AAR

[jc]

Has anyone read this yet? I just saw it in Walmart and was wondering what anyone thinks. Is Phin likeable? Did he and Mina have sex when they met years ago? Is it angsty? Feel free to spoil for me.

[veasleyd1]

This will not help. I tried it last night, got through about a chapter and a half, didn't even bother looking at the end, and put it in the sack for the Friends of the Library.

[sayoko]

[msaggie]

[Katie Mack AAR]

Jean Wan and I wrote a dual review of this book for the AAR Book Club debut this month. You can read our review here: http://www.likesbooks.com/AARbookclub0809.html

[Coco]

So far I love it!

It's so well written and the characters are grown up and not children playacting at being adults, which is what I usually find in historical romance.

The mother-daughter relationship is amazing but allows both mother and daughter to be nuanced individuals.

I LOVE the heroine, she's just so different and well done. The hero's issues are realistic and brilliantly written, the metaphors used to explain his emotions are fascinating and the imagery is brilliant. Their relationship is sharp and heating up.

Since I didn't like her last book I'm really happily suprised I like both her writing style and the story here better.

Go Buy It!

Coco
_________________
In love beggars and kings are equal.
- Indian Proverb

[baseballmom5]

Coco, I'm so glad you said that you liked this one better than Bound by Your touch. I enjoyed some parts of that story, but it did not meet my expectations!

[jc]

Wow, such mixed feelings. Thanks so much to everyone! I'll hope for the best, but I don't have a good feeling. I was going to buy, but I think I'll put a request in at the library.

[Coco]

@ baseballmom5: I was so dissapointed with the last one! When I read Duke of Shadows I loved how she wrote, loved the characters and the story, so much so that I still haven't finished it completely because I don't want to let go of it!

I liked the premise of the book but I thought that the writing was grating, the dialogue was perhaps just too witty for me. I was so upset that here was an author who was just beginning to write, who I liked, and she was going to be a one hit wonder for me! But no, Written on Your Skin has redeemed her for me.

What did you like about it? Or not like about the other one? (Or even the other way around!)

Coco
_________________
In love beggars and kings are equal.
- Indian Proverb

[Kaia]

I am rapidly becoming a Duran fangirl. I don't think BBYT or DoS have been perfect books, but neither do I think the perfect book exists. I *do* think that I enjoy Duran's characterizations, voice, etc. and want her to continue writing and developing said voice.

I did purchase WOYS, but I think I will wait to read it, since I've read the last 2 books in the past couple of months. Kind of saving it for a rainy day...just like Chase's Mr. Perfect.

[dreamweaver]

[Kitkat]

I love this book. Phin and Mina were well matched. Duran has a beautiful way with words and the depth of her writing made me like both Phin and Mina whose characters were dark and hard respectively.

I like many others here love Duke of Shadows but didn't like Bound by Your Touch. This book show Duran has staying power and I am looking forward to her next book.
_________________
Life is short. Eat dessert first.

[Susan/DC]

It's odd, because I think Meredith Duran's writing has improved with each of her books, but WOYS is my least favorite of her three books so far. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but for some reason it did not capture me emotionally in the way the two earlier books did.

It did get better as it went on, especially in the characterization of Mina. She was a bit offputting in the beginning, but by the end I liked her and thought I understood her motivations. I also liked that she wasn't a cookie cutter heroine but felt fresh and fully three-dimensional. Not the dreaded feisty or even kick ass, but she definitely knew her own mind and was smart and willing to fight for a life she defined, not one set for her by others. The Victorian setting made this much more believable than if it had occurred earlier.

As for Phin, he remained a bit of a puzzle even at the end. Duran actually shows him using the skills he gained while working for Ridland, whereas in far too many books the hero's past is only vaguely alluded to (although Alissa Johnson's McAlistair's Fortune also showed a hero who'd been a military operative). He was clearly smart and compelling, but in the end I must say Julian and Sandburne from the first two Duran books won me over more thoroughly.

I'd rate it a B, which is a good grade even if not a DIK.

[sayoko]

I'm sad to say that it was my least favorite of her books so far. It was a B- for me. I felt that the 'romance' itself started way too late in the book. I liked Mina a lot since the very beginning, whereas Phin seemed always too distant. I found myself missing James from BBYT, not to mention Julian from her debut novel

It's still a remarkably well written book, Meredith Duran is still an autobuy and I'm still a fangirl The long wait for Wicked Becomes You has finally started

[NoirFemme]

I had plans to buy this book because of the Hong Kong setting but after my inability to finish both the Duke of Shadows and Bound by Your Touch, I'll probably only read it if someone whose tastes match my own enjoyed it. For some reason, I can't seem to penetrate Duran's writing. It's very dense, but not in a Judith Ivory or Jo Beverly way; it just doesn't seem to hold my attention. I see the characters are unique and fully-fleshed, but I can't care about them enough to want to follow their romance. Ah well...I can't like everything, even though I try!