Slightly Shady

Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all, but she's done better
Review: Mr. Tobias March was a professional when it came to discreetly collecting information. His current client, Lord Neville, had him locating a diary. It had belonged to the valet of a cutthroat named Carlisle. Carlisle was a former member of the Blue Chamber, a notorious crime group that once had connections throughout England and Europe. Now only one person lived from the former group. The diary held that name.

Widow Lavinia Lake had not known Carlisle was using her small shop in Italy for a drop-off point. Mr. March broke everything in the shop, shipped her and her niece, Emeline, to England, and then expected her to be grateful he had ruined her business! Lavinia quickly began a business of collecting information as well. After all, she had to have some way of getting money for rent and to help Emeline find a suitable husband! It was not long before Lavinia and March met again.

Both wanted the diary for different reasons. Neither trusted the other. Each were strongly attracted to the other. Someone was out to stop them from their investigations no matter the cost. Yes, they were both in deep trouble!

**** Well written mystery, but too easy to figure out. Even so, the book is so full of adventure and danger that it will definitely hold onto the attention of all its readers until the very end. Recommended! ****

Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: I've listened to a lot of audio tapes this past year. This was an interesting read. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad. There was an acceptible plot, an unlikely heroine, silly love side stories, and a good ending. It was very well read.

Hard core readers (and listeners) will be disappointed by the formulaic nature, but if you need to have a book on tape, this one will leave you with a few well-remembered moments. Other books are more fulfilling, though.

Rating:
Summary: Slightly lacking
Review: The first 2 Amanda Quick books I read were the exact same story with different names (I forget which ones they were). I kept reading her books anyway because I like her writing style and most of the books have enough of a change that you don't get bored. This book is the first one of hers that I was disappointed in. It felt like she had a deadline to meet and didn't have time to do more than an outline. The characters of Lavinia and Tobias were very sketchy, I never got a good sense of them. Lavinia's niece and her boyfriend were much more interesting, but they were only secondary characters so we didn't really get their story. If you are a fan of Jayne Krentz's Amanda Quick books, don't worry if you miss this one. You've read it much better before. If you have to check it out, do so at the library.

Rating:
Summary: Affair, redux
Review: Let's see, hero injured in prologue. Slightly short, red-haired female protagonist in charge of younger woman. Said protagonist supporting herself with an investigatory career. Flawed hero joins in her investigation, and he also happens to be charged with the upbringing of younger man, who falls for the aforementioned younger woman while the heroine and hero argue. Give up on this one and just read Affair, which is the first time Quick trotted out this EXACT plot and did it much better.

Rating:
Summary: A New Dective Duo You'll Fall in Love With!!!
Review: Lavina Lake meets Tobias March as he rousts her out of her antique shop and sends her packing back to England. But Lavina always lands on her feet...she starts a job as a detective. When her case forces her to join forces with Tobias, sparks fly. They deal with dead bodies, wax figures, spies and intrigue...and feelings neither of them expected!

A totally fantastic read. Great mystery. Great history. But best of all, Great Romance!! Amanda Quick never disappoints!

Rating:
Summary: What a BREATH of FRESH AIR!!
Review: "slightly shady" is such a fresh, breezy & fun ride in the world of romance novels. it's like breathing in fresh, revitalizing ocean air on a beach in maui after living in a big, bustling, polluted city for years & years & years & never leaving. this book is different from most in its genre & some who don't prefer mystery with an endearing romance in its folds (in the same modern manner as the stephanie plum series, by janet evanovich, that is so well known & well loved today) will not appreciate its true value. this book is written in a more reserved manner for quick, and i truly truly felt it was a breath of fresh air. lavinia is a woman who knows exactly what she's about & has a tremendous backbone & will not allow herself to be taken advantage of. v. unusual traits in the women of her time, many who just listen & make no comment & don't even have opinions themselves. march is determined, fiercely intelligent & v. caring. the supporting characters are well defined. the mystery is riveting & the dialogue between these two main characters is quite entertaining. granted there isn't as much sex sex sex in this novel as there are in normal romance novels, but i think that just adds to the freshness & uniqueness of the story. these are all very real characters and in quick's fit hands, stick to their characters all throughout the story & therefore allow us to get to know them better & better as the mystery unfolds. i must warn you, though, once you finish slightly shady, you will want to immediately read "don't look back" which continues lavinia's & tobias' story. and then, when you read "don't look back" you still will not be satisfied! you will still be left wanting more of lavinia & march & emeline & anthony & joan & mrs. chilton.....hurry up ms. quick & give us some more of these great characters! you're killing me!

Rating:
Summary: Very Dissappointed
Review: I own all of Amanda Quick's earlier books. I love them and re-read them every chance I get. I could not finish this book. The two leading character's constant bickering was more than I could stand. This was terrible and very dissaapointing to say the least.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe 3.5 or 3.75 stars is more like it, but . . .
Review: This seems to be a love it or hate it kind of book. I was surprised that over-all it only rates 3 stars. While it's not a great book, it is a good one. I enjoyed it - it's so different from the average historical romance and maybe that's the problem others have had with it. No self-centered ingenue, no master seducer of women, just two adults trying to make a better life for themselves and their younger relatives.

Neither Lavinia nor Tobias are rich aristocratic types. Nor are they "young" by the standards of the typical romance. They both have seen their share of the world, both have been married and widowed and they both need to earn money - to make a living. The evolution of their partnership is enjoyable to watch as Tobias is constantly frustrated by the risks Lavinia seems willing to take and is surprised by his own need to protect her from herself. She also surprises him by being quite good at this detective business! They compliment each other in business and their romance develops very slowly with both a bit wary of the other. Again this may be problematic for those looking for a formula romance. Their relationship is adult, complex and both carry baggage from their past. Neither is particularly interested in pursuing a relationship at all, but their attraction is undeniable. Granted, there's not a lot of sex here, so if that's what you're looking for, this book is not for you. The emphasis here is more on the mystery and the evolving relationships.

Then there's the young couple in the making - Lavinia's niece Emmeline and Tobias's young brother-in-law Anthony. Though Lavinia hopes for a more socially advantageous match for Emmeline, it seems that she and Anthony have other ideas.

I look forward to the next installment "Don't Look Back". I want to see where Lavinia and Tobias' relationship and partnership are going to go. And of course, there's also Emmeline and Anthony to watch as well.

I hope "Don't Look Back" is as enjoyable as "Slightly Shady".

Rating:
Summary: I Love Amanda Quick and All of Her Stories!
Review: "Slightly Shady" had me swiftly turning the pages! I strongly disagree with the reader from Washington D.C. that said this story lacked the proper elements (Oh please!)

This is a great story loaded with nonstop action, exciting characters and a plot second to none!

Rating:
Summary: Quick moves into a different genre...
Review: This is one of Quick's later books (her earlier alliteratively named romances were very different), and it will therefore be received with some disappointment by fans of all her earlier books. I will be honest; if I were an undiluted Quick fan, and looked to read yet another iteration of feisty bluestocking heroine meets mysterious and wealthy hero (complete with witty dialogue and the obligatory "bloody hells"), this would disappoint me. The hero and heroine are not rich, and they are struggling to stay in society. Hero Tobias March was a man of business (he never received a degree from Oxford, and therefore had no other options without money or connection). He has now turned to investigating crimes (a Regency private eye, if you will) to make a living. Heroine Lavinia Lake is a widow (we learn little about her first husband), and she is running an antiques shop at the beginning of the story. By the end, these two will become uneasy partners in private detection and investigation, and the scenario has been laid for the next book DON'T LOOK BACK that is just coming out.

First things first. I tried to approach this book as someone relatively new to Quick, and to evaluate it in a different genre - historical mystery/romance. Quick has always used a mystery plot, usually coupled with some society intrigue and private vendettas, in her novels. For me, her mystery plots have been somewhat weak, in that the hero and heroine make moves that are remarkably stupid for sensible and intelligent people, and that the villain can usually be spotted by me from the outset. [This was my problem with the plot of SURRENDER, for example, one of her earliest romances].

How did this book do? Well, both hero and heroine act somewhat stupidly as usual, getting into situations without back-ups. Furthermore, they are rather slow to consider alternate possibilities, although they do tumble to the truth by the penultimate chapter. In most Quick books, there is not just one villain working alone, but two villains. This book was no exception. I guessed the identity of the first villain almost from the outset, but not that of the latter. In retrospect, I felt cheated - because the second villain appeared so very little.

This book was satisfactory, and even entertaining, with a great beginning. It left several questions unanswered for me, however. I was also quite tired of the usual Quick heroine model - although Quick appears to have dropped her hero model (from her past romances), she retains many features of the heroine model she has used. There is one thing to be said - Quick now has widows as heroines, rather than the "innocent" heroines in her earlier book, and her widowed heroines, sexually experienced and socially savyy (we hope), are more credible in some of their more adventurous moments than the unmarried heroines would have been.

I will check out Quick's next book, but my favorite books by her still remain SCANDAL (a straightforward deliciously funny romance) and SURRENDER (with an atypical hero).