LIGHTNING REVIEWS: The Scandalous Life of a True Lady and My Forbidden Desire

Lightning reviews for books I also lightning-read. Fitting, don't you think? However, there's only one reason I do a lightning-read, and it's because I don't like the book much and would just like to finish it so I could get some of my money's worth.

I start each book with an open mind. I'm truly prepared to like each story and presented myself ready to be entertained. It's not hard to please me, and I love to savor each read, each adventure. I've always thought that a book not savored is a book not read.

Hence, I do get disappointed with books that let me down. Sorely disappointed.

(Note: There may be some spoilers below, so don't read if you don't want the book to be spoiled for you.)

So, first up is Barbara Metzger's The Scandalous Life of a True Lady. I thought the back cover summary was interesting, which was why I picked up this book. After all, what could be more interesting than a down-on-her-luck lady who needed to attend a house party as the pretend mistress of a gentlemen spy? Definitely, all sorts of delicious scenes tumbled about in my head. Moreover, the author's name is one recommended by bloggers and readers, so I thought I'd try one of her books.

Alas, I was sadly disappointed. Info dumps occur early on in the book. I understand that we, the readers, need to know the characters' background, but I'm sure there's a better way of letting us know about it. And when the characters are finally at the party, I thought there were lots of descriptions that should've been let out. Also, there were so many names (the attendees of the party) that I just glossed over them. I also lost track of the mystery. The hero was supposed to be looking for a suspect who wanted to murder him, and something about the French conspiracy. Then, I was flabbergasted. He went to so much trouble and secrecy to discover the conspiracy, then in the end, he just up and asked the guests if they knew something. I was thinking, couldn't he have done that in the first place? Believe me, I didn't want to reread the entire book slowly to see if it could be done.

The next one is Carolyn Jewel's My Forbidden Desire. I hadn't read the first book, but I'm sure that's not the problem. The story is actually interesting, though I'm confused how Alexandrine could be a witch, then later on smells of kin. Maybe because of the magic. That's what comes of a lightning-read. Anyway, my main gripe with this story, and which totally spoils it for me, is that the main characters' actions and words and thoughts, especially the heroine's, come across as childish, i.e. they don't sound like adults. I mean, is this how grown-ups speak? I don't think so, at least, not in my world. Words they used are reminiscent of how teenagers would speak to one another, and well, I'll read a YA book if it comes to that, not that I'm disparaging YA books, because I absolutely love the Harry Potter books and Poison Study (which is classified as YA in my library). Take note though, that I read every word of this book up to Chapter Three, whereupon I became exasperated and morphed into lightning-read mode. So, if the writing changed later on, I wouldn't know.

Some of you may not agree with me, but there it is--my opinions of these two books. If you've read them, let me know what you think in comments.

P.S. If anyone from the FTC is looking at this, I paid for these books with my hard-earned money, so it hurt that I didn't like what I bought.