B-
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Theme: Mistaken/False Identity, Plot Moppet, Retelling
Archetype: Actor/Actress/Celebrity, Character with a Disability, Criminal/Mafia
This RITA® Reader Challenge 2015 review was written by Nita G. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Short Historical category.
The summary:
A MAN CONDEMNED…
Falsely accused of murder and mute from a near-fatal beating, Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne has escaped from Bedlam. With the Crown’s soldiers at his heels, he finds refuge in the ruins of a pleasure garden, toiling as a simple gardener. But when a vivacious young woman moves in, he’s quickly driven to distraction…
A DESPERATE WOMAN…
London’s premier actress, Lily Stump, is down on her luck when she’s forced to move into a scorched theatre with her maid and small son. But she and her tiny family aren’t the only inhabitants-a silent, hulking beast of a man also calls the charred ruins home. Yet when she catches him reading her plays, Lily realizes there’s more to this man than meets the eye.
OUT OF ASH, DESIRE FLARES
Though scorching passion draws them together, Apollo knows that Lily is keeping secrets. When his past catches up with him, he’s forced to make a choice: his love for Lily…or the explosive truth that will set him free.
Here is Nita G.'s review:
I jumped at reviewing this book for the RITA® Reviewer Challenge because I just happened to be in the middle of reading the Maiden Lane series. This series mostly centers on a poor part of London called St. Giles and the problems gin has caused for that area. And most of the guy characters wear wigs, which I find so not attractive. But I’ve highly enjoyed the series. It has such a diverse set of characters with some from the ton, some from St. Giles, and even a pirate (probably my favorite character in this series). Oh! And the Ghost of St. Giles, a vigilante of that neighborhood.
I was very much looking forward to Darling Beast because Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne, has spent the last four years imprisoned in Bedlam for a murder he didn’t commit. He escaped and is now hiding out as a gardener helping rebuild a pleasure garden. He hasn’t been able to speak since an awful beating while in Bedlam. I was fascinated by his character from the bits we saw of him in the previous book.
I wouldn’t say I was disappointed with the book, just underwhelmed. It’s well written and I liked the characters. I adored the heroine’s relationship with her son, Indio. And I liked that not only was Lily an actress, but also wrote plays. I just never thought I would miss St. Giles, the Ghost of St. Giles, plots about gin, and even the wigs. Much of the book takes place in the pleasure garden. And even when the story picks up a bit later in the book as Apollo tries to figure out who actually committed the murder he was blamed for, I just couldn’t get myself totally invested. I guess I just didn’t find the story as engaging as the other books. And the romance too. As much as I enjoyed the characters, the romance between the hero and heroine just wasn’t compelling enough for me. So far, this is my least favorite book in the Maiden Lane series.
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Is anyone keeping a chart of the grades? Interesting – disappointing, weird, odd, disturbing – to see so many low grades on what were supposed to be the best of the year.
I certainly had noticed that, both this year and previous years. Just shows that the folks who create the RITA nomination lists have totally different tastes than the community that’s grown up around this blog. I guess we knew that there are subcommunities within the readers of any genre, and here’s proof. There’s usually very little overlap between DABWAHA and RITA nominations. And faithful followers of SBTB are much more likely to find their favorites celebrated at the former.
Great review. I have this on my nook…but haven’t read it yet. I like that its a bit different from the other books, I think my fav books of the series are the first four…especially the “pirate one”…
Thank you for this review which expresses very well what I thought and felt about this novel. A great author, a wonderful series, but somehow I felt there was something missing from this one–I did miss the Maiden Lane milieu, and thought there wasn’t enough tension or conflict, perhaps? Hoping the author returns to form in the next one. (And I totally agree that the RITA nominations and awards don’t seem to reflect either my interests or my perceptions of what constitutes excellence at all. I am perplexed year after year, and I guess I just need to stop expecting anything of the award process.)
The RITA nominees are judged by authors not readers, which I think explains a lot.
“The RITA nominees are judged by authors not readers, which I think explains a lot.”
That does explain a lot.
I agree with this review. I love the series and really wanted to like this story. But somehow it was just not compelling enough. Maybe the setting contributed to that. Living in a pleasure garden, a ruined pleasure garden, just seemed weird. Or maybe there was just not enough conflict. Maybe the next one in the series will be better. More Ghost of Saint Giles, the evils of gin, and, well, maybe less wigs.