The Duke of Dark Desires
Mar. 4th, 2015 05:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lliiraYes, that's a real title. It's the last book in the series that contained that awful romance novel with the abusive husband whose redemption I did not believe for a second. He and his perfect angel wife are in this one too, blech, but they're taking off for France so hopefully there won't be any more scenes with them in it.
But that novel did have Julian, who was awesome, and this is his novel. So far, it's amusing me. I mean, it's called The Duke of Dark Desires, I don't think I'm supposed to take it terribly seriously. Plus Julian continues to be hot, even if he is somewhat selfish. He's a little whiny for my taste, but I guess that's always been a Thing, and unlike the douche in the last book, he has a sense of humor that saves him. And he has more reason for angst. And, centrally, he takes responsibility for his own bad decisions. Plus: not abusive. (Fingers crossed that he stays that way.)
The heroine is not a Sweet Perfect Innocent Angel this time either, thankfully. She's planning to murder someone, for one thing. For another, she wants to jump Julian as soon as she sees him. Her severe case of lust at first sight is a bit overdone for my taste -- she's thinking how she's never wanted a man this much before, etc. Whatever, I can accept it. I also like how she thinks that she would totally have her way with him if she didn't unfortunately have murdering to do.
There's this weird part where Julian is scornful of his mother for always wanting to be romantically attached to a man. What's with romance novels and the shaming of women who like romance, who are presumably their core audience? Otoh, it could just be Julian who's saying this, not the author... but I've seen this happen so many times, it's giving me a twitch.
But that novel did have Julian, who was awesome, and this is his novel. So far, it's amusing me. I mean, it's called The Duke of Dark Desires, I don't think I'm supposed to take it terribly seriously. Plus Julian continues to be hot, even if he is somewhat selfish. He's a little whiny for my taste, but I guess that's always been a Thing, and unlike the douche in the last book, he has a sense of humor that saves him. And he has more reason for angst. And, centrally, he takes responsibility for his own bad decisions. Plus: not abusive. (Fingers crossed that he stays that way.)
The heroine is not a Sweet Perfect Innocent Angel this time either, thankfully. She's planning to murder someone, for one thing. For another, she wants to jump Julian as soon as she sees him. Her severe case of lust at first sight is a bit overdone for my taste -- she's thinking how she's never wanted a man this much before, etc. Whatever, I can accept it. I also like how she thinks that she would totally have her way with him if she didn't unfortunately have murdering to do.
There's this weird part where Julian is scornful of his mother for always wanting to be romantically attached to a man. What's with romance novels and the shaming of women who like romance, who are presumably their core audience? Otoh, it could just be Julian who's saying this, not the author... but I've seen this happen so many times, it's giving me a twitch.
