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whiskeyinthejar

WhiskeyintheJar Romance

Romance book talk, reviews, recipes, and dog pictures

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Guest Reviewer at:  Reading Between the Wines book club

Currently reading

Heiress for Hire
Madeline Hunter
Doctor Sleep
Stephen King
Progress: 50%

Kyraryker’s quotes


"She thought it over, but couldn’t see any immediate loopholes other than the threat of her inner slut emerging, and she could darned well control that little bitch."— Susan Elizabeth Phillips

The Velvet Promise by Jude Deveraux

The Velvet Promise - Jude Deveraux

 I like the character of Judith already; she rather become a prioress (high ranking nun) than get married and "become a servant to a man". I sense the beginnings of a strong woman character.

Judith is turning out to be quite a woman! When she accidentally spies Gavin, newly her husband, and Alice (vindictive, crazy, lover of Gavins) talking she tells Gavin exactly what is on her mind. Judith doesn't run away crying instead she claps and says Alice put on quite a performance and basically how dumb Gavin is for falling for it.

The author does a commendable job with the time period and setting. Ms. Deveraux actually describes the type of dress, housing, and culture she is writing about to help the reader get a good feel for the time, instead of just say "hey it's the 1500s and everyone rides horses, the women wear dresses, and the men carry swords".

I can definitely tell this book was written awhile ago (1981) and their marriage night is less than desirable reading. N.O.W. would probably have some issues with how Gavin treats Judith from time to time, however, considering the time period I can't fault Deveraux too much.

This is decidedly Judith's story, her force of will and strong personality overshadows poor Gavin many times.

For the last half of the book I was practically salivating waiting for Alice to get her comeuppance. It started to get a little ridiculous how blind Gavin was to Alice's true personality (psycho bitch). Hard to have respect for a guy who was pretty oblivious/dumb throughout most the book. In fact it wasn't until the last 5pgs that Gavin finally realized Alice was ka'raaazzzy. Alice snarls and he sees for the first time she has crooked teeth; crooked teeth apparently coincides with evil woman in Gavin's mind.

The ending was so completely abrupt I think I was still like wtf for 10 mins after. This book had some good moments but for the most part I think it is past its prime.