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Mistress (2005)

Mistress (2005)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Rating
3.93 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
0553588656 (ISBN13: 9780553588651)
Language
English
Publisher
bantam

About book Mistress (2005)

Ever since "discovering" Amanda Quick for myself a couple of weeks ago, I've been mainlining her books, particularly the single-word titles (i.e., Mistress," "Mischief," "Surrender," etc.) (and yes, I'm aware that Amanda Quick is one of Jayne Ann Krentz's various nom de plumes). A few of them have run together as they all seem to feature a heroine who is at some point labeled an "Original" in that she casts off the demands of Police Society in Regency England to pursue her own happiness, and a more conservative hero who, even though he always falls in love with the heroine, in the meantime does his best to tame her wild ways so as to preserve her life/reputation/fortune/whatever. It's a fun formula, but I hope I can be forgiven for thinking that several of these books have run together in my head.This particular one features Iphigenia Bright, a woman masquerading as the mistress of Marcus Cloud, the Earl of Masters, in order to uncover a blackmailer. When Marcus finds out about the mistress he had no idea he had, he heads to London from his scientific studies to investigate, as her claims are in danger of making him a laughingstock. Once they compare notes, Marcus elects to help her in her investigations and wackiness ensues.There were a few things I did not understand about this book:(view spoiler)[1. Why was it necessary for the blackmailer to claim that Marcus had been murdered? Was it really just to make the demands seem that much more severe?2. On that note, why pretend to have killed Marcus, specifically? Was it truly just the timing of when he left London? It seemed a bit too convenient for the blackmailer to use Marcus, specifically, when he was also blackmailing one of Marcus's closest friends. Maybe I'm thinking too much on it, it just seemed sloppy.3. Were mistresses truly allowed to mingle with, and even become the toast of, society? Keep in mind that the sum total of my experience with the morals of Regency England comes solely from romance novels, but I was always under the impression that a man's mistress was not invited to balls to mingle with Polite Society, and the "virgins" who were being married off. This is more of a rhetorical question, as I suspect some Google Fu and a visit to the library would answer my question.4. Upon finding out that Iphigenia was a virgin, rather than a widow, Marcus immediately decides he must marry her. This did not seem in keeping with his previous actions, wherein he told a particularly aggressive father and mother that he would not marry their daughter even if they conspired to find him alone in a room with her, naked. I understand this is a romance novel and he was denying he was in love with Iphigenia, even to himself, but clearly he isn't a man who will be inclined to marry for honor. (hide spoiler)]

"Oh! Iphiginia! Your phiginia is so hot and tight!" says Marcus, Earl of Whatever, tallest and richest and most desired of the whoevers. A *unique* (cough) romance hero who has dallied enough for experience (but not TOO much, and not with anyone important, and not too recently), who lives in a self-imposed prison of a loveless life, waiting for a salvic female to unlock his heart through the healing balm of graphic sex. One of the pointless, self-imposed rules Marcus lives by is that he never dithers with virgins. But, dread! Iphiginia is a phirginia!I sincerely hope an editor tried to talk the author out of "Iphiginia" as a name. It would be dreadful if that sailed by without comment, or, worse, that an awful editor decided to change the name TO Iphiginia.Ah, me.When I was a wee chit of a girl, and I thumbed through this book at the grocery store register-- how I WANTED it. It had sex in it, and a beautiful gilt carriage on the cover, who could possibly want anything else? But my mom wouldn't let me get it. And my dad scolded me because we were not the kind of people who read those kinds of books. Now I've read it anyway, so ha.But alas, with the passing of the decades, I am no longer entranced by fashion porn, and romance characters strike me as distractingly stupid. They can do it; it's their god given right. But who really wants to watch retards fuck?I was in the mood for some pretty, brainless lurff, and this book had it all-- in a rather larger dose than I could swallow. Pretty dresses. Alleged 'intelligence' that drew the couple together. Plot holes you could drive a Conestoga wagon through. Absurd people drawing out pointless angst. I started flagging about a third of the way through, but at the end I read really fast and this seemed to help. It gets an extra star for having the decency not to take itself too seriously. For being boldly, fiercely, determinedly bad. Proud as a Franklin fart.Odds of staying together if they were real people, and not romance novel characters: 2/10 Iphiginia is intractable and glories in getting her way-- even insisting that the wedding night be spent proving her (stupid) theory right. When Marcus is done being led around by the dick, he may remember that he is a person who might like to have his wishes respected, who once had a complete life without her, and who may notice the contempt they both feel for each other beneath the lust.

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Iphiginia (let's now dwell on the name, shall we?) has recently returned to England, when she learns her dear aunt Zoe is being blackmailed. The blackmailer is so vicious he actually killed a member of the ton, Marcus Valerius Cloud, Earl of Masters, so he truly must be stopped. So Iphy devises a cunning plan. She would enter the ton posing as Masters's mistress - the man is dead after all, he won't be able to label her a liar and since he was quite a recluse before his death, no one will know the truth - and try to uncover the blackmailer.All is proceeding quite nicely, though Iphy still hasn't uncovered the blackmailer's identity, when all of a sudden Masters appears at a ball, quite healthy and alive, rather curious as to whom his mistress might be. Drat it, when a man is supposed to be dead, he should remain dead, don't you think?Anyway, Marcus is quite taken with his pretend mistress and decides to keep up with the charade. The fact he also thinks she is the blackmailer - yes, one of his friends is also being blackmailed - helps in his decision to do so.But soon, blackmailers and intrigue will prove to be the farthest thing on Marcus's mind and he'll be more than ready (and Iphy more than willing) to erase the "pretend" from their arrangement.This is the absolute first book by AQ I read and I've been hooked ever since (with historicals one of my favorite genres and Ms. Quick one of my favorite authors).I loved this story. It had everything one desires in a historical. A wonderful leading couple (a high-ranking member of the ton and a spinster), nice supporting cast, great chemistry, lovely romance, and a nice dose of suspense thrown into the mix, just to keep things lively. Though Marcus isn't Julian (from Seduction), he's still one of my favorite historical heroes out there. And Iphy, the template AQ heroine, a little before her time, was his perfect counterpart.Though this is an oldie, it remains one of my absolute favorites on that keeper shelf, and I really cannot find any fault in this book. It even has a carriage-sex scenes, that "must" in early AQ novels.5 ½ stars. ;P
—Mojca

3.5It should be noted that Amanda Quick -- better known as a pseudonym of Jayne Ann Krentz -- was, at one time, my favorite author. And although that was more than a decade ago, she will always have a spot in my heart, even if I don't quite connect with her books as well as I used to.One reason I loved Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz books is that her characters are intelligent. The heroine does her own thing. The hero falls hard. It's quite pleasing all around. But Mistress seems to hit you over the head with the intelligence factor, with the characters -- Iphiginia more than Marcus -- commenting on the other's intelligence.And don't even get me started on the name Iphiginia. At least I have copy/paste on my side so I don't spell her name wrong.I did enjoy the set up of this book -- Iphiginia poses as the mistress of the Earl of Masters (Marcus) to look into the blackmailing of her aunt, and when he catches wind of it, he simply has to investigate... and get pulled under Iphiginia's spell. (Seriously, copy/paste is amazing.)Amanda Quick books often have an element of suspense or mystery in them, even though they're historical romance. I'm always fond of this, since it provides outside factors to keep the couple apart, rather than their stubborn beliefs. However. HOWEVER. Marcus had some pretty stuffy "rules" that he was infamous for that, quite naturally, caused some angst toward the end of the story. It only moderately made me roll my eyes.I also seem to remember that Amanda Quick books also feature a virgin heroine who hides her virginity until the hero discovers it for himself... usually as he thrusts home. That holds true for Mistress, too, and... yeah. I'm not sure how I feel about that scene because there are elements that are amusing to it. And yet, Iphiginia should have said something beforehand rather than letting Marcus believe she was a widow. Like he wouldn't find out? Come on.As to the blackmailer, I actually figured it out before it was revealed (yay me!), but it was an... okay? mystery/suspense line. Lots of Marcus running after Iphiginia and getting mad when she wouldn't listen to him. Iphiginia herself stretched the bounds of believable situations. Oddly enough, it was the money factor more than anything. She was incredibly brilliant, yes, but there would have been a lot of subterfuge necessary to get the men of the world to let the women invest their money.So yes. Mistress is most definitely everything I remember of Amanda Quick books. They're pleasant, but I do believe my tastes have altered somewhat. Still an enjoyable book. I would pick up more without hesitation.
—Amanda

Having heard great things of Amanda Quick's clever historical erotic romances, I was expecting a little too much with this threadbare effort. Yet the premise sounded good enough: a blackmail-investigating young woman must impersonate a somewhat rakish gent's mistress in order to win her way into high society and rummage through their belongings. When the wealthy-but-honest lothario joins the search for the blackmailer, sexy shenanigans and deeper connections ensue.Repetitious and over-formulaic, let down by poor proofing as well as poor editing, Mistress is surely a work-in-progress rather than a finished book. In my version (Kindle) there is at least one unforgivable typo (a word rendered illegible by random keystrokes), and for an erotic romance the fun scenes are tediously far apart.It's not entirely without fun: the scene in the statue room is enjoyable enough. I have no doubt Amanda Quick can be a fun writer. It's just that, having been so let down by this concoction, I'm not in a hurry to read more.
—Julie Ambrose

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