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Seducir A Un Pecador (2011)

by Elizabeth Hoyt(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

8492916028 (ISBN13: 9788492916023)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Titania

series

Legend of the Four Soldiers

review 1: I fell in lust with Jasper Renshaw in To Taste Temptation as Samuel spied on him one night. Maybe I was just captivated by the image of Jasper at a private moment in his stocking feet, and a leg thrown over the arm of a chair, languidly turning pages of a book and sipping occasionally from a glass of wine, but I could see him rather clearly. In fact, more clearly than either Samuel or Emeline. And yes I know it sounds a little shallow, but I couldn't wait to begin To Seduce A Sinner.Despite his reputation with ladies, Jasper has been thrown over twice. First by Lady Emeline who dumped him for an upstart colonial in To Taste Temptation. To Seduce A Sinner opens up with a hungover Jasper being jilted at the altar on his wedding day by yet another lady he expected to marry. ... more I have to say I giggle/snorted at Miss Mary Templeton's dramatic entreaties for Jasper to forgive her for falling for a "butter-yellow" haired curate. When she begs Jasper to free her "from these cruel bonds", earnestly (all the while clutching her hands prayerfully between her "rounded bosom") and tearfully imploring him to give her back her "wings so that [she] may fly to [her] true love" etc. etc., I knew Jasper had escaped a close call. Thank, er, God for butter-haired curates. Melisande Fleming has watched Jasper from the sidelines for years, secretly yearning for him to notice her. So when he's left at the church without a bride, she sees this as an opportunity too good to pass up and offers herself as his potential wife. This sounds bold just on its face, but what makes it even more so is that though Jasper recognizes her face as someone he's seen in society, he doesn't know her name despite the fact that she and Lady Emeline, his first former fiancée, are good friends. Melisande is "a plain woman" with nondescript features, easily overlooked and even more easily forgotten amongst all the beauties Jasper chases after. Her hair is neither blond nor brown but somewhere in between, her eyes are brown and unremarkable, and she tends to dress in rather dull colors akin to the color of mud or dust. She's quiet and reserved, but I remember from To Taste Temptation, her surprising and very dry but sharp sense of humor with Emeline. Despite her lack of attractive plumage, he accepts her proposition even as he puzzles over why she would want to marry him and why he accepted. Jasper is still perplexed several hours later as he relates how he lost a fiancée and gained one all on the same day to Pynch, his valet."Actually, there's something about her. I'm not sure how to describe it. She's not exactly the lady I'd choose, but when she stood there, looking so brave and at the same time frowning at me as if I'd spat in front of her...Well, I was rather charmed, I think. Unless it was the lingering aftereffects of the whiskey from last night." (P. 17)For six very long years Melisande has been in love with Jasper and has seen him flirt with and seduce many beautiful women. While I'm not entirely convinced Melisande has "loved" Jasper (she really doesn't know him), I am willing to buy she was infatuated with him, attracted to the snippets of him that she sees from the sidelines that no one else notices. They have had very little interaction over the years. Her first memory of Jasper is of him laughing "with abandon", head thrown back, mouth open with uninhibited laughter. But it wasn't Jasper's "hail fellow well met" persona that captured her interest initially. In fact, if that had been all there was to Jasper, she could have easily dismissed him as superficial, fluffy, without substance, and a "silly, feckless aristocrat." But she has seen a very different Jasper than the one most of society knows. She has witnessed him privately comforting a fellow survivor of the Spinner's Falls massacre, a young man overcome with nightmares of the horrors he witnessed seven years ago, still battling "morbid and hellish thoughts", trying to understand why he strikes out at innocent people when startled, why he's drinking too much and not sleeping enough. This Jasper is not the life of the party nor is he flirting or laughing with abandonment. This Jasper is "silent and still and listening." He's also angry and very, very sad. Half an hour later, Melisande sees the other Jasper, whispering and flirting with an infamous and beautiful widow. But what's seen cannot be unseen and Melisande has seen past his "careless rogue" facade and knows this is a man she could fall in love with, one who "keeps his secrets as close as she did her own."What secrets does Melisande keep close? I think at that moment she recognizes that both she and Jasper had walked through emotional fires and emerged looking the same outwardly yet altered forever. Both have attempted to deal with the consequences in their own way. Melisande had always been overlooked by gentlemen due to her shyness, she has never been judged "pretty", she isn't vivacious, a great conversationalist. In fact she required a little too much effort to get beneath her quiet reserved demeanor than most men wanted to expend. But ten years ago a young man at a dinner party took that time to draw her out, treated her kindly, talked to her, took her for rides, danced with her, made love to her. To her surprise, he wooed and courted her and eventually asked for her hand. But shortly before the wedding, he came to her, told her he was in love with someone else, and she let him go. Melisande watched as Jasper became engaged to Emeline, her friend, and stood by passively. Even when he became engaged to the rather melodramatic Miss Templeton, she did nothing. But as she sat in the church waiting for the ceremony to begin and learned that Miss Templeton had begged off, something snapped in place and for once Melisande went after what she wanted."...something wild and uncontrollable had risen up in her breast. Why not? It'd cried. Why not try and claim him. And so she had. (P. 36)And claim him she does. She claims Jasper not by transforming herself from a sparrow to a peacock but at first through her gentle refusals to accept frivolous insincere compliments. Jasper's success with most women in the past meant very little effort had to be expended - a few pretty phrases extolling their beauty, rides in a flashy carriage, maybe buying bonbons or jewelry. When he tries this with Melisande, she calls him on it:Jasper bowed with a flourish. 'Ah, my dear, you are as winsome as the breeze on a summer's day. That frock enshrines your beauty like gold does a ruby ring.'She tilted her head. 'I believe your simile is not quite correct. My dress is not gold-colored, and I am not a ruby.'Jasper widened his smile, showing more teeth. 'Ah, but I have no doubt that your virtue will prove you a ruby among women.''I see.' Her mouth twitched, whether in irritation or amusement it was hard to tell. 'You know, I've never understood why there isn't a similar passage in the Bible instructing husbands.'He tsked. 'Careful. You come perilously close to blasphemy. Besides, are not husbands universally virtuous?'She humphed. 'And how do you explain my dress that is not gold?''It may not be gold, but the color is, ah. . .' And here he rather unfortunately ran out of ideas, because, in fact, the frock Miss Fleming wore was the color of horse dung.'"(P. 38)When he digs deep, Jasper is able to say with complete seriousness that her dress reminds him of "a wild and stormy cliff", but Melisande is not buying. Still."'How so?''It is an exotic and mysterious color.''I thought it was plain brown.''Nay.' He widened his eyes in feigned shock. 'Never say 'plain brown'. Ash or oak or tea or fawn or perhaps even squirrel-colored, but certainly not brown.'" (P. 39)I found the wedding night scene excruciatingly awkward and painful to read. Jasper is under the impression that Melisande is a virgin (she's not) and since he has no experience with virgins, he decides it's best to "go slowly" and "not do anything that might frighten or disgust her." He even contemplates delaying the consummation for a day or so. I think if he'd done that, Melisande might've done his manly bits injury. Thankfully, Jasper comes to his senses before he blurts that out and gets bobbitized for his trouble. Let's just say this was NOT Jasper's best effort. He actually tells her to "hold still" and "close her eyes" at one point which really just made my eyebrows disappear into my hairline. I fully expected him to follow that with "And think of England." It's all over so quickly and impersonally that it's no wonder Melisande is grumpy, frustrated and disappointed afterward. Then he tells her to get some sleep, drink some wine for the pain, and he's out of there. Melisande is reserved, crowds really bother her, and she has this invisible shield she erects to guard against hurtful things said about her. However, she is not cold or shy or frightened in the bedroom. She wants Jasper, she lusts after him, she yearns for that intimacy between them. What she gets is neither intimate nor satisfying. And that was a shame. But having said that, I appreciated that sex the first time between Jasper and Melisande was not compared to exploding fireworks and waves crashing to the shore or some winged creature taking flight. Sometimes, especially between two people just getting to know one another, sex is just a bit awkward with each partner learning what the other likes/dislikes. It was, despite the painful disappointment, a pretty good place for them to move forward.Jasper wasn't a complete nodcock. He does admit that this night wasn't "his most sterling moment", and what he did was his own bumbling way to try not to frighten his "virgin bride". I wasn't sure exactly why he's surprised that a "fashionable marriage" suddenly seems not as attractive as he'd previously thought. It felt suspiciously close to typical romance hero talk after the most wondrous sexual experience of his life because of the heroine's mystical, magical hooha, and well, if that was the best sex ever, I'm even more puzzled by his rep with the ladies. While he's intrigued a little by Melisande, he is by no means on his way to being in love with her. So this paragraph jarred me a little. I assume this was a way to see that status quo for Jasper was about to change. And having to explain why he sleeps on a pallet in his dressing room, not in his bed, with his back to the wall, a small knife, and a candle would be more a lot more awkward than what just occurred so his hasty exit and lack of affection after sex wasn't so inexplicable. In many ways this book is more about Jasper than Melisande. He is fighting guilt from what didn't happen to him at Spinner's Falls as well as irrational fears and quirks he sees as sheer lunacy. He saw his best friend crucified and burned at the stake, another friend's face horribly scarred during torture, still others killed. Yet, besides a bump on the head, physically he returned unscathed. Jasper is ashamed that he cannot sleep in a bed like a "normal" man, viewing his need for a pallet on the floor, his back against the wall, and a candle so he can see his attackers as crazy. Physical injuries can heal, but an assault on the mind is a another kind of torture in itself, sometimes one that is much harder to heal than an assault on the body. While the investigation of the traitor at Spinner's Falls was seriously screwed up and became rather confusing and intrusive in To Taste Temptation, Jasper's ordeal integrated this plot thread in a way Samuel's did not. It was easy to understand why he has become obsessed with finding out who betrayed them during the war.So. Jasper has issues. Issues that he is trying to work through and Melisande kind of blindsides him. It's understandable then that he falters and stumbles around at first. He shouts at her dog, makes himself scarce for several days "investigating", and wonders why he feels discontent. Equally important, however, is that Melisande does not see herself as a victim in this scenario. She is resolved to discreetly let Jasper know of her disappointment and to make sure it doesn't happen again. But she has an uphill battle and the gauntlet is a pair of garnet earrings, an apology for shouting at her about Sir Mouse the dog.Melisande blinked rapidly, then looked back to the little box with the garnet earrings. They were quite lovely, but she never wore earrings. Her ears weren't pierced. She touched one of the garnets with a fingertip and wondered if he'd ever looked - really looked - at her at all. (P. 88)I really loved that Melisande and Jasper seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum in so many ways yet manage to find a common ground that allow both of them to be happy. Melisande may appear doormat-ish, but her unexpected chastisements (gentle and humorous, though they are) when he spouts those insincere compliments peppered with "my dearest heart" let's Jasper know his wife has hidden depths. He is drawn to her, is curious about her, and before too long, Melisande issues her own challenge."Shall I tell you of your wondrous smile?''You may, but I may yawn.''I can shower praises on your figure.'She arched a mocking brow.'Then I shall expound upon your sweet soul.''But you don't know my soul, sweet or otherwise,' she said. 'You don't know me.''So you've said before.' He sat back in his chair and examined her. She looked away from his gaze as if regretting her challenge. Which only piqued his interest more. 'But you haven't offered any insight into who you are either.' (P. 91-92)One of my favorite scenes is when Jasper explores Melisande's room while she's out in an effort to know her. He finds lots of dung-colored dresses, a hairbrush but no stray hairs, a jewel box holding the garnet earrings. The only thing of interest is an old tin snuffbox containing a silver button, a tiny china dog, and a pressed violet. He recognizes the button as his, but he's clueless as to why she saved it or the importance of the other two items. Jasper closed the tin snuffbox and replaced it under the linens in the bottom drawer. Then he stood and looked around the room. He wouldn't find her here. The only way to learn Melisande would be to study the lady herself." (P. 106-107)To Seduce A Sinner takes a tried and true marriage of convenience trope and crafts a really good romance. Melisande and Jasper are about as opposite as they can be. He is the life of every party, while she hovers on the edges. He loves to be the center of attention, but she does her best to blend in with the wallpaper. Jasper lounges all over chairs; Melisande tries to take up as little space as possible. I loved that when Melisande finds out Jasper's secrets, she holds his hand in the darkness without a lot of melodrama. It's a quiet strength she lends to him when he needs it. And Jasper's tender and caring acceptance as he learns Melisande's secrets was refreshing. Jasper's gift of the new tin snuffbox lined on the inside with gold and inset with gems of all kinds at the end validates why I was captivated by him in To Taste Temptation. Maybe I'm not so shallow after all.She looked up at Jasper, tears in her eyes. 'Why? What does it mean?'He took the hand holding the box and turned it over, brushing his lips against her knuckles. 'It's you.'She looked down at the gorgeous sparkling box. 'What?'He cleared his throat, his head still bent. 'When I first met you, I was a fool. And I was a fool for years before that. I saw only the tin you hid behind. I was too vain, too asinine, too foolish to look beyond and see your beauty, my sweet wife.'He raised his beautiful turquoise eyes, and she saw that they were adoring. 'I want you to understand that I see you now.' (P. 356-357)
review 2: Kitap harikaydı. Elizabeth Hoyt'un okudugum en iyi kitabıydı, ve bu beni gelecek kitaplar için umutlandırmaya yetti! O kadar iyi bir yazar ki gercekten tek diyebilecegim harika yazdıgı. Çevirisi çok iyiydi bence, Zaten Pegasus bu konuda bizi üzmeyen bir yayınevi. Vİkont Vale ve Melisande kadar farklı bir çift okumamıştım bu güne kadar. Elizabeth Hoyt farklılıkları insanlara nasıl sevdirecegini, aşkı nasıl böyle dokunaklı işleyebilecegini çok iyi biliyor. Öyle etkilendim ki, kitabı düşünmekten kendimi alamıyorum. less

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