I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I find Jude Deveraux to be a bit hit and miss, but when she hits, the nails it. I'm not sure what drew me to Reagan, the heroine. At the beginning of the book she was helpless and naive. Forced out of her uncle's house after learning that the man she loved only wanted her for her money and refusing to marry him, she finds herself on the docks, where in the real world she would have been gang raped. Luckily, this is the world of romantic fantasy, where she runs straight into the arms of the strong and attractive hero. Of course, the hero mistakes her for a prostitute and doesn't realize his mistake until it's too late. Oops. In his defense, she was pretty responsive. In her defense, she was completely vulnerable both physically and emotionally.The thing about Reagan was that she never had a chance. Up to the start of the book, she had been a prisoner in her own home and knew dangerously little of the real world. Her actions might have seemed stupid, and I suppose they were, but she honestly had no idea how to survive. I Think she expected people to be basically good and kind.Travis, on the other hand, was a demanding autocrat. Actually, he managed to do this and still be likeable. To be honest, I'm not sure what else he could have done with Reagan besides take her home with him, because he was right -- she'd be killed or worse if he let her run around on the streets. And when he took her home, he did try to give her some space to find her own place among the household. She just wasn't ready for it yet.And so she runs away, and the two are apart for years. I usually hate this tactic, but in this book, I think it was the only thing that could have happened. Reagan needed to find herself. She couldn't truly love Travis or be happy with him until she could learn to love herself, and be happy with herself. I loved that moral.The ending might have dragged just a bit, but basically, I really liked this one and definitely recommend.www.christineamsden.com
Lost Lady is the second boko in the Lady Trilogy, but the first book to read of this trilogy. There was no rhyme or reason that I picked this book up, I just wanted to read more of this author and this seemed like a good fit for me. The heroine of the story is very naive and innocent in the beginning. She has pretty much been imprisoned because of her fortune. Her uncle has been behind it because he will stop at nothing to gain access to the money she will have. But when she overhears her fiancee and her uncle talking about her and none of it is complimentary, she confronts them, and they force her out of the house with nothing but her nightgown on. She ends up in the docks and stumbles across Travis. He takes control and sees her fed, clothed and seduces her until he realizes that she is a virgin and not some dockside whore he picked up. Travis and Regan are at odds except for the desire they have for each other. They cross the sea all the way to Virginia and end up falling in love despite what keeps them apart at times. This is a story that reminded me of those older romances that won my heart. It has some characters that are very amusing and I loved the bantering, the shoe throwing and the hint of danger these two face. We see Regan grow from a naive girl into a confident woman who fights her own battles and for love. Its not your typical romance, a bit predictable but engaging and heartwarming at times. I just need to read the other two books because his young brother is a hoot, and his closest friend is a rascal.
What do You think about Lost Lady (1991)?
Im always surprised by how much I love deveraux's works. I love them soooo much. Sure the leading lady is a little dumb sometimes but its understandable seeing how she has been kept away from the world. Deveraux always counter balances everything perfectly. I even loved how the story jumped ahead four years allowing Regan to grow up. The only part that I didnt like was the over the top proposal done by travis. But i loved Travis sooo much that even his super cheesy impossible proposal didnt turn me off.
—Gen
Reading the second novel in the James River Trilogy is a bliss! It was full of truth and of love, of passion, and of extreme hilarity! Regan is full of innocence that her transformation gave me a bit of a shock, but always -again, always- Miss Jude will never leave her readers in discontentment. The hero in the story, Travis Stanford, is so sweet and so funny as well that I pity him at some point for I always laugh at his silly schemes toward Regan. He might be ill-mannered most of the times; his behavior might not be that of a king or a prince; without any doubt, he is stubborn, but then his genuine love for his wife, his daughter, and his brother is priceless. Again, everything is in order. The way Travis valued his family more than himself is so inspiring and genuinely heartwarming. His affection toward them never faltered until the end.At one point, you'll be stunned and think about, "Can this really happen in real life?" Maybe not the totality of the novel may happen, but certainly the message will flow out like a river into ourselves and at some point, we'll be left saying, "Yes, indeed. This is the truth -that people chose greed over love, that they chose money over friendship." Then again, the portrayal of every character in the story was marvelous. From them exuded the whole truth that people are capable of loving, receiving love, and most of all, valuing family over themselves- being unselfish and selfless instead.GODSPEED, readers!
—Maria Sanigan
This would have been a much better story if Regan wasn't so immature, ignorant and ungrateful. I was hoping by the end of the book she would improve but she didn't. I could have felt sympathy for the way Travis used her if the way she acted hadn't been so idiotic. I mean Travis raped her (even if it was more of a mistake than a willful disregard of her feelings) but she never got really upset about it just angry and almost happily went to bed with him the next night. Her lack of response, made it hard for me to understand the way she acted the rest of the book towards him. Of course if she had gotten genuinely upset it would have made me hate Travis so really it was just a terrible situation to put in a romance novel. This seems very negative for a book I said I liked by giving it 3 stars but it only just got this because of Travis and the ending.
—Kaza
