Satu lagi novel Amanda Quick yang menarik perhatian saya, dengan genre yang tidak biasa, romance detective..buat saya, romance ya romance, detektif ya detektif. Menarik membaca kedua hal ini di gabungkan. Dua karakter nya, Tobias March dan Lavinia Lake, yang orang biasa yang selalu kekurangan uang menurut saya sangat menarik diangkat dalam penokohan, mengingat biasanya tokok2 di HR biasanya selalu glamour dan kaum bangsawan.Bertemu dengan ending yang didak enak berupa pengusiran Lavinia dari Italia oleh Tobias ,membuat mereka saling membenci satu sama lain saat bertemu lagi di Inggris, setelah sama2 telibat dengan kasus yang sama , pembunuhan sang pemeras dan pencarian buku harian si pemeras yang akhirnya melibatkan banyak pihak.Di sewa oleh dua klien yang berbeda, mereka dengan sangat terpaksa harus bekerja sama mencari buku harian itu,dan si pembunuh.On off hubungan mereka juga sangat menarik untuk di ikuti. Lavinia yang janda , berusaha dewasa tapi juga polos dan naif, dengan keponakan yang justru pola pikirnya lebih dewasa dan tenang di banding dirinya, Emeline. Sementara Tobias March yang duda juga bukan orang yang mudah , dengan adik iparnya , Anthony, yang juga lebih tenang dalam menghadapi masalah dibanding dirinya.Apalagi jika masalahnya menyangkut Lavinia. Ada kejadian lucu saat di teater pada debut pertama Emeline, penggemar Lavinia di Itali sempat mengganggu Lavinia, dan Tobias yang cemburu tentu tidak melewatkan kesempatan itu untuk bertinju dengan saingannya.Jika menyangkut Lavinia, sepertinya Tobias juga ;lebih banyak kehilangan akal sehat nya.Saat kejadian mereka pulang dari rumah client mereka setelah Lavinia dengan marah2 ke klien nya membela Tobias, di kereta kuda yang bagus itu, Tobias tidak melewatkan kesempatan merayu Lavinia.... tempat yang sepertinya sangat di sukai oleh sebagian masyarakat Inggris jaman abad pertengahan untuk quickie...untuk lovemaking yang super hot.....dan disesali kemudian....hahhaha.....apalagi Lavinia melihat noda sperm si Tobias sempat mengotori jubah terbaik nya .... Bahu membahu, up and down, sibuk melakukan penyelidikan sendiri2, dan akhirnya mengakui ketertarikan satu sama lain, mereka bekerja sama dengan kompak memecahkan misteri ala Agatha Christie ini....lumayan seru kejar2an nya...dan sampai akhir, memang siapa penjahatnya tidak disangka2...surprise ! Kisah menarik yang disertai bumbu romance dan misteri yang seru, membuat penasaran, aksi apa lagi dan misteri apa lagi yang akan mereka temui di buku dua.....
This just didn't do it for me overall. It had some definite perks but low enough lows that I just cannot say I enjoyed it.Let's start with the perk. Quick has a pretty interesting story going on here. Sure, it gets a bit hokey and far-fetched but the overall mystery and excitement of it is pretty well done. There's a mystery in here that goes far more indepth than I anticipated and it's wrapped up nicely too, so I'll give some kudos there.Unfortunately, that is where my praise ends. The rest of it, when it's not dullsville is either so predicatable it's laughable or it blindsides you. For one, I don't see where there is chemistry between the two characters, March and Lake, at all. All of their sexual interludes come out of nowhere. They'll be talking, like normal, and all of a sudden March has his hands on her face. Excuse me? Back away strange man! That is some serious personal bubble popping. But maybe what's even weirder is that in all of their encounters they just keep talking. Admidst the kisses, Lake is asking what he's doing, talking about the case, doing everything possible to distract the hell out of the reader. Quick, what were you thinking? Let a love scene be a love scene and shut the hell up! No offense but if that's what you find attractive, I hope your lover enjoys conversation, too.Then, maybe it's the talking in there, but the steamy scenes are laughably short. These two peopel find there release in mere seconds. Quick doesn't give the characters, supposedly all passionate about each other, time to get into it and I certainly didn't get bothered while reading. All in all, it just didn't work.Honestly, this would have worked so much better if Quick had just written is as a thriller or drama and left out the erotica aspect.
Do You like book Slightly Shady (2002)?
This is another Amanda Quick story that grabbed my attention. Tobias and Lavinia have been thrown together under mysterious circumstances. Lavinia is working hard to establish herself in a new career and a decent husband for her niece. In her new inquiries she finds Tobias on the scene of a murder. Throughout this story the relationship between the two because very intriguing and interesting. They embark themselves on a different type of relationship and figure out through the lies and surfaces what really happened. As this delightful story ends they agree to work together again, and I am looking forward to finding a new story with them as characters. If the personal relationship can continue with be the question. A new take on the historical romance and I am going to add this author to the list of Must Reads!t
—Stacie M. Ritchie
Normally, I really enjoy Quick's books, but this one just felt phoned in - the relationships and emotions felt contrived. I had been reading everything she published for awhile and about when this came out, I stopped. I got back into Quick through the Arcane Society novels which I have been really enjoying - this actually felt like a bit of a test run for those. I can't decide if I should continue with the Lake/March novels or not - I may try one more. This makes two disappointing romances in a row from authors I've previously enjoyed (Nora Roberts was the other). I hope whatever I read next is better!
—Jennifer
I really enjoyed the first installment of the series. I have read these books out of order, so I read the third book before this one. What's interesting is watching how the relationship started out between Lake and March. I found the beginning a little hard to follow, but that might be because I read the third installment prior to this one. I think I may of been a bit confused. I do want to read the second installment because the series is interesting enough to make me want to get a little more into it. I thought the plot twists were pretty good, although I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was, I was, as one might suspect, mistaken. I'm very interested to see how the relationship between Emalene and Anthony develops.
—Amy
