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Outrageously Yours (2010)

by Allison Chase(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0451231783 (ISBN13: 9780451231789)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Signet

series

Her Majesty's Secret Servants

review 1: When I first picked up this title, I though the premise just a bit too hokey for me to enjoy, but I was pleasantly surprised and charmed.The “secret servant” selected for the mission is a very bookish and sensible young woman named Ivy Sutherland. Ivy is instructed to go under cover as a student of Natural Philosophies at the all male Cambridge University where she encounteres Simon de Burgh, Marquess of Harrow. Lord harrow is determined to find a laboratory assistant and presents a scientific challenge in order to select the student who will become his protégé. Ivy, passionate about the exciting fields that the Marquess is exploring in his cutting-edge work in electromagnetism, wins the challenge and becomes his assistant. Although Ivy is masquerading as a boy, the ... morechemistry between them is immediate and intense as they are thrown closely together in their work.I found Simon to be a fascinating hero. While not fooled for more than a minute by Ivy’s disguise, he goes along with the charade just to give her a chance to explore the sciences, something that would never be permitted to a woman. As layer by layer is stripped away, Simon proves to be brilliant, passionate, compassionate, and intensely loyal to the memory of his dead wife. Understandably, the scholarly Ivy is drawn to him like a magnet to a lodestone! “With a startled glance over her shoulder she discovered Lord Harrow staring across the way at her over a pair of gold rimmed spectacles perched halfway down the strong line of his nose. She hadn’t seen him wear spectacles before and found herself fascinated by the myriad contradictions they produced. He was at once scholarly and dashing, rakish and brilliant, a professor with the vigor and physique of a sportsman… " (the self-professed geek now fans herself.)In addition to the wonderful characterizations and sexual magnetism between her hero and heroine, Ms. Chase has vividly brought to life the imagination and innovation of the Victorian period. While some of the scenes in this book are truly fantastical, they still bring to mind the wonderful discoveries and inventions that were born of the Victorian era.While the premise of the book is supposed to be a mystery, I found this part to be the weakest. It was predictable, but the charming and emotionally compelling romance, seemed to make up for any failing in that area. For me, the well-researched and unique scientific setting made OUTRAGEOUSLY YOURS an "electrifying" read. 3.5 stars.
review 2: First Line: "Ivy Sutherland slapped the morning edition of the Times onto the counter in front of her."Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. I think I had a hard time falling into the standard suspension of disbelief that is required for these types of stories. By these types of stories, I mean stories that feature a heroine stepping far beyond what would be allowed by her station. Now, I do know that there were many women who dressed as men for one reason or another through history and I usually really enjoy this storyline (Gentle Rogue is one of my all-time favorite romances). I think what through me a bit was having Queen Victoria as a character. I rarely enjoy reading characterizations of famous historical figures. I simply had a hard time buying into the fact that the queen came to visit our heroine and asked her to dress as a man and find a missing rock. This bothered me the entire story, I think. I did appreciate that Simone, the hero, was not fooled by Ivy's masculine clothes for long. The story was thus able to move more quickly into more realistic problems, i.e. his fear of losing Ivy due to the unexpected loss of his first wife. I don't usually enjoy stories that feature a widow or widower either, so I think this colored my overall reading (I think it is because I tend to imagine myself as the dead spouse rather than the new love interest). Overall the story did not flow well for me or draw me in, although I think it was mostly due to personal mood and preference rather than anything specific about the writing. less

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