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Read The Spurned Viscountess (2010)

The Spurned Viscountess (2010)

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3.33 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
1426890583 (ISBN13: 9781426890581)
Language
English
Publisher
carina press

The Spurned Viscountess (2010) - Plot & Excerpts

Take one gloomy cliff top castle, mix in several mysterious happenings, a band of smugglers and an unsolved murder. Then add a generous helping of romance, top it off with the special gift of ‘sight’ and voila! - Shelley Munroe has created the perfect recipe for an enthralling read.At Castle St. Clare, Lucien is awaiting the arrival of his betrothed, Rosalind Chandler. Everyone believes he is Viscount Hastings who went missing over three years ago whilst on a trip to Italy but Lucien has only patchy memories of his past and is not convinced that he is Viscount Hastings. However, he has sworn to revenge the murder of his wife Francesca and their unborn child and his enquiries have led him to a shadowy figure called ‘Hawk’ who is known to associate with smugglers in the area.Lucien has no wish to marry as it will interfere with his quest for revenge but he is being pressured by his father, the Earl of St. Clare, to produce an heir. On meeting Rosalind, he believes that he may be able to dissuade her from marrying him because:‘She watched anything instead of him. Even now, her entire body shivered with nervous tension. If he made a loud noise, the woman would run, probably screaming, all the way back from whence she’d come.’He is wrong because Rosalind sees this marriage as her only chance to have a home of her own and a family even if her husband does not love her. Here at Castle St. Clare no one knows of her gift of ‘sight’ and there are no rumours of witchcraft. So despite Lucien’s efforts to discourage her, the wedding takes place.Rosalind despairs as she is constantly rebuffed by her husband and plagued by a series of mysterious accidents and the feeling that someone is watching her in her bedroom. Lucien believes his wife is making these incidents up in order to gain his attention. However, as time goes on, it becomes apparent that they are not accidents and someone wants both Lucien and Rosalind dead. They must solve the mystery before it is too late!I found that the story moves at a quick pace with plenty of action and quite a few surprises along the way and the developing romance between Lucien and Rosalind is cleverly interwoven with the action. Lucien’s initial treatment of Rosalind had me really annoyed particularly his constant reference to her as ‘the woman’. I suspect Ms Munroe’s intention was to highlight the detachment Lucien feels with regard to his wife but it did irritate me.At first, he sees Rosalind as a bland and timid person whom he resents because she is alive and Francesca is dead. In spite of this, he is protective towards her from the beginning insisting she takes a footman with her whenever she goes out. He begins to notice qualities in her which he was previously unaware of and I like the gradual change in his feelings towards her:‘Her light eyes darkened with an inner fire that underlined the stubbornness of her chin.’‘The woman was astute as well as persistent.’‘Lucien bit back a grin, once again wondering why he’d dismissed his wife as a boring brown mouse. She had more determination than most men.’ I also enjoyed seeing Lucien’s gradual sexual awareness of Rosalind:‘His gaze skittered down her back to the feminine sway of her hips, the flash of a stocking-clad ankle.’‘Under her cloak, he saw the subtle rise and fall of her breasts. When he realized where he was looking, he stiffened.’Lucien’s reaction to his growing sexual awareness of Rosalind is realistic because he feels it is a betrayal of his love for Francesca. Although, Ms Munroe does provide Lucien with a good get out clause because, before she died, Francesca had made him promise her that he would find another love. Lucien makes a rocky start but he certainly redeems himself and deserves the title of hero.Rosalind is a delightful heroine and certainly not the ‘mouse’ Lucien first perceives her to be. She is feisty, determined, clever and caring.She is determined to uncover the identity of ‘Hawk’ possibly endangering her own life and she has total disregard for Lucien’s threats:“Keep your pert nose out of my affairs. If you don’t, I’ll lock you in your room and place a guard outside.”She is certainly feisty:‘With a loud, unladylike grunt, she yanked the bureau.’‘With a last surge of energy, Rosalind pulled herself over the lip of the cliff and lay face down on the path, gasping for breath.’She is very caring and tends the sick people in the village even when malicious rumours are spread that she is a witch. She also shows great concern for her maid, Mary, when she goes missing.She cleverly uses her ability to read people’s minds as a means of gaining information which may lead to ‘Hawk’.At first, Rosalind sees Lucien as someone who treats her with indifference but gradually she begins to see the man beneath this facade:‘... she knew her husband to be a caring man, one who worked tirelessly in the village, a man who took the time to play with the village children.’As they are thrown together by the puzzling events, you see her become more and more attracted to him with the final realisation that she loves him when it might be too late: ‘“I’m married to Lucien. I love him.” The words burst from her without thought, yet the minute she uttered them she knew she spoke the truth. She loved her husband. Now if only she had the chance to tell him.'I love Lucien’s Aunt Augusta, an irascible old lady who finds fault with Rosalind at every opportunity. She provides some of the funniest moments:‘Lady Augusta stared down her long nose, her gaze imperious. “A walk? I expected you here.” The elderly woman swished her fan through the air in a manner that made Rosalind’s knuckles tingle. “A household this size does not run by itself.”‘ The unmasking of ‘Hawk’ is quite a surprise but thinking back the clues had been there but I did not spot them. The motives for Hawk’s actions were a surprise revelation in themselves.If you are looking for a historical romance with a good helping of mystery, I can recommend this book.http://www.theromancereviews.com/view...This review was originally written for The Romance Reviews

Originally posted at http://www.smexybooks.com/2010/10/rev...Favorite Quote:”After she freed her husband, she’d smack him over the head with a sharp object. That would knock some sense into his addled brain.”Roseland Chandler is on the shelf, a poor relation, and thought to be a witch. Marrying Lucien, Viscount Hastings, was the best she could hope for in her situation. When she arrives at Castle St. Clare she is rudely told by Lucian that this marriage is not wanted. But Roseland wants security and a family of her own so she goes through with the marriage; only to discover that Lucian truly meant what he said. Lucian has just recently returned from the continent mad for revenge for the men who murdered his first wife and unborn child. He has amnesia and doesn’t even believe he is Viscount Hastings. He hasn’t the time or inclination to marry Roseland but the marriage was contracted years ago. He may have to marry Roseland, but he will never love her. As accidents and close calls plague Roseland and threaten her life, Lucian will have to set aside his animosity and fear and find out who wants her dead and why.Roseland comes off at first as easily intimidated and a bit silly. Never saying boo, she keeps her opinions to herself and does what she’s told. As time progresses and she is swept up in to Lucian’s problems, she begins to blossom and we see a more determined strong willed woman who does what she wants while paying lip service to Lucian and the rest of the family. I liked how Ms. Munro fleshes out her personality. It’s was a slow and believable emergence. Roseland gift is handled well and we see her use it through out the story. We are shown the good and the bad that results from it and it gives us insight into Roseland’s personality.Lucian comes off very autocratic and aloof. In fact, he’s rather mean in the beginning. He has no time for Roseland and even goes as far as to think she is trying to seduce him into bed when she begins to tell him of the strange happenings at the castle. Rather then listen to her, he just orders her to stay home and quit getting into trouble. Lucian’s metamorphoses from cold and unfeeling to warm and attentive is nicely done. As you get his background story, you understand why he is the way he is and it goes a long way to forgiving his attitude.Lucian and Roseland’s love for one another develops slowly over the course of the story. They aren’t forced or rushed in to bed and that makes the ending much sweeter. I also liked how Lucian is not forced to choose between his love for his first wife over his second wife. Often these stories will take the first wife out the picture completely; leave the hero to be with heroine guilt free. Ms. Munro allows Lucian both his loves.A nice historical romance with a hint of paranormal and a suspenseful mystery. It has a Gothic overtone reminded me of works by Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney. Smoothly written with a flair for dramatics; I found the characters and their actions to be in keeping with the era of the times. Well written with a fast paced plot.The mystery is convoluted and Ms. Munro does a fabulous job of keeping you on your toes and guessing as to the villain till almost the end. I didn’t see it coming but it works out wonderfully and ties up neatly. The secondary characters play small parts and aren’t deeply developed but do help make smooth transitions between scenes and characters.I did feel there were a few small story lines that lacked depth and could have been developed more or just deleted. Roseland’s constant comments about babies does get a little redundant after the 5th time though. It kills the romance a little.A nice read that held my attention till the end.

What do You think about The Spurned Viscountess (2010)?

I received this book as an ARC.The quick summary to this book is that a young girl needs to fulfill a betrothal contract for her family, but her cousin (the elder of the two) won't do it, so it falls to Rosalind. Rosalind takes this chance for several reasons, the main two being that she wants her own family and household, and she is considered a witch because of certain gifts she has. So, marrying a viscount seems ideal, even if he is considered a madman.One thing that bothered me about this book is that the hero, Lucien, is not mad, and doesn't behave as if he were. He has amnesia, and goes by the name Lucien, not altogether believing he is the Viscount Hastings. But I never understood why they considered him mad. After the first few pages, it was never addressed again.Another thing that really bothered me was Rosalind. She was able to read people's thoughts if she touched them, and she had healing abilities, so it's easy to see why she was branded a witch by her village. Her family was awful to her, considering it was hereditary, you'd think that her family would have been supportive. I liked her at first, I just thought of her as a bit of a doormat.What bothered me is that she never defended herself, never spoke up, and she went through a lot! There was a murder plot (don't worry, no spoilers) and the little idiot got bashed in the head, pushed off a cliff, shot at, pushed down some stairs, goodness you name it? It happened to her! And every time her husband warned her to take a footman, or to not leave the castle, or to ask him to go with her, she'd go off on her own! Tra-la-la down the lane just to be thrown from a cart/horse/wasps under saddle, etc. Every other page, she was being idiotic. And then she used her gift of mind-reading to interrogate the villagers without them knowing, but knowing the bits and pieces she found out endangered her. I'm all for a spunky, feisty heroine, but the stupidity level on Rosalind just grated. Lucien, on the other hand was a piece of work. But I liked him. He woke up after a severe beating in Italy, and a woman nursed him back to health. They married (I'm assuming that's how he became Lucien, rather than George the Viscount Hastings), and when Francesca was pregnant, they decided to travel to England to see if his memory could return. Well, they were attacked and she was killed, so his trip down memory lane became a quest for vengeance.What I liked about Lucien was that he was able to love Rosalind too, and realize that he wasn't being unfaithful to his late wife, or desecrating her memory by loving his new wife. Too often in romances, we see the hero realizing that maybe he never loved his first wife, or that is was more affection than love. He was able to make room in his heart for love again, and I appreciated that.What I didn't like was his not consummating the marriage for almost 3 months. It was grounds for annulment, or what if he was killed? She could be stripped of her title and financial security. I also didn't like how he never gave Rosalind any credit when she finally grew a backbone and told him someone was trying to kill them.The story picked up from there, and it was interesting. I never saw who the villain was-I was waaay off on my guess, so kudos to you Ms. Munro.The smuggling ring and the plots to kill Hastings and Rosalind were definitely intriguing. The treasure plot felt a bit too contrived, and thrown in there for no reason other than to add a red herring. I did enjoy the foppish cousin Charles, and I hated the Lady Sophia (we're meant to dislike her).I would say that if you want a different take on an arranged marriage with the vengeance-obsessed hero, and the witchy heroine, this is your book. While I felt some of the stupid things Rosalind did would brand her Too Stupid To Live, I did like her more and more, and I love LOVED that she saved the hero, not the other way around! The twist in the ending, with the murder plot, smugglers and even a kidnapping made the book all the more interesting. http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.co...
—Laura the Highland Hussy

I love me some Gothic romance, and Shelley Munro's The Spurned Viscountess is certainly that, with all the right elements to yoink me right in. We have your innocent young woman with strange abilities. We have your nobleman with a mysterious secret, getting his brood on. We have your string of mysterious accidents. And we have your suitably spooky, remote mansion, chock full of potentially dangerous people. For bonus Get Anna Engaged mileage, we've even got a bit of an amnesia plot going on, since our hero has memory issues on top of his angst about the murder of his first love.The atmosphere worked for me, and I found Munro's prose solidly executed. I'm partial to healers as characters, which inclined me to like Rosalind as a heroine, though I liked her best when she expressed worry over the fate of her lost maid; she seemed a stronger character there than she did even in her interactions with hero Lucien. The mystery of what happened to Lucien and Rosalind in Europe provided a reasonable backbone for the plot, although it never really gelled for me until the very end.Overall I liked this one well enough, definitely enough to read it through to the end, even if it never quite managed to be more than the sum of its parts. Three stars.
—Angela

I read this book right smack dab in the middle of two very heavy and depressing books that I didn't really love, so The Spurned Viscountess was a very welcome relief. Sometimes, do you just want to read a fun romance that may not be the most prolific book you ever read, but just gives you a break from your stressful life? This is just the book. The was some mystery and murder, but not emotionally heart wrenching. The mystery element was more cozy mystery that heart pumping thriller, which was good, since the book was mostly about the romance, you didn't want the mystery to drown it out. I loved the overall creepy atmosphere of the castle in the book, with the secret passageways and spy holes everywhere. This set a nice contrast for the sweet and innocent main character to fall in love with her gruff widower of a husband...To see the full review over at The Book Buff, click here: http://thebookbuff.blogspot.com/2010/...
—Kate L

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