Saturday, August 13, 2011

Recent Read


The Many Sins of Lord Cameron

Why this one: I mostly love this author's books and the first in this series, The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie totally blew me away so it's a no brainer I'm continuing to read this series!!

Steam Level: Wowzers! She writes good steam

Blurb: Cameron MacKenzie is a man who loves only horses and women - in that order - or so his mistresses say.

Ainsley Douglas is a woman with a strong sense of justice and the desire to help others - even if that means sneaking around a rakish man's bedchamber.

Which is exactly where Cam finds her - six years after he caught her the first time. Only then, she convinced Cam she was seeking a liaison, but couldn't go through with it because of her husband. Now a widow, she's on a mission to retrieve letters that could prove embarrassing to the queen. Cam has no interest in Ainsley's subterfuge, but he vows to finish what they started those many years ago. One game, one kiss at a time, he plans to seduce her. And what starts out as a lusty diversion may break Cam's own rules - and heal the scars of a dark and damaging past....

My Thoughts: I'll be honest here and say when I read the first two books of this series, Cam didn't make that big an impression on me. And my main thought was that I would have to read his story before I got to Harts' the one I wanted most after reading all about Ian and the rest of his MacKenzie brothers. So going into this one I wasn't expecting a whole lot.

I don't know if that's the reason or what it might be, but this one turned out to be, as Tony the Tiger says, GREEEEAAAATTT!! I LOVED it - almost, but not quite as much as Ian and Beth's book.

It starts out with a bang when Ainsley is scoping out Cam's bedroom for some missing letter stolen from the queen when in walks Cam and the thieving woman who is using the letters to blackmail the queen. She has hidden them with Cam, though he doesn't know it and as one of the queens lady's, Ainsley is trying to find them and give them back. Cam of course, discovers Ainsley's hiding place and is wickedly delighted. You see, they had a similar kind of meeting six years previous when Ainsley was trying to find something in Cam's room. They had an immediate attraction to each other though Ainsley refused to act on it as she was married and while not in love with her much older husband, respected and cared for him a great deal. But neither has forgotten the other over the year and now that Ainsley is a widow, Cam is determined to 'get in her skirts' this time 'round.

For not being a character who made me sit up and take notice in the previous books, with his own story it was an entirely different matter when reading it. Cam is a man who was betrayed beyond belief by his first wife. Not only did she take many, many lovers over the time they were married, but she also tried to kill both Cam and their son Daniel and indeed ended up taking her own life. She was clearly mad but that didn't keep her from leaving deep, deep scars on Mac, both physical and emotional. He uses his gift with horses and meaningless sex to try and escape his demons. But when he's with Ainsley, he feels a deep sense of peace though it takes him a while to recognize it as love he is feeling. I just loved this poor tortured man to pieces and pieces. He loves his son deeply, and Daniel is a wonderful secondary character by the way who will be getting his own story, but doesn't really understand how to be a father. His own father was a monster and all the MacKenzie heroes have a lot to overcome with their horrific childhoods.

Once he gets Ainsley into his orbit again, he is so gone for her. I've said on many occasions I love a hero who is so gone for the heroine.

And Ainsley is exactly the kind of heroine I enjoy. She's sharp and she's funny and she's intelligent. No false miss is she. After a bit of hesitation and then consulting with friends, when Cam wants to take their relationship much further, she goes for it, with no second thoughts. She has very fond thoughts of her first husband and admired him even though he was much, much older than her.

I love that the author didn't go down the cliched route and make her first husband evil. Even the character that was blackmailing the queen didn't turn out to be evil, evil. She just wanted the money to desperately escape an unhappy marriage. The most evil person in the book was Cam's first wife Elizabeth and her evilness was needed to turn Cam into the kind of person he was.

I finished this book in a very short amount of time as I couldn't bare to put it down. I, um, ah, may have taken longer breaks and lunches than I'm allowed as work since I really didn't want to stop reading this Very Enjoyable Book. I still like the first one better, but just by a shade. But this one also is getting very high marks!

Grade: 4.95 out of 5




10 comments:

Nicole McLaughlin said...

I can't wait to read this book! If it's even almost as good as Ian's than I'll love it! Love this author!

Kristie (J) said...

Nicole, another good thing about this book is both Ian and Mac play rolls in it. And if you loved Ian's, then I'm sure you will enjoy this one :-)

Anonymous said...

I LOVED this book, too! I think at this point JA is one of only a few historical authors whose books I can't wait to read. I'm really excited she's planning on writing Daniel's and Ainsley's brother's books.

Kristie (J) said...

Jane: I think Ainsley's brother is going to turn out to be a very tortured hero from the glimpse we got of him, and I do love a tortured hero - heh, heh, heh. One person it doesn't look like she has a story for - at least at this point - is the illegitimate detective brother from the first book. He wasn't even mentioned in this book. Of course Hart played only a small role too and he is the star of the next one. And I was glad to see Daniel is getting his own story too - though compared to his father and uncles he had a relatively unscarred childhood if a bit unconventional.

Anonymous said...

I think the brother's story (can't remember his name!) will be great - he definitely sounded like he'd had a rough time. Daniel was loved, but he certainly didn't have a traditional, sheltered childhood. I'm curious to see what slant she gives him. As far as the detective, he has dropped out of the picture, hasn't he? I wonder if she thinks he's not hero material.

What else of hers have you read? I have read Immortals: The Calling and thought it was a litle weak. I've also read Penelope and Prince Charming and didn't particularly like it because it seemed so silly, though it was decently written. I find it hard to believe she's the same author who is writing the Mackenzie series! Do you think I should try any of her others?

orannia said...

Lovely review Kristie. Hmmm. I loved the first book so much I'm not sure about the others...

Kristie (J) said...

Orannia: I think you will really enjoy this one if you loved Ian's story. Ian and Beth are in this book and it's nice to see them again. Mac doesn't have quite the same impact as Ian, but then very few heroes do. I enjoyed Cam's story quite a bit too, but this one a little bit better than Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage.

Jane: That would be Hart - and I hope she doesn't tame him too much *g*. He is very intriguing so far. As far as her other books, I've enjoyed Pride Mates and Primal Bonds - though they couldn't be more different than her historicals. They are shape shifter books that take place in present times. I tried her one of her Immortal books and wasn't impressed. But on the other hand, I loved Perils of the Heart and The Pirate Next Door. The Care and Feeding of Pirates though, was a DNF. So - what I'm kind of saying is she's hit and miss with me. But when it's a hit, it's a really BIG hit!

nath said...

Great review Kristie! I'm definitively picking this up. Unlike you, I notice Cam!! LOL. I wanted to read his story :) And I'm glad it's out ;)

Anonymous said...

Here's hoping all her Mackenzie books will be hits! She's 3 for 3 with me right now. :)

Hilcia said...

I agree Kristie, I really enjoyed this book and loved both Cam and Ainsley. Cam was my second favorite brother (after Ian), so I'm glad his book turned out so well. Now I'm really looking forward to Hart's book -- I really liked Eleanor!

Yay for Daniel's book too!