The Lion's Daughter

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful; the hard to find first of a "loose" series
Review: In the Lion's Daughter, Esme Brentmor is the heroine, the daughter of Jason, an English nobleman in self-imposed exile with a beneficiary link to the British government. Esme is a rather different heroine; she was raised in Albania, and this has made her independent with more of an Eastern idealogy. Through some events that I won't spoil, she has to leave to avenge her father's death, and she is accompanied by Varian St. George, Lord Edenmount.

This book began oddly for me; I didn't like the hero, Varian, very much, because he seemed too much of a parasite (he's broke, and lives as a house guest in the homes of social climbers who like association with his title); also, he seemed to be a pushover. The heroine, likewise, was too much of what you'd politely call "feisty;" she was abrasive, reckless, and arrogant. But into the book, Esme softens and is toned down, letting her be vulnerable without making it unbelievable, and Varian, despite his fashionable, foppish exterior, is honorable, with integrity and a worthiness for love. Oh yes, they deserved each other, and that is not meant with an ugly tone.

And in The Lion's Daughter, we are introduced with one of my favorite villains in the world: Ismal, who is plotting an overthrow of Ali Pasha, the current leader of Albania, and he is simply delicious. Following The Lion's Daughter is Lord of Scoundrels, which is every bit as imaginative, and probably my favorite among all; Captives of the Night, which is suppose to be set a few years after Lord of Scoundrels, and The Last Hellion, which is the latest one but set during the time of Lord of Scoundrels.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful; the hard to find first of a "loose" series
Review: In the Lion's Daughter, Esme Brentmor is the heroine, the daughter of Jason, an English nobleman in self-imposed exile with a beneficiary link to the British government. Esme is a rather different heroine; she was raised in Albania, and this has made her independent with more of an Eastern idealogy. Through some events that I won't spoil, she has to leave to avenge her father's death, and she is accompanied by Varian St. George, Lord Edenmount.

This book began oddly for me; I didn't like the hero, Varian, very much, because he seemed too much of a parasite (he's broke, and lives as a house guest in the homes of social climbers who like association with his title); also, he seemed to be a pushover. The heroine, likewise, was too much of what you'd politely call "feisty;" she was abrasive, reckless, and arrogant. But into the book, Esme softens and is toned down, letting her be vulnerable without making it unbelievable, and Varian, despite his fashionable, foppish exterior, is honorable, with integrity and a worthiness for love. Oh yes, they deserved each other, and that is not meant with an ugly tone.

And in The Lion's Daughter, we are introduced with one of my favorite villains in the world: Ismal, who is plotting an overthrow of Ali Pasha, the current leader of Albania, and he is simply delicious. Following The Lion's Daughter is Lord of Scoundrels, which is every bit as imaginative, and probably my favorite among all; Captives of the Night, which is suppose to be set a few years after Lord of Scoundrels, and The Last Hellion, which is the latest one but set during the time of Lord of Scoundrels.