ISBN 978-1-4165-9263-1
Genre: Historical Romance
(c) July 2009, Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster
Meredith Duran's website
Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link: Book Depository
"Wonderful romance and a great read! Not to be missed!"
I was charmed by Meredith Duran's The Duke of Shadows. It is no wonder then that I come to read Bound By Your Touch with a lot of expectations, the least of which is that I should love this book, too.
Bound By Your Touch started with our heroine, Miss Lydia Boyce, being embarrassed in her presumptions of a gentleman's feelings who, in fact, had developed a tendre for her sister without her knowing about it. The prologue has such promise--a sympathetic heroine whom I can't help but root for, and I also anticipate the comeuppance that is sure to befall her um, "evil" sister. (However, there's no comeuppance, because Lydia is a much better person than I am.)
In the four years hence, Lydia developed a strong sense of self, all of which is tied up in her work for her father. She is clear in her feelings toward her family, in that one doesn't shy away from love when it becomes painful. Hence, it's possible to be hurt by a family member yet still continue to love him/her just the same. She has overcome certain desires (for a husband and family) when she believes she will remain a spinster and it is so wondrous to see all these get revived when she starts to fall for James, who gives her hope.
James, who portrays himself as a wastrel and lives to anger his father, is captivated by Lydia. He couldn't understand Lydia's devotion to and faith in her father, despite there being suspicions of her father being involved in a crime, as his own father had let him down very badly years ago. Yet in her, he finds himself learning about faith, and in her he finds his freedom and what he could be.
We also see a wonderful kind of parallelism between the two characters and their situations: Quiet, retiring Lydia and the effervescent playboy James, Lydia who loved her father and James who hated his, and some other stuff which are discussed in other blogs/review sites. I won't repeat them here, and all I can say is that for all the tender scenes between James and Lydia, this book is worth a read. I especially like the one wherein Lydia was declaring her father's innocence and yet, despite herself, doubt was creeping in. To prove her claim, she has to break a stone figure with a hammer. There was a wordless communication between the two of them--with James knowing somehow what was going on in her head, and Lydia knew this--and with every strike, she finds it harder and harder to hold onto her faith at the same time her physical body was tiring. Until finally, James came behind her and lent her his strength, that they were going to do it "together". It was a powerful scene in terms of the emotions it evoked in me.
Bound By Your Touch has its own appeal over The Duke of Shadows, and in my opinion, BBYT could be better than DoS overall because of the heroine. Then again, I was only charmed in the first half of DoS.
Buy Link (paper): Book Depository
ISBN 978-1-4165-9311-9
(c) August 2009, Pocket Books, Simon and Schuster
Meredith Duran's website
Buy Links (paper): Amazon
, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble
Buy Link (ebook): Barnes and Noble Ebook
"Meredith Duran paints the journey of their hearts in heartbreakingly beautiful detail"
Written On Your Skin can be summed up this way: Mina Masters saved the life of Phineas Granville, British spy, in Hong Kong at a certain cost. Four years later, they meet again, and Mina calls in the debt he owed her to save her mother. Yet, Meredith Duran paints the journey of their hearts in heartbreakingly beautiful detail.
Mina and Phin started out with misconceptions about the other, misconceptions that were designed and deliberately placed to save themselves from harm. Later on, it is these very misconceptions that blinded them to the other's true selves, and for me, it was frustrating to read them. Have I said that I have no patience? Hence, the story for me only picked up about halfway through the book, when Mina decided she could trust Phin and events started to unravel. Suffice it to say, the meat of the book is in the second half.
I've read a lot of romances over the years, and Phin and Mina's love scenes were some of the best that I've read, because of the words Meredith Duran employed, the emotions they evoked and the significance of the scenes to the characters. I like how Phin and Mina's characters grew over the course of the book, how Phin needed Mina to exorcise his demons and how he needed her in order for him to know his true worth. In the same way, I like how Mina never lost herself when Phin came onto the scene, but that Phin's presence in her life enriched her. I like the scenes wherein they both bare their souls to the other, as they explained the scars that were written on their skins and the profound impact and meaning of those scars. I like how Mina saw the scars as badges of courage, testament to the hell each had gone through and emerged triumphant. Both are strong individuals, yet I like the way they reached a compromise through a change in perception.
Meredith Duran's prose is lovely and unique, and for me, a bit hard to grasp at times. (She certainly doesn't write like other historical romance authors.) Despite this, I have to admit that she does have these really clever turns of phrase that made me put post-its on the pages so I can review them later. That said, I'll definitely want to reread the second half of the book again, in order to soak up those lovely words and revisit how Phin and Mina fell in love.
Rating: 4.5
Buy Links (paper): Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble
Buy Link (ebook): Barnes and Noble Ebook
(c) 2008, Pocket Star Books, Simon&Schuster
371 pages, Mass Market Edition
Author's Website
Summary:
Emmaline Martin travels to India to be with her fiance, Colonel Marcus Lindley. Though captivated by the country, she is made aware of the stirring unrest among the troops by Julian Sinclair, heir to the Duke of Auburn, who captivates her and for whom she feels an attraction. On the heels of her fiance's betrayal and mutiny among the native troops, Emma has no one to turn to except Julian.
As they flee toward safety, Emma and Julian fall in love, but due to circumstances, they are separated, only to meet again at a London ball years of grief later...
Review:
Meredith Duran brings a refreshing voice to historical romances, partly because of her exotic setting and mainly because of her irresistible writing style. She has a different way of looking at things and this shows in her characters' thoughts and feelings. The words she used are beautiful and perfect, and evokes emotions that make me want to read that particular sentence or paragraph over again.
The Duke of Shadows is divided into two parts, and the first part utterly charms me. Funny how war-torn India could be charming, but I like reading about Emma's and Julian's interactions and the gradual way their feelings for each other developed as Julian tried to bring Emma to safety. I like that Julian is different from other heroes that we normally read about. Though he is dangerous with a rakehell charm, he is kind and patient with Emma, even when there is nothing between them yet. He is also a complex man with hidden depths, brought about by his myriad heritage.
And here is one example of that wonderful inner dialogue of Julian's that charmed me:
...She had not felt like a woman who shared an understanding with
someone else. She had felt like a woman who shared an understanding
with him.
Emma, in this first part as described by Julian, is captivating, a girl who rushes headlong into life, unafraid and excited. And it is so easy to weep with her as she lost her parents and to cheer for her as she takes control of her life, and as she falls in love with Julian.
Here's another passage. The sheer poetry of her words/descriptions astound me:
His hands had performed miracles. Her life had rested in them, balanced in
their capable grace. And now they rested on her, and their grace infused
her as well.
And inevitably, war changes everyone.
I'm torn with the second part. On the one hand, the fairy-tale charm has gone, leaving behind the grim realities of life, wherein we see how Julian and Emma have changed due to their experiences. And on the other, we see a love that has endured through unimaginable sufferings (both characters'), and a love that has matured and is all-encompassing (Julian's). I love that Julian is constant, that his love never wavers, despite what his beloved has turned into. One of the best heroes I've read, and one that makes me want to keep him. This scenario--that of the heroine deteriorating into someone not so lovable due to her experiences--is something we don't often see in books.
And so, one of the brilliant passages in this half of the book is the one wherein Emma was enumerating the places where Julian has searched for her in war-torn India. He said he searched for her everywhere, but he hadn't named London, because he hadn't conducted the search in that city.
"I thought you had not found me here," she whispered. "Or I thought you
would not want me, as I am now. But you did find me here. Didn't you?"
The words are ordinary, but I love the double meaning here, because it is in London that he has found her--both physically and the real Emma, who was "lost" after the war.
And another:
...Yes: everything was coming alive. Plants with deep roots, that had gone
underground for winter, would be rising again through the soil. She had
always loved him, after all. And perhaps he knew it. Perhaps he saw more
than she had suspected. And despite it, he did not look away.
I love the words "he did not look away". Despite my ambivalence, this second part for me is gripping because we see how the characters have changed and there I was, reading as fast as I can to see how they'll get back together again. I don't understand Lockwood's part in all this, though, except for being instrumental in arranging the venue for Emma and Julian to meet again. Nor that of his wife. (Someone enlighten me?) I feel there's a mystery here, and I have a feeling Lockwood would have his own story someday, but thus far, I don't believe he's the hero of the next two books from Meredith Duran. The fourth maybe?
One thing about this book is that after I read the last page, I immediately opened to the first page again to take a second journey through that wonderful interaction between the characters. I highly recommend this book. I've also heard good things about the next two books by Meredith Duran, Bound By Your Touch and Written On Your Skin, and I can't wait to read them.
Book Rating: 4.5
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