BEGUILING THE BEAUTY BY Thomas

Lynda X · Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 1250

BEGUILING THE BEAUTY has a compelling setup: a man, irresistibly attracted by sight to an unavailable woman whom he never forgets. I bought Venetia’s husband’s bitter warning and the disastrous results of Lexington’s outing of an anonymous woman, Venetia, the heroine. There is so much to like about this book, but the annoying aspects were so great, that the book frustrated, and ultimately, disappointed me.

One main problem, IMO, is the long, long separation between the h&h
( physically and psychologically). I naturally identified with the wronged heroine (by her husband and later, publicly by Lexington), so I wanted more blood, more regret, more “spine” from Lexington who was bad-spirited, resentful, reluctant, cold and cowardly for too long. And Thomas’s contrivance of the gossips being the means of the spilling of the truth was just annoying and frankly, beyond belief. (Yes, like Msaggie, they reminded me of the the avid Thenardiers). Thomas's wrapping over 250 pages of misunderstanding up in just a few pages was unsatisfying.

Of that weren't enough, I really resented the obvious seeding of the next two books’ characters and their dilemmas. Helene’s involvement with a weak, unavailable man makes her so unsympathetic that I’m not looking forward to her book; however, I am to the next one out in July. I hope it’s better than BEGUILING THE BEAUTY (which I gave a C+).

JMM · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 492

IMHO, the heroine was so WEAK, clinging to a man she knew didn't love or respect her or treat her well.

"But I LOOOVVVEEE him! I can't walk away from him! *Sob*! Oh, poor me!"

And he never faced any real consequences for his actions or his cowardice. I wanted to see real regret, not a few moments of "Ooopsie. I guess I was wrong about her."