The Book: Kiss Me Goodnight by Marlene SusonThe Particulars: Historical Romance, Avon, 1998, Out Of Print
The Blurb:
A DEVLISH CHARMER
Traveling in disguise through his properties, Shane Howard charms the lasses with a devil-may-care gleam in his eyes. Yet this irresistible rogue is also the Marquess of Sherbourne, reputed to be such a tyrannical landlord his tenants call him His Devilship. And its one of these tenants, a radiant redhead, who quickly ignites passionate flame in him.
DOUBTFUL HEART
The dashing stranger wins the affection of Kathleen McNamara's little daughter and awakens in the widow emotions too long denied. Now, Kathleen finds herself yearning desperately for Shane, even though he's said to be a friend of Lord Sherbourne, the man she believed murdered her husband. Kathleen despises Sherbourne with all the fierce intensity of her fiery nature. And it is just this proud and heartfelt spirit that Shane fears, for he knows when she learns his true identity, she will hate him forever unless he can unmask her husbands real killer and prove himself worthy of her love.
Any Reviews?: The Romance Reader gave this a four heart rating (B range):
And, the story line is as smart as it is compelling. There are genuine reasons why Shane cannot reveal his identity to Kathleen. There are genuine reasons why Kathleen cannot totally trust Shane. While in many romances this type of distrust often seems contrived, in Kiss Me Goodnight it does not. The author provides a good deal of intelligent reasoning by both the hero and heroine, which explains why they do what they do. The intelligent story line along with the wonderful characters and the compelling historical backdrop are the ingredients that make Kiss Me Goodnight four-heart fare.RT also liked it, giving it four stars:
This novel is a compelling story about the plight of the Irish under English domination, and of two people: one who must learn to love and live again, another who must put hatred to rest.Anything Else?: Sadly, Suson passed away in 2006 after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS). Obit
6 comments:
I've never heard of Suson either, and i became hopefully addicted to the genre in middle school, so 1995!
and it's cheesey lines like these, "despises Sherbourne with all the fierce intensity of her fiery nature" that are just so...perfectly...romance novel-ish that i love them!
Ahhh, I see that great historical romance cover fashion statement: the hero's shirt, open across the chest, but still tucked in. And he gets bonus points for the off the shoulder look.
I actually remember the author, though I am not sure I remember this book.
that cover screams WIN! specially the completely off yet mysteriously still on shirt.
His shirt is like that because the "radiant redhead" is making sure that, should stabbing him become necessary, his arms will be too tangled up for him to do anything about it quickly.
I'll have to see if I can find this the next time I go used book-buying - although the cover's not my thing, the story sounds like it might be a few hours of fun. :)
Lusty: I can't remember now, but when I looked up Suson's backlist, I thought I saw quite a few traditional Regencies....
Bafriva: This cover is classic Avon. They went through a stretch where none of their heroes were capable of wearing an intact shirt.
Sula: My absoulte favorite covers from Avon were the shirtless, cape-wearing heroes, embracing the heroine in a clinch, while outside in the snow! I should dig one of those up for a future RRS post.
Library Girl: I'll admit, the Irish angle in this story intrigued me :)
Interesting fist Random Romance Sunday! I've never heard of this author either, but then, I haven't started reading romance in English till 2000, so no surprise.
I find that older historical are more strict - I mean, the writing. As a result, I don't know, it's a bit more clinical/impersonal... I guess that nowadays though, authors are taking a bit more liberties and the writing is a bit more genial.
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