Rating: 
Summary: The Widow's Kiss
Review: I loved it, I don't usually read these types (romance novels) of books but something about the cover attracted me and after I settled down to read it I could't put it down! I read the entire thing in two days! It was fast passed and there was not a single page I was not gripped by - no boring pages in this book! I also really enjoyed the historical significance (the type of books I am usually attracted to are historical novels) and because I had already read so many about this time frame I found this to be right up my alley. Thanks Jane for a wonderful book!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful heroine in a quick read
Review: I rarely purchase romance in hardcover, but couldn't resist THE WIDOW'S KISS, since I was intrigued by the storyline (the heroine is a widow four times over by age 28) and the setting (Henry VIII's court.) Both the storyline and the setting were as richly developed as the cover promised, so I'm thrilled I went ahead and spent the money!! The heroine, Guenivere Mallory, is unconventional for her time, yet Ms. Feather makes her completely believable--and has the reader rooting for her to succeed against Thomas Cromwell's machinations from page one. The hero, Hugh of Beauclaire, is equally believable. He's not sexy in the conventional, rip-his-shirt-off-for-GQ manner of most romance heroes. He's even better, possessing a richly layered personality, a past that affects his actions without being overly 'dramatic' or 'haunting,' and an affinity for children that hints toward his actions over the course of the book. I read this book in only two sittings, and would have read it in one if I'd had the time. Definitely a five-star read!
Rating:
Summary: LUCKY, MURDERER OR OPPORTUNIST
Review: In THE WIDOW'S KISS, it appears unusual to many people that Lady Guinevere Mallory, aged twenty-eight, has outlived four husbands and has become extremely wealthy in the process. It appears even criminal to Sir Hugh of Beaucaire, who believes some of her acquired wealth, actually should be his. And it appears a gift horse of opportunity to the greedy and powerful people who can accuse Guinevere of murder, execute her, and then take her lands. Hugh, a principled man of high standards, is sent by the King and his chief advisor, the Privy Seal, to investigate the unusual circumstances of Guinevere's many widowhoods. In addition to looking into the manner of her husband's deaths, he's to fetch her before the court for review. Before meeting Guinevere, Hugh naturally assumes her guilt, but he's not prepared for her honor, intelligence, beauty and wit. She is his equal in all ways. He's also not prepared for how he's drawn to her, and then to her children. Having completed his investigation, Hugh and Guinevere begin the journey to London, a trip which has it's own pitfalls. However, nothing can make Guinevere ready for the terrifying court session before the king and the Privy Seal. THE WIDOW'S KISS was much more suspenseful than the average romance novel. It's a real page- turner. I also appreciated the length, which was necessary to pull all of the wide-ranging parts and characters together. This book is excellent and comes highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: LUCKY, MURDERER OR OPPORTUNIST
Review: In THE WIDOW'S KISS, it appears unusual to many people that Lady Guinevere Mallory, aged twenty-eight, has outlived four husbands and has become extremely wealthy in the process. It appears even criminal to Sir Hugh of Beaucaire, who believes some of her acquired wealth, actually should be his. And it appears a gift horse of opportunity to the greedy and powerful people who can accuse Guinevere of murder, execute her, and then take her lands. Hugh, a principled man of high standards, is sent by the King and his chief advisor, the Privy Seal, to investigate the unusual circumstances of Guinevere's many widowhoods. In addition to looking into the manner of her husband's deaths, he's to fetch her before the court for review. Before meeting Guinevere, Hugh naturally assumes her guilt, but he's not prepared for her honor, intelligence, beauty and wit. She is his equal in all ways. He's also not prepared for how he's drawn to her, and then to her children. Having completed his investigation, Hugh and Guinevere begin the journey to London, a trip which has it's own pitfalls. However, nothing can make Guinevere ready for the terrifying court session before the king and the Privy Seal. THE WIDOW'S KISS was much more suspenseful than the average romance novel. It's a real page- turner. I also appreciated the length, which was necessary to pull all of the wide-ranging parts and characters together. This book is excellent and comes highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Exciting Historical
Review: Lady Guinevere of Mallory had not reached the age of 30 - yet she had been widowed four times - with each husbands death increasing her personal fortune. Hugh de Beaucaire, had a vested interest in these matters - a soldier with a son for whom he wanted more than a soldiers life - and thusly he disputed a holding that Lady Guinevere had received upon the death of her first husband. Voicing these concerns to King Henry and his then Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell, he was sent to investigate this widow and the circumstances surrounding the deaths. He knew her to be attractive, as he had seen her small portrait, but expected to see a cold-blooded `black widow' heartless harpy, not the achingly breathtaking beauty he found. Set amidst the reign of King Henry VIII in 1537 with all the treachery and political intrigues in that period this story just flies with passion and pageantry. The central characters are unique in that our heroine is not an innocent young virgin, nor is the hero the young and handsome knight, but a more worldly and seasoned campaigner. While attracted to the Lady, he has a healthy wariness that is a delight in the so very intelligent dialogs between the two of them. The historical background of court life, moods, and treachery had me on the edge of my seat and biting my nails as I was caught up in the dangers that surrounded them when Hugh began to believe in her innocence and fall in love, as he then incurred the wrath of men who thought nothing of assignation to those who went against their nefarious plans. This was an absolute total read for me, which having previously read her "V" series, I equate this author with high romance and edge-of-the-seat adventure! This book gives you three dimensional characterizations, mystery, super secondary characters (you will just love the two daughters Pen and Pippa) to fall in love with and a big tease to make you pick up her next two books to complete this promising "Kiss" trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Exciting Historical
Review: Lady Guinevere of Mallory had not reached the age of 30 - yet she had been widowed four times - with each husbands death increasing her personal fortune. Hugh de Beaucaire, had a vested interest in these matters - a soldier with a son for whom he wanted more than a soldiers life - and thusly he disputed a holding that Lady Guinevere had received upon the death of her first husband. Voicing these concerns to King Henry and his then Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell, he was sent to investigate this widow and the circumstances surrounding the deaths. He knew her to be attractive, as he had seen her small portrait, but expected to see a cold-blooded 'black widow' heartless harpy, not the achingly breathtaking beauty he found. Set amidst the reign of King Henry VIII in 1537 with all the treachery and political intrigues in that period this story just flies with passion and pageantry. The central characters are unique in that our heroine is not an innocent young virgin, nor is the hero the young and handsome knight, but a more worldly and seasoned campaigner. While attracted to the Lady, he has a healthy wariness that is a delight in the so very intelligent dialogs between the two of them. The historical background of court life, moods, and treachery had me on the edge of my seat and biting my nails as I was caught up in the dangers that surrounded them when Hugh began to believe in her innocence and fall in love, as he then incurred the wrath of men who thought nothing of assignation to those who went against their nefarious plans. This was an absolute total read for me, which having previously read her "V" series, I equate this author with high romance and edge-of-the-seat adventure! This book gives you three dimensional characterizations, mystery, super secondary characters (you will just love the two daughters Pen and Pippa) to fall in love with and a big tease to make you pick up her next two books to complete this promising "Kiss" trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging and Irritating
Review: Ms. Feather is a terrific author who writes stories that are well researched, full of intrigue and romance, history and engaging characters. Except that each book that I have read she seems to have to include one character who is guaranteed to drive you to distraction with irritating characteristics. In this story it is the 8 or 9 year old daughter Pippa who positively cannot shut up. Pippa piped, Pippa fluted, Pippa trumpeted or screeched or shrilled, etc. etc. The Pippa dialog is so often and so aggravating that I found myself skipping whole paragraphs when she used the name Pippa. This is not good for one loses the continuity of the story. On a positive note, I did enjoy the history of 16th Century England during the mercurial, hugely obese and clever Henry VIII reign and all his poor wives who could not seem to provide him with a male heir. I would have enjoyed more information on the Star Chamber and Thomas Cromwell who was a terrible villian according to recorded history. Ms. Feather has a real penchant for strong, nurturing, rough edged males as her heros. Well so do I. However, once again she has given us a heroine who is drop dead gorgeous, hugely flawed, conniving and quite difficult to feel much sympathy for in the story line. It was nice that she made the Lady Guinevere an intelligent and learned woman despite her obstinancy and intransiegence. All in all, the story is interesting and Ms. Feather is becoming more elegant and refined with each book. I very much appreciate her breaking from the mold of most of the other romance writers who seem to need to refer to the male anatomy in cutesy or military language, ie: swords, etc. She uses the correct biological term which adds a great amount of intellectual credibility as a writer. She remains on my list of writers who are closing the gap in skill as great as the incomparable Guy Gavriel Kay.
Rating:
Summary: Jane Has Won Me Back
Review: Over the years I've read a number of Jane Feather books, with mixed reviews. There will be a good one, a bad one, a mediocre one...then one comes along that really grabs me. This one is a grabber! I'm so happy I decided to pick it up. The characters were intriquing, believable (in a romantic fiction kind of way), engaging. The plot and storyline were well developed. And children, as more than tertiary characters, proved to be very entertaining! I'm waiting for Pen's book, "To Kiss a Spy" to be released in regular print paperback...but, really looking forward to the one that must follow: Pippa's story...which should definitely be a grabber!
Rating:
Summary: Unputdownable
Review: The Widow's Kiss is a great leap from Ms Feather's previous V books. I'm amazed at how skillfully she has switch genres. The depth of characters of Hugh and Guinevere are complex and utterly believable. They are both flawed, human if you will, not all beauty and male good likes...you almost feel you know them as one of your friends when you have finished, which I did, finished the book that is, which was far too soon...every chance I had over a 3 day period, missing sleep, food and gym classes just to read the twists and turns of the plots of Henry VIII and Cromwell's machinations and how they longed to get their hands on the widows property and Hugh and his lady's fight to love and stay alive. The secondary characters are delightful, well rounded, the children are adorable, they too play important roles. I'm not going to go into to too much detail about the book itself, others have done that in their reviews, my main point is the book is by far the best read I've had in 2 years, and I've always got a book on me, buy it if you want excitement, romance, intrigue, danger, love, flawed but loveable characters. Above all read it because its just plain "unputdownable". PS Be prepared to be sleep deprived as well as lose a few pounds once you start you cannot put down!
Rating:
Summary: Unputdownable
Review: The Widow's Kiss is a great leap from Ms Feather's previous V books. I'm amazed at how skillfully she has switch genres. The depth of characters of Hugh and Guinevere are complex and utterly believable. They are both flawed, human if you will, not all beauty and male good likes...you almost feel you know them as one of your friends when you have finished, which I did, finished the book that is, which was far too soon...every chance I had over a 3 day period, missing sleep, food and gym classes just to read the twists and turns of the plots of Henry VIII and Cromwell's machinations and how they longed to get their hands on the widows property and Hugh and his lady's fight to love and stay alive. The secondary characters are delightful, well rounded, the children are adorable, they too play important roles. I'm not going to go into to too much detail about the book itself, others have done that in their reviews, my main point is the book is by far the best read I've had in 2 years, and I've always got a book on me, buy it if you want excitement, romance, intrigue, danger, love, flawed but loveable characters. Above all read it because its just plain "unputdownable". PS Be prepared to be sleep deprived as well as lose a few pounds once you start you cannot put down!
|
