This was a very fun historical romance set in an "exotic" location (Egypt), with charming and adventurous characters. The second book in the Carsington Brothers series, Mr. Impossible is about Rupert Carsington, the reckless fourth son of the powerful Earl of Hargate.Here's what we learn about Rupert in the first pages of the book:In the month and a half since the Earl of Hargate’s fourth son had arrived in Egypt, he had broken twenty-three separate laws and been jailed nine times. For what Mr. Carsington had cost the (England) consulate in fines and bribes, Mr. Salt (His Majesty's consul general) might have dismantled and shipped to England one of the smaller temples on the island of Philae.He now knew exactly why Lord Hargate had sent his twenty-nine-year-old offspring to Egypt. It was not, as his lordship had written, “to assist the consul general in his services on behalf of the nation.”It was to saddle someone else with the responsibility and expense.LOL! Yes, Rupert Carsington is the ultimate "Mr. Impossible".When Mrs. Daphne Pembroke, a 28-year-old widow who's (secretly) a linguistic genius and has been trying to solve the mystery of Egyptian writing for years, seeks Mr. Salt's assistance to rescue her kidnapped brother Miles, the "helpful" consul general finds the perfect opportunity to get himself rid of the troublemaker Mr. Carsington and offers the gentleman's services to her. Daphne isn't sure about Rupert when she meets him because he seems to be, well, dim-witted, but she takes him anyway - after all, she's intelligent enough for both and all she needs from him is his brawny body. No, not for that! At least, not right away. ;)That's how Rupert and Daphne get together and start their adventurous quest for her brother Miles - and what a bumpy and fun ride that turns out to be!Cliché, but I have to say it: Rupert and Daphne were perfect for each other. He was tall, dark, handsome and, yay!, not as stupid as he pretended to be. She was a bookish, no-nonsense, beautiful woman "trained" by her deceased husband to hide her figure and her passions. He made her laugh and set her free of her misconceptions about herself, and she helped him find a purpose in life: to love her and make her happy. Yup, that was it - and that was my "problem" with this book. I loved Rupert's antics and his sense of humor was contagious, but I'm not sure I got him. I didn't understand why he acted the way he did, pretending to be an idiot when he was clearly an intelligent man. What good came out of it? His family thought he was a helpless hellion. They loved him, but I don't think they respected him much. Luckily for him, Daphne saw through his façade and fell in love with him. :)Besides Rupert and Daphne, this book also has a charming set of secondary characters. Daphne's crazy servants were hillarious and the villains - yes, there was more than one - were conniving and ruthless. I was surprised at the body count in this book, but Ms. Chase didn't dwell on that so I decided to let it go. I wasn't going to let that pesky, gory "detail" ruin my fun, LOL.As for the plot, this story had it all. Action, intrigue, suspense, humor, romance, mayhem, you name it. All events were aptly connected in the end, even the ones that were mentioned for no obvious reason at first. I love it when an author keeps all the facts in line and doesn't get lost somewhere in the middle of the road. (Yes, Lora Leigh, I'm talking to you! LOL) The ending was a little vague to suit me. The HEA was there, but I didn't get enough of it to see what kind of life Rupert and Daphne will have. I can't say more, you'll have to read the book to understand (or not) how I feel about it.Overall, I had a great, fun time reading this book. It didn't make my keepers shelf, but I highly recommend it for everyone who loves funny historical romances.
Rupert Carsington has been sent to Egypt to get him out of his father's hair, but he finds it insufferably boring and he keeps getting into trouble. This is where the widowed secret scholar Mrs Daphne Pembroke finds him when she pays for him to be let out of jail. She needs his assistance in finding her brother who she fears has been kidnapped. But as they journey to find her brother Miles, they become irrestible attracted to eachother as all the dangers of Egypt keep throwing them together.This is the second book in the Carsington Brothers series, and I loved it, I thought it was a bit better then the first one and I throughly enjoyed it.Rupert was a really good character, he was funny, mischievous and charming, and of course, stunningly tall, dark and handsome. He very much came alive for me in this book and I loved hearing all his licentious thoughts. Daphne was also a great character, intelligent and funny and the more I read the more I liked her. The love story between them was quite sweet and I liked how Rupert brought out her wicked womanly side and made her more confident in herself. Although this wasn't a particularly steamy book it still had some good love scenes, that went into enough detail to keep you interested, but not too explicit that you hear/see/read more then you want to know!“But I liked you from the moment I first heard your voice,” he said, “when I had no idea what you looked like. I thought it delicious, the way you bargained for me, as though I were an old rug. Then I loved the way you looked at me. Then I loved the way you ordered me about. I loved your patient and impatient ways of explaining things to me. I love the sound of your voice and the way you move. I love your courage and your kindness and your generosity and your obstinacy and your passion.” He paused. “You’re the genius. What do you think that means?”This also had a good dash of action and adventure in as well, which kept the story going on at a fairly fast moving pace. This was well written and funny romance, with charismatic characters and an exotic setting, although I found some bits were laugh out loud funny, mostly I found it was one of those books which give you a permanent smile whilst you are reading it.I would recommend anyone who likes historical romance read this series as so far I have really enjoyed it. Her characters are amusing and charming and her heroine especially aren't your usual 18 year old dreary debutantes.Reviewed by Suzanne❤ ♡ Don't want to miss any of our posts? Subscribe to our blog by email! ♡ ❤
What do You think about Mr. Impossible (2005)?
So far I don't seem to be having much luck with Loretta Chase novels. I loved the first half of 'Lord of Scoundrels' but I didn't care for the second half at all. I thought I'd give the author another chance and picked up Mr. Impossible since it had good reviews. The setting in Egypt sounded interesting and it's descriptions within are great. But then you get into the characters and writing and I wasn't impressed. The heroine was interesting in her love for linguistics but her personality didn't seem as vivid as the characters in 'Lord of Scoundrels'. The hero I thought wasn't given much of an introduction as far as his personality save for his knack for causing trouble. His physical description on the other hand is given many times especially his extreme height, which is explained in the book to be only so because everyone else in Egypt is short. It is the second book in the Carsington Brothers series so perhaps I missed out on information for him in the previous book. I do realize that the time period it's set in was rather stuffy, but I also felt like the writing felt equally stuffy. I do realize that tourists and travelers from England would not get rid of all decorum while in Egypt but it just came off stuffy to me. When I think of Egypt I want to be swept away, not bothering about how scandalous it is to be showing ankles. I'm not giving up hope completely and will probably try reading one more Loretta Chase novel sometime soon. However, I am doubting that I'll find better luck. It just seems to be one of those things where an author is so popular you really want to like the books, but they just don't click with you.
—LiteraryLover
Wendy wrote: "It's becoming as bad with audio's as it is with books to decide what to read/listen to next...It's all your fault Caz - in a nice way"Hahah! I know the feeling :)
—Caz
3.5 starsI’m coming to the conclusion that there’s something about Loretta Chase’s writing that just doesn’t quite click with me. Despite all the attractions of this novel, and there are plenty, I found myself at times wondering when I would finish it so I could move on. I never do that with the novels that click with me – I’m too busy enjoying the ride.Is she too heavy on the narration, or is the style of narration? I’m just not sure. I love her characters, I love the dialogue, so I figure it must be something to do with the narration, right? Or maybe it’s the pacing. Argh – I wish I knew, but every time I picked this book up I found myself checking to see how many pages I had left to go and I was always a little disappointed to see that there were so many.The only other thing I can think of - and this is going to sound ridiculous - is the printing of the book itself. It was a large format paperback (no probs there) but with tightly spaced writing (so, looong pages) printed on poor quality, rough and slightly coloured pages. It made the book feel really old and slow-going. It was the same with Miss Wonderful, which I also rated 3.5 stars.Anyway, as I said, there was a lot to like in Mr Impossible. Rupert, fourth son of the Earl of Hargate and brother to Alistair from Miss Wonderful was pretty wonderful himself, and such a change from the usual hero. Rupert is a real character – a goofy, larrikin trouble-maker who takes a perverse pleasure in shocking people. But he also is a man of great strength and courage, capable of sweet tenderness. A truly delightful combination.Daphne Pembroke, a 28 year old scholar, was made by her late husband to feel unattractive and unwomanly due to her bookishness, intellect and passion. Her confidence shattered, she has dedicated herself to her studies of ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and hides her talent and achievements behind her brother, believing them to be inappropriate and unwelcome to others.When Daphne is forced by circumstances to enlist Rupert’s aid in finding her kidnapped brother, the pair embark on an action-packed and dangerous adventure up the Nile and among the ancient tombs and ruins.Rupert and Daphne are the embodiment of the saying ‘opposites attract’. They are fascinated by and truly appreciate and respect each others differences. The things that others find unappealing about them are seen as special and wondrous. I really loved them as a couple, and didn’t close the cover with any concerns about their ability to make it work. Their dialogue and banter was great.The author also did a fantastic job on the setting. She really brought ancient Egypt to life and captured the feel of the land, its people and the utter devastation caused to the tombs and their contents due to the lack of respect and mercenary nature of treasure hunters. I loved the setting and felt that the author did it justice – no mean feat in itself.The side characters were also a quirky and well-drawn bunch who added some great levity and personality to the mix – even Marigold the Mongoose! The baddies were also nicely characterised for the most part and served to add great contrast to the humour.And yet…… *sigh*. Even with all these wonderful elements, the final product was just not as good as the sum of its parts for me. I’m still looking forward to the next in the series, and hoping to get it in different format/binding so I can further test my theory!
—Quinn
