My Lady's Trust (Harlequin Historical Series, No. 591)

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I absolutely LOVED this book and couldn't put it down. It was the best regency historical I've read in ages, and I didn't want it to end. As soon as I finished it, I immediately watched Sense and Sensibility on video, just to feed my desire to stay in the regency world the author had created for me.

The characters were fascinating and so true to life, that I felt like I was living the story with them. The plot itself had meat and substance, and was meaningful with the heroine's perils, and exciting and unpredictable right up to the end. The hero was just the kind of man I like to read about - strong and sexy with intelligent, intriguing, and delicious dialogue. (I'm still dreaming about him.) This gifted author really knows how to pull you into a book, and I will be counting the days until her next one comes out.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I absolutely LOVED this book and couldn't put it down. It was the best regency historical I've read in ages, and I didn't want it to end. As soon as I finished it, I immediately watched Sense and Sensibility on video, just to feed my desire to stay in the regency world the author had created for me.

The characters were fascinating and so true to life, that I felt like I was living the story with them. The plot itself had meat and substance, and was meaningful with the heroine's perils, and exciting and unpredictable right up to the end. The hero was just the kind of man I like to read about - strong and sexy with intelligent, intriguing, and delicious dialogue. (I'm still dreaming about him.) This gifted author really knows how to pull you into a book, and I will be counting the days until her next one comes out.

Rating:
Summary: As all other Justiss novels, Worth the Read
Review: Julia Justiss continues to write regency novels that are worth reading. A fresh alternative to others who continue to disappoint. I admire Laura's character and her strength. I thought that Justiss did a wonderful job revealing Laura's distrust and her low self-esteem. Even knowing the source of criticism is a horrid, evil man, will not prevent women from feeling there must be some truth to his words. I see this everyday and it's a reality that this author touched on. The violence in the book isn't extensive and, in the context, is realistic. Beau was a wonderful male character who begins his quest trying to stave off boredom and figure out who Laura really is. Some of his insights seem too accurate for a male, but since he's known as the "puzzlebreaker" I will allow that he might have been able to understand Laura well enought to uncover her motives. Their budding friendship and romance was touchingly sweet. The ending came too quick in this book and I was disappointed that there was no epilogue. I'm a sucker for good epilogues. :-)~

Rating:
Summary: An emotional roller coaster that will keep you turning pages
Review: Laura Martin has a good reason for trying to make herself invisible...her life is at stake. Unfortunately, the earl of Beaulieu is determined to bring her out in the open...as his mistress. As much as Laura feels drawn to him, she has more to fear than her reputation. Their romance is impossible, for reasons that she cannot divulge.

According to the earl's thinking, the widowed Laura is the perfect choice for a mistress. Being known as his mistress can only enhance her standing with the ton and would certainly not prevent her from marrying respectably after the conclusion of their liaison. Although he cannot imagine ever letting her go to another man....

Inevitably, his interference endangers the very woman he sought to protect, and it is only then that he realizes his true feelings and his unworthiness to be her husband.

As much as I enjoyed this book--couldn't put it down, in fact--I was disgusted at the earl's vision of bringing her to society's notice as his acknowledged mistress. Trust a man to rationalize his lust by persuading himself it's in his victim's best interests! From what I've read of this period--and I've read extensively--such women were part of the demimonde and NOT considered respectable at all, even if some of their activities were overlooked. And such a dimwit to have guessed so much of her secret and not realize his actions were putting her in extreme danger!

Still, even considering the hero's shortcomings, this is an enjoyable, very engrossing story that I guarantee any reader will not soon forget.

Rating:
Summary: Enthralling Historical
Review: Laura Martin has done her best to ensure that she does not stand out as she lives quietly in an English village. When her Aunt Mary died, Laura occupied herself by using her knowledge of medicinal herbs to heal others. Tragedy strikes when Squire Everett's young guest, Kit Bradsleigh, is shot in a hunting accident. Widowed Mrs. Martin is asked to tend to the injured man and remain at Everett Hall during his convalescence.

Desperately trying to appear drab, Laura hopes to escape the notice of Kit's visiting older brother, Hugh Mannington Bradsleigh, Earl of Beaulieu. But the attraction between the two is cleverly subtle, thereby increasing its effectiveness. And Mrs. Martin's kindness and herbal knowledge has not escaped the notice of rich supporting characters, Lady Elspeth, Beau's sister or Squire Everett, the aged noble who is much taken with Laura. As the attraction between Beau and Laura reaches the boiling point, she once again withdraws to the safety of her cottage. Will she trust Beau and reveal her deepest secret, which could place her in grave danger?

A gradual awakening of romance supported by a cast of well-written characters provides the backbone in this page turning historical. Ms. Justiss is well on her way to making her mark in the genre of historical romance.

Rating:
Summary: a very familiar plot premise
Review: There is nothing terribly new of different about the plot or characters in "My Lady's Trust" by Julia Justiss. This does not mean that it is a bad book. To the contrary this romance novel is actually rather well written. It's just that when I'm really familiar with the plot and story development, I tend to dwell on all the things that irk and make no sense to me. And this is of course not very fair to the novel (or authour) at all.

In "My Lady's Trust" we have a heroine, Laura Martin, who possesses a dark secret, is on the run and who is living in hiding in a small secluded village where she makes her living as the village's herb woman. A hunting accident involving the Earl of Beaulieu's younger brother throws Laura into this very wealthy nobleman's path. And while she would like nothing better than to have nothing to do with the earl and his family, esp given that she is very much afraid that he will discover her true identity and so bring danger back into her life, she cannot ignore his plea to help his brother. Meanwhile the earl is quite taken with the enigmatic and beautiful Laura Martin, who is so reclusive and so wary. Exactly what is so attractive and charming a woman doing hiding in such a secluded area? He resolves to discover her secrets, even as he resolves to breach her defenses and contract a brief liaison with her. But the more he gets to know Laura the more he appreciates her beauty, with and intelligence, and soon falls rather hard for her. But can this relationship go anywhere esp given that Laura still refuses to trust him or share her secrets with him?

Here's what irked with about this novel: why is it that no matter how urbane and sophisticated and intelligent the hero is, he always seems (at first) not to take into account what his determined pursuit of the young woman in question would do to the woman's reputation? I keep coming across this lack of concern over and over again in many romance novels, and I must say it usually makes me dislike the hero immensely -- I'm one of the unfashionable few who prefers that hero be thoughtful and kind instead of masterful and spoilt. The only thing that seems to matter to the hero is his desire for the heroine. Given that at this point he has no desire to marry her, and only has a temporary liaison in mind, his callous disregard for her reputation really irks. In "My Lady's Trust" both the village squire and the vicar have to warn the very irate earl about creating a scandal with Laura, before he considers the impropriety of his actions. And I found it very hard to believe that the earl needed to be reminded about the consequences of his actions where Laura was concerned. A more thoughtful hero would have considered this aspect of things from the very beginning!

And then there is the manner in which the earl decides to resolve Laura's problems by finding the man that she is hiding form and confronting him about his past behaviour towards her and threatening him to leave her alone, thereby alerting him to the fact that she is still alive and putting her in harm's way again. This, we're supposed to believe is the only solution that the powerful earl could come up with? It made very little sense. And then there is the whole notion that one could obtain a 'quick and quiet' divorce is Regency England. Divorces at the time were extremely rare and could only be obtained only after a somewhat messy and public trial, involving one spouse accusing the other of certain crimes and lots of scandal. And few people ever recovered their social reputations after having pursued such a (for the time) notorious course of action. So that the whole concept of a quiet divorce in the early 19th century would be an oxymoron.

I am actually not being very fair to this novel. Julia Justiss has created a very sympathetic heroine in Laura Martin, and I couldn't help but get involved with her problems and fears. I wanted to find a way out of the horrifying position that she was in, and rooted for her to find a measure of peace and happiness. It's just that those three points that I raised got to me, most especially the one about heroes who always seem to have momentary pleasure in mind at someone else's expense. "My Lady's Trust" is really not a bad read, and I probably would have liked it a lot more if I hadn't spent the previous week watching A&E's rebroadcast of "Pride and Prejudice" as well as rereading all six of her novels again. So here's my recommendation: enjoy this novel for it's heroine, Laura Martin, as she truly makes this novel worth reading.