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Anna, La Bohême (2012)

by Laurel McKee(Favorite Author)

3.95 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

2290040576 (ISBN13: 9782290040577)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

J'ai Lu

series

The Daughters of Erin

review 1: Set in Dublin, this is the story of Lady Anna, who is 18years old, and has a huge curiosity about things outside the boring Societylife. She wants more than tediousSociety balls and sedate parties. Tothis end, she is always trying things. Things such as sneaking into the Olympian Club, an exclusivemembers-only club known for its wickedness. She is aided in this by her friend, Lady Jane, a widow with a wildstreak of her own. At this party, she runs into the Duke ofAdair, who she had previously met under horrific circumstances two yearsprevious and has never forgotten. The Duke is Irish to the core, and here tofight against the Union with England. Hiscousin, Sir Grant, is on the opposite side, and in fact tried to steal the Duke’stitle and property from him. He is ... morealsoafter the Lady Anna. While I am not a stickler for details in my historicalstories, I did question some of this, mainly the freedom which was allowed thewomen of this time. The rumors thatfollow Lady Anna, horse racing, politics and whist, seem amusing to the people,whereas usually they are reputation-breaking. I also didn’t like the fact that when Adair and Anna first meet, andhave their first kiss, she is only 16. He is nearly double her age, so being that young was a little off-putting,but not a deal breaker, as the remainder of the story continues two yearslater. There are several storylines involved here. The main, of course, is Lady Anna and theDuke of Adair, combined with the fight for/against the Union. The Duke is a target, so assassination attempts,spies and betrayal follow him, and by extension, Lady Anna and her family. Lady Caroline, Anna’s younger sister, isalso involved in both a love triangle and betrayal. Best of all, in my opinion, Lady Katherine,their mother, also gets to find love, although the path to it is strewn withobstacles, just as her daughter’s paths are. I particularly liked this because the heroines in historical tend to beso young (hence, Anna at 18, Caroline at 16). Katherine is in her early 40s, and it was refreshing to see someone ofage find happiness. The bitterness regarding the Union battle rings true, vilewords and desperate actions, spies working every angle and every aspect and innocentpeople getting caught up in it. I amunsure of the accuracy of the historical details since, as mentioned, I focuson the story itself and consider the setting to be part of the fiction. However, that being said, it seemed historicallyaccurate for the most part. The ending has a twist that veers from the usual romancenovel slightly, and I liked that. Thebook is well written, with few editing errors. The characters are well developed, and the setting fully described. This is a great book for historical romancefans, differing from the usual Regency, with a strong hero, a strong heroineand interesting secondary characters who are not just fluff, but carry storylines of their own. An engagingread.
review 2: 2 starsThis book had some great things going for it -- a handsome Duke, lots of history and political unrest, and some fairly steamy love scenes. And it's set in Ireland - so the thought of the hero's accent fairly captured my imagination.Alas, for some reason the author decided the heroine (herself politically active, and with a history with the Hero) needed to be 18 years old at the time the book takes place. The Hero is in his late 20s/early 30s I believe, and had a run-in with the heroine 2 years earlier. That would have made her 16. BLECH.The story itself was fairly entertaining - a love story set against the formation of the United Kingdom in 1800. There is some intrigue, lots of adventure and a scheming villain or two (one of whom is the hero of the next book - which, after the way he acts in this book, is kind of weird).If you love history and Ireland, you'd probably like this one. I got hung up on the age difference, but I think I'm probably just getting old. :) less

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