Sunday, August 20, 2006

A most excellent read!

Beyond Paradise by Elizabeth Doyle

Now that I seem to be entering pirate mode again, I wanted to blog about a book that I really enjoyed reading a while ago but didn’t get around to blogging about.

I first took note of this one when I read Mailyn’s glowing review. Then Dancechica read it and reviewed it and loved it too and since both reviews sounded so good I ordered it from Amazon. And what an excellent choice it was!! I loved this one just as much as Mailyn and Dancechica. They both covered the outline and plot pretty good so I’ll just say what I enjoyed so much about this one. The hero, Jacques is beyond wonderful. I won’t give away what his disability is because neither Mailyn or Dancechica did and I don’t want to ruin it, but it was wonderfully handled. He was just so wonderfully yummy. He’s a beta hero which seems odd for a pirate, but a terrific beta hero. I want to go on and on about him, but I strongly urge anyone interested to get this one and see for yourself. Slyvie, the heroine is also a wonderfully drawn character. I wondered and worried at the very beginning if she was going to turn out to be twit. She did appear that way at first, but no she isn’t. She is a naïve yet incredibly astute young woman. I loved their story and I loved this book. Mailyn and Dancechica both rave about this one and now I’m joining in too! For those looking for a most excellent pirate book, and I know who some of you are *g* be sure to check this one out. It’s definitely one of the best I’ve read.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Does anyone know if she is still writing? At first I got her mixed up with Elizabeth Boyle, an Avon writer, but then I found her website but it doesn’t look like it’s been updated in quite some time. I know Mailyn tried and quite disliked another book of hers but it looks like she has a few in her backlist, including *yes* another pirate book I’d love to try. I can’t tell if she is still writing or not.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you liked this! Wasn't Jacques just adorable? I loved him. Such an awesome read.

I'm not sure about Elizabeth Doyle, whether she's still writing or not. I know I went searching for more after reading Beyond Paradise, but it doesn't seem as if she has an updated website or reference point for information. Such a shame because she's a wonderful writer.

Kristie (J) said...

Yes, Jacques was just adorable. And I thought he handled his disability just wonderfully! No self pity for him! I loved how he protected her yet allowed her her freedom. To be honest, I started this one, only read a couple of pages and put it down for a bit thinking that Slyvie was going to be a real TSTL kind of heroine. But I picked it up and decided to try it again and WOWZERS!!! It blew me away. And she wasn't TSTL at all. Just young and a bit innocent, yet still very strong. Like you I loved it! Now I want to read more of hers, although maybe not the one Mailyn panned.

Anonymous said...

hello Kristie:
VERY cool avatar!! :-)
Janice

Mailyn said...

I'm so glad you liked this!!! I thought it was just so sweet and wonderful and I'm not usually a sweet and wonderful kind of gal. LOL.

I don't know about her other books but I will look into them. Esp that Pirates one. All I know about her is that she works/volunteers at animal shelters where she lives. She is even on the website of the place like if she works there. Maybe she stopped writing to work there?

Hey kristie, if you want I can send you the other one I have. The hero is great and I loved the heroine until about half way.

Anonymous said...

I almost mistook the author name as well. I liked Elizabeth Boyle well enough.

so this gets the thumbs up from you, mailyn and dance chice huh? I shall go check it out myself.

Noneya said...

Thanks!
I'll be adding this to my list.
I'm a total sucker for pirates. I can't help it...considering I get seasick just looking at pictures of the ocean...

LOL
Sandie