Loretta Chase: Lord Perfect

Olin lukenut tämän historiallisen viihderomaanin jo aiemmin, mutta se tarttui epähuomiossa mukaan kirjaston hyllystä: Lord Perfect (Piatkus, 2007; ISBN 978-0-7499-3728-7).



Hetken aikaa teosta luettuani tajusin sen jo lukeneeni, mutta melkolailla näppärästi teksti soljui eteenpäin, ja toisaalta en kovin paljon muistanut aiemmasta lukemisesta. Teokseen on ujutettu monenlaista juonenkäännettä, eikä vähimpänä niistä se mitä vanhemmat ovat valmiita lastensa vuoksi tekemään. Huumoriakin on mukaan leivottu mukavassa määrin.

The heir to the Earl of Hargate, Benedict Carsington, Viscount Rathbourne, is the perfect aristocrat. Tall, dark, and handsome, he is known for his impeccable manners and good breeding. Benedict knows all the rules and has no trouble following them—until she enters his life.

Bathsheba Wingate belongs to the rotten branch of the DeLucey family: a notorious lot of liars, frauds, and swindlers. Small wonder her husband’s high-born family disowned him. Now widowed, she’s determined to give her daughter a stable life and a proper upbringing. Nothing and no one will disrupt Bathsheba’s plans—until he enters her life…

Then Bathsheba’s hoyden daughter lures Benedict’s precocious nephew into a quest for a legendary treasure. To recover the would-be knights errant, Benedict and Bathsheba must embark on a rescue mission that puts them in dangerous, intimate proximity. It’s a situation virtually guaranteed to end in mayhem—even scandal!—if anyone else were involved. But Benedict is in perfect control of events. Perfect control, despite his mad desire to break all the rules. Perfect control. Really.

Loretta Chase: Last night's scandal ja Don't tempt me

Kummassakin näistä Loretta Chasen viihderomaaneista maalaillaan skandaalinhuuruisia tunnelmia. Toisessa romaaneista saadaan tarinaan eksotiikkaa Egyptin tutkimusretkien ja skotlantilaisen linnan avulla, toisessa viitataan Intiaan ja kahden kulttuurin törmäykseen. Omaperäisyyttä kerronnassa ei juurikaan ole, mutta teksti ei sentään pahemmin takkuile, joten helppolukuisuudesta ei ainakaan ole tingitty.

Last night's scandal (Avon Books, 2010; ISBN 978-0-06-163267-9)

After surviving the perils of Egypt, Peregrine Dalmay, Earl of Lisle is back in London, facing the most dire threat of all: his irrational family... and Miss Olivia Wingate-Carsington. A descendent of notorious—but very aristocratic—swindlers, the delectable redhead has the ability to completely unhinge him, and a long history of dragging him into her scandalous schemes.

Olivia may be Society's darling, but she's aware a respectable future looms menacingly. And so when Lisle is forced to go on a family mission, she sees this as the perfect chance for one last adventure—even if it is with the one man in the world she can't wrap around her finger: but really, she only wants to help…

Which is why Lisle and Olivia find themselves in a gloomy Scottish castle inhabited by spiteful ghosts and craven murderers...and a shocking secret: the greatest peril of all may be burning within their own stubborn hearts.

Don't tempt me (Avon Books, 2009; ISBN 978-0-06-163266-2)

That’s the headline when Zoe Lexham returns to England. After twelve years in the exotic east, she’s shockingly adept in the sensual arts. She knows everything a young lady shouldn't and nothing she ought to know. She’s a walking scandal, with no hope of a future... unless someone can civilize her.

Lucien de Grey, the Duke of Marchmont, is no knight in shining armor. He's sarcastic, cynical, easily bored, and dangerous to women. He charms, seduces, and leaves them—with parting gifts of expensive jewelry to dry their tears. But good looks and charm, combined with money and rank, make him welcome everywhere. The most popular bachelor in the Beau Monde can easily save Zoe’s risque reputation...if the wayward beauty doesn't lead him into temptation, and a passion that could ruin them both.

Loretta Chase: Scandal wears satin, Vixen in velvet ja Dukes prefer blondes

Loretta Chasen historiallisessa viihderomaanisarjassa touhutaan vaatteidentekijöiden maailmassa, mikä on jossakin määrin omaperäinen lähtökohta tarinoille, mutta kaavamaisuudelta ei kirjoittaja välty, eikä myöskään siltä että päähenkilöt ovat suurimmaksi osaksi turhauttavan kliseisiä ja puupökkelömäisiä.

Scandal wears satin (Avon, 2012; ISBN 978-0-06-210031-3)

A blue-eyed innocent on the outside and a shark on the inside, dressmaker Sophy Noirot could sell sand to Bedouins. Selling Maison Noirot's beautiful designs to aristocratic ladies is a little harder, especially since a recent family scandal has made an enemy of one of society's fashion leaders. Turning scandal to the shop's advantage requires every iota of Sophy's skills, leaving her little patience for a big, reckless rake like the Earl of Longmore. The gorgeous lummox can't keep more than one idea in his head at a time, and his idea is taking off all of Sophy's clothes.

But when Longmore's sister, Noirot's wealthiest, favorite customer, runs away, Sophy can't let him bumble after her on his own. In hot pursuit with the one man who tempts her beyond reason, she finds desire has never slipped on so smoothly.

Vixen in velvet (Avon, 2014; ISBN 978-0-06-210032-0)

Lethally charming Simon Blair, Marquess of Lisburne, has reluctantly returned to London for one reason only: a family obligation. Still, he might make time for the seduction of a certain redheaded dressmaker--but Leonie Noirot hasn't time for him. She's obsessed with transforming his cousin, the dowdy Lady Gladys, into a swan. Leonie's skills can coax curves--and profits--from thin air, but his criminally handsome lordship is too busy trying to seduce her to appreciate her genius. He badly needs to learn a lesson, and the wager she provokes ought to teach him, once and for all. A great plan, in theory--but Lisburne's become a serious distraction and Leonie's usual logic is in danger of slipping away as easily as a silk chemise. Could the Season's greatest transformation be her own.

Dukes prefer blondes (Avon, 2015; ISBN 978-0-06-210034-4)

Biweekly marriage proposals from men who can't see beyond her (admittedly breathtaking) looks are starting to get on Lady Clara Fairfax's nerves. Desperate to be something more than ornamental, she escapes to her favorite charity. When a child is in trouble, she turns to tall, dark, and annoying barrister Oliver Radford.

Though he's unexpectedly found himself in line to inherit a dukedom, Radford's never been part of fashionable society, and the blonde beauty, though not entirely bereft of brains, isn't part of his plans. But Clara overwhelms even his infallible logic, and when wedlock looms, all he can do is try not to lose his head over her.

It's an inconvenient marriage by ordinary standards, but these two are far from ordinary. Can the ton's most adored heiress and London's most difficult bachelor fall victim to their own unruly desires?

Loretta Chase: Miss Wonderful

Loretta Chasen viihteellisen 1810-luvun Englantiin sijoittuvan rakkausromaanin pelastaa omintakeinen huumori: Miss Wonderful (Piatkus, 2006; ISBN 978-0-7499-3710-2).



Miespuolinen päähenkilö Alistair on nuoresta asti ihastunut vääränlaisiin naisiin, ja kerta kerran jälkeen vanhempien on täytynyt hänet pelastaa pulasta. Mitään hän ei tunnu kokemuksistaan oppineen, ja tietää sen itsekin.

Taisteluparikseen hän saa Mirabelin, joka hoitaa isänsä taloutta ja pitää muutenkin huolta paikkakunnan asioista, eikä naimisiin meno kuulu hänen suunnitelmiinsa vähimmässäkään määrin.

Kummatkin päähenkilöistä ovat omalla tavallaan taitavia juonittelijoita, ja monta konnankoukkua tulee selvitettäväksi ennen kuin yhteiselo alkaa näyttää mahdolliselta.

Due to his history of expensive romantic entanglements, Alistair Carsington now has six months to find either a useful occupation or a wealthy heiress to wed. To prove he is not an idle fop only concerned with sartorial pleasures, Alistair agrees to help his old friend, Lord Gordmor, by traveling to the wilds of Derbyshire to convince Gordmor's neighbors to support the nobleman's proposal to build a canal.

Upon arriving, Alistair, a famous war hero and eligible bachelor, finds everyone couldn't be nicer, everyone except for respectable, practical, spinsterish Mirabel Oldridge. The last thing Mirabel wants is for her tranquil little corner of England to be destroyed by a noisy, nasty canal, and she is prepared to use every weapon at her disposal--including her disheveled coiffure and unstylish wardrobe--to stop Alistair.

Loretta Chase: Miss Wonderful ja Lord Perfect

Loretta Chase on kirjoittanut parikymmentä historiallista viihderomaania, joita ei voi erityisen omaperäisiksi kehua, vaikkakin teoksissa on ajoittaista huumoria ehkä enemmän kuin tyylilajiin yleensä kuuluu. Carsington-veljeksistä kertovassa kirjasarjassa sattuu ja tapahtuu ylenmäärin, ja historiallista ajankuvaakin on mukana kohtalaisessa määrin, ihan pelkän pintakiillon varassa näissä romaaneissa ei liikuta.

Miss Wonderful (Piatkus, 2006; ISBN 978-0-7499-3710-2)

Due to his history of expensive romantic entanglements, Alistair Carsington now has six months to find either a useful occupation or a wealthy heiress to wed. To prove he is not an idle fop only concerned with sartorial pleasures, Alistair agrees to help his old friend, Lord Gordmor, by traveling to the wilds of Derbyshire to convince Gordmor's neighbors to support the nobleman's proposal to build a canal.

Upon arriving, Alistair, a famous war hero and eligible bachelor, finds everyone couldn't be nicer, everyone except for respectable, practical, spinsterish Mirabel Oldridge. The last thing Mirabel wants is for her tranquil little corner of England to be destroyed by a noisy, nasty canal, and she is prepared to use every weapon at her disposal--including her disheveled coiffure and unstylish wardrobe--to stop Alistair.

Lord Perfect (Piatkus, 2007; ISBN 978-0-7499-3728-7I

The heir to the Earl of Hargate, Benedict Carsington, Viscount Rathbourne, is the perfect aristocrat. Tall, dark, and handsome, he is known for his impeccable manners and good breeding. Benedict knows all the rules and has no trouble following them—until she enters his life.

Bathsheba Wingate belongs to the rotten branch of the DeLucey family: a notorious lot of liars, frauds, and swindlers. Small wonder her husband’s high-born family disowned him. Now widowed, she’s determined to give her daughter a stable life and a proper upbringing. Nothing and no one will disrupt Bathsheba’s plans—until he enters her life…

Then Bathsheba’s hoyden daughter lures Benedict’s precocious nephew into a quest for a legendary treasure. To recover the would-be knights errant, Benedict and Bathsheba must embark on a rescue mission that puts them in dangerous, intimate proximity. It’s a situation virtually guaranteed to end in mayhem—even scandal!—if anyone else were involved. But Benedict is in perfect control of events. Perfect control, despite his mad desire to break all the rules. Perfect control. Really.