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Avg. Rating: 4
Heated romantic suspense
This book had everything you need to create a good romance: a dashing hero, a beautiful heroine, a person who always seems to interfere with the hero and heroine, and, most of all...PASSION! I found the characters to be multi-dimensional and the author weaves a mystery into the story without slowing it down or interrupting the romantic flow. The reader will feel the despair, the heartbreak, passion and the joy of Dominic and Clarissa in this very excellent character driven romance. The plot and characters seemed fresh, the pace was quick, and it was a totally engrossing read. Full of enjoyable supporting characters and stories. A very sexy historical romance book.
Gilding the Lady was an emotional roller coaster, and I felt all the pain and joy they did. I was so engrossed, I read it in a day. A fast paced book with an intricate plot that I cannot help but enjoy. Gilding the Lady has a strong (but not obnoxious) heroine who is in no way ordinary, a back story which is compelling but doesn't get in the way of the love story, and of course a wonderful hero. Both the hero and the heroine have secrets of their own, which are slowly brought to light by the author, like layers being peeled from a (very good) onion....
blend of romance, mystery, wit, and sensuality
I'm always excited to see a new Nicole Byrd book, but I was especially eager for this one, after meeting Clarissa in the previous book, Vision in Blue.
In Gilding the Lady, Nicole Byrd takes the long lost sister of the hero of her previous book, who'd ended up in a nasty orphanage and was then sent out to work at a young age--lots of abuse, etc. Her brother finally found her and rescued her in the last book, and now, at 19, she's got to try to re-learn how to be a lady. A reckless earl sees her in a dispute with her governess on the street, and his friend bets him that he can't make her the toast of the ton.
There's also a murder mystery and the ongoing search for the natural father of the heroine from the previous book&her brother (hero of a yet earlier book).
It's a really nice series, and by the end of this book, we've picked up several more connections who are begging for their own books.
The good:
The mystery. Clarissa and Whitby join forces to discover who murdered the former matron of the foundling home, a murder that implicates Clarissa.
The humor. A staple of Regency-era romances is the witty dialogue, and Gilding the Lady is no exception.
The series connections. In contrast to many romance series, characters from previous or future books don't just make token appearances, they're integral to the story. There is also an ongoing series plot that ties the books together.
The bad:
While Gilding the Lady does give you enough information that you can read it without having read the other books in the series, you will get more out of it if you've read the others.
The wonderful:
Watching Clarissa regain a sense of her own worth, Whitby mature from the heedless, devil-may-care earl into a caring, thoughtful hero. As in all the best love stories, the romance between them is both a cause and a result of their personal growth.
The verdict:
Gilding the Lady has Nicole Byrd's trademark blend of romance, mystery, wit, and sensuality. Highly recommended.
The perfect escape . . .
I am so, so glad I didn't listen to the nasty review someone else put up here and just went with my past experience with this author. I've just recently discovered Nicole Byrd and read both WIDOW IN SCARLET and BEAUTY IN BLACK (loved, loved, LOVED them) and then was so happy that a new Byrd was out.
I was immediately swept up in the action from the first page when Clarissa sees the face in the crowd that has haunted her for years. And Dominic! He was so sexy and tortured--the perfect hero for Clarissa. I really enjoyed the whole "My Fair Lady" theme, too! Now I have to go back and read the rest of Nicole Byrd's backlist. This book really made my day. I couldn't put it down and it gave me several hours of romance and escape.
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