cynster series is a marvel to
read but THE LADY RISKS ALL is one book I just could not finish. It was
very hard to keep motivated in reading this one. The characters are wonderful,
don’t get me wrong. They were diverse, intriguing and very well written. It was
the run-on sentences, the lyrical prose and it was just too wordy by far. That
had me setting the book down repeatedly, struggling to finish the book. It was
like someone kidnapped the author and put someone else in there for those bits
in the story. I spent several minutes at the end wondering where the ‘Stephanie
Laurens’ I loved in her earlier books gone? Don’t get me wrong, the lyrical
prose was beautiful but it was also overwhelming in the story as well. I spent
half the time muttering that the hero really needed to hurry up and stop
analyzing things to death. The part that I loved the most was how Miranda and
Neville fell for one another as they searched for Roderick. Their slow build
up, the way they fell in love was pure Stephanie Laurens and I loved it. This
was where my favorite author was.
THE
LADY RISKS ALL
has potential if they got rid of half the pages, tightened up the storyline and
got rid of the wordiness. The characters were just perfect and I loved the main
players. But the repeated rehashing of events had me throwing my hands in the
air going, ‘get on with it already!’ The mystery of where Miranda’s brother was
and what happened to him was interesting and I enjoyed that storyline part. It
kept me entertained and the sparks between Miranda and Neville were delightful.
All in all, THE LADY RISKS ALL is an ok book, just too long by far. I think I
prefer reading her older books and hope I won’t get another repeat performance
in her newer books. If you enjoy intriguing mystery & well written
characters then you may like THE LADY RISKS ALL.
This
is an objective review and not an endorsement
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