L.L. Muir

For several years, the Scarlet Plumiere has used her pen to hold the gentlemen of society accountable for their deeds, saving many a young lady from a bad match. Now her pen has falsely attacked one of the "Four Kings", and they will not let this stand. Ramsey Birmingham, Earl of Northwick, vows to find and marry her. But the Scarlet Plumiere hides for a reason. Will North's quest end in tragedy?

This is a fun read, even with a second reading. Following North and his friend search out the Scarlet Plumiere was entertaining. North is fascinated by the wit of his prey, falling for the woman without seeing her, which is a bit silly in my opinion. This makes the romance a little unbelievable.

The strength of the story is in the friendship between the four men. They have stuck together through thick and thin, helping each other through some truly horrible situations. Their interactions were often humorous, and I really enjoyed it!

As a mystery, it was easily solved, but watching the characters work it out was entertaining. The romance was sweet if a bit rushed.… (mais)

I loved this book so completely! I love finding Regency gems that bring something fresh to the genre, and Blood For Ink delivers.

The hero is a very much a main character in his own right, which I appreciate, as too often the hero is merely a prop for the romance. He and his three aristocratic friends, together known as the Four Kings, have fantastic chemistry as a band of brothers the likes of which I don't normally see in Regency. (Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series has great male friendship.) I'm delighted that each of the Four Kings will get his own book.

For a while the hero and heroine communicate through clever postings in the newspaper, and I thought that was quite fun. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense element. I loved the role the heroine's father played in the resolution; another thing we don't often see in books of any time period!

There were two minor things that I thought could have been handled differently, but they didn't irritate enough to detract from giving this 5 stars--and I rarely give 5 full stars. I would have like to see the hero and heroine get to spend a bit more time actually getting to know each other before the hero falls for her so completely. And I didn't see the point of Sarah's POV and that thread; seemed like an unnecessary diversion for the sake of bringing some information to light that I'm sure could have been revealed in a less intrusive way.

I listened to the audiobook, so I'll also comment that the narrator did a good job. There were times I felt the men's accents were a bit too "plummy," and while likely accurate for their upper class ranks, it made them feel older than they actually were. Overall it was enjoyable narration, though. Definitely a talented narrator. He made every scene come alive.

I finished the book yesterday and I've already bought the sequel. Away I go!… (mais)

He stalked her, got rid of her protector (why on earth did her cousin leave her alone in a strange city when she was constantly harassed by men?), used his authority at work to kidnap her, locked her in a CAGE and then she rehabilitated him and they fell in love? What a horrible, misogynist plot. The first two books were fun light reading ("fluff" as my mother calls it). I'm not sure what the author was thinking with this one.

Side note: Why does the woman on the book cover have straight dark hair when Isobelle's curly red hair is practically its own character in the book?… (mais)