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Bedazzled

Bedazzled

List Price: $6.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bedazzled
Review: Of all the Skye O'Malley series written by Ms. Small this one paled compared to the others. India the firstborn daughter of Jasmine is less than what I expected from a descendant of Skye. Where is the fire we have come to expect from the O'Malley ladies? Not only is India lacklustre so is her male counterpart, Deverall. If your a diehard Skye fan you'll be disappointed in this tale, but it's a quick read. My next question is whatever happened to the dynamic,royal-born Jasmine. No longer feisty she is a major disappointment to lovers of the O'Malley women. Nice try but not up to snuff.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Is there anything lower than one star?
Review: Please tell me Bertrice Small was not the author of this dreck! She is usually quite a page turner--this latest offering of hers is quite a churner! It was nauseatingly predictable and overblown.

Skye's Legacy seemed like a great idea for a new series (no one knows how to beat a dead horse better than Small) but if it means more books like this one...I'll pass! Guess I'll just re-read the old Skye novels onstead!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A waste of time
Review: That's what BEDAZZLED is if you're hoping for a romance with a credible historical backdrop. Although Ms. Small commented extensively on the religious situation in 17th century England and North Africa, it is obvious that she had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. It was frustrating beyond belief to find 20th century indifferentist platitudes in the mouths of 17th century characters. It was obvious that Ms. Small was simply superimposing her own indifferentist beliefs over her sympathetic characters and turning those characters who actually believed in their respective religions into fools. At one point, on a different matter, Caynan Reis tells India, "Do not judge what you do not understand." Ms. Small should take her own advice.

Beyond that, James Leslie's behavior was absolutely appalling. And this jerk was supposed to have been a hero of another of Small's books? What kind of "hero" steals his daughter's child hours after the baby's birth and tells his daughter he did it for her own good??? And Jasmine? What kind of mother allows her husband to hurt her child this way? As I assume she had her own money, she could have given India enough to travel to England and establish her household rather than allow her husband to spirit away their grandchild, an action which she of all people should have known would drive India to the brink of insanity.

Then there's Deverall Leigh. For the most part I liked him, but wouldn't a true hero have tried harder to insure his brother's safety on the galley ship and not forgotten to release him after a couple of months of punishment? Wouldn't a true hero have at least tried to talk to India *before* automatically assuming she had betrayed his love? He certainly had opportunity to do so. So why didn't he? And why would he take the advice of a stepmother who had betrayed him and use that advice as the basis of his actions toward other women? After all, the woman had already proven herself untrustworthy! Why should he now put his trust in anything else she said???

Finally, why does Ms. Small emphasize her words so much? It seems that there is hardly a page that goes by without the unnecessary overuse of italics to emphasize words. Italics should be used sparingly... the overuse of them is annoying.

Forget this book. It's not worth it. If you want a Small book where the heroine ends up with the original hero and does not marry multiple husbands, try LOVE, REMEMBER ME.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Typical plot line, but still a good story
Review: The inevitable "kidnapped-and-sold-into-a-harem" theme once again, which seems to be a fate which befalls many of Skye O'Malley's descendants! I am however glad that the heroine India, actually got to stay with the man she loved in the end. That he did not die, or that she was married off to someone else after her return was refreshing, since most of the women in The series are ripped away from the men they love. I was however shocked that Jasmine was so weak in this book, and that she allowed her husband to take India's child away from her. This is not the Jasmine we have come to know, however the storyline regarding the child did add to the suspense towards the end. Overall I throughly enjoyed the book, as I do all of Ms. Small's works, and look forward to reading Beseiged, and whatever else is in store!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Typical plot line, but still a good story
Review: The inevitable "kidnapped-and-sold-into-a-harem" theme once again, which seems to be a fate which befalls many of Skye O'Malley's descendants! I am however glad that the heroine India, actually got to stay with the man she loved in the end. That he did not die, or that she was married off to someone else after her return was refreshing, since most of the women in The series are ripped away from the men they love. I was however shocked that Jasmine was so weak in this book, and that she allowed her husband to take India's child away from her. This is not the Jasmine we have come to know, however the storyline regarding the child did add to the suspense towards the end. Overall I throughly enjoyed the book, as I do all of Ms. Small's works, and look forward to reading Beseiged, and whatever else is in store!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mixed Emotions
Review: The problems with this book have been pretty well pointed out by others. Basically, Bertrice Small's last several books have lacked the essential spark that the earlier ones had. I do have to comment on a couple of things, though! First of all, the regularity with which Small's characters end up in harems is getting completely ridiculous. If such had been the historical case, there wouldn't have been anyone left in sixteenth-century England (and other locales). They all would have been in Turkish harems!! Secondly... well, don't read this if you don't want part of the ending revealed, but this was so stupid that it's hard to feel guilty about that. At the end of the book, India is married off to an English nobleman, and is not told who he is. And he is, OF COURSE, her former husband. She doesn't figure it out for several months!!!! Nobody who can walk and chew gum at the same time is that stupid, and it was truly annoying.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Lousy
Review: These people cannot be the true decendents of Dubhdara O'Malley, they are mindless idiots who are given stilted dialog with the sole intent of selling books, not to stir hearts. Go elsewhere

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dreck!
Review: This is my first Bertrice Small book, and it will be my last. What a bratty, unsympathetic creature she has created in her heroine. The story was contrived and rather witless, as well, and OH MY DEARS...the genitalia are repetitiously refered to...ad nauseum...as "LOVE LANCE" and "VENUS MOUND". I mean...it's really pretty bad. I ended up throwing this one against a wall and pulling out Julie Garwood's THE BRIDE from the bookshelf.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Boring! Need I say more?
Review: This is the same old story Small is famous for turning out--which, in its familiarity, was comforting. But the writing and the whiny insipid heroine, India, and the horrific transformation of her parents (the hero and heroine from previous novels) is really too much!

I don't mind authors recycling old storylines--as long as they do it well!

I don't think Ms. Small was focusing on writing well, so much as writing to SELL.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Sky O'Malley, Love Wild and Fair or the Kadin instead!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Typical plot line, but still a good story
Review: This was probably one of my least favorites by Bertrice Small. I am usually very pleased with her books. Her writing style is as always very well done. Her characters are lively and vibrant. Her descriptions are amazingly detailed. I did not care for the character of India Lindley at all. I also did not care for James and Jasmine in this book either. However, I did read this book again (as I usually do with Bertrice Small books) and realized that it wasn't quite as bad as I originally thought. Despite the disappointment with a couple of the characters, I was still enthralled and enchanted by Mrs. Small's writing overall and while angry about some of the occurances in the book, I was nonetheless pulled into the story. For those of you who are die hard Bertrice Small fans, take a second look before you give up on this book altogether.


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