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A Tale Of Two Lovers (2011)

by Maya Rodale(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0061922994 (ISBN13: 9780061922992)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Avon

series

The Writing Girls

review 1: Audio Version: Narrator: Carolyn Morris - 5 stars for her narration only. Lady Julianna Somerset is the widow to a notorious rake who not only broke her heart but left her destitute. To support herself, she becomes 1/4 of The London Weekly's Writing Girls, writing a gossip column under pen name A Lady of Distinction, unbeknownst to her peers; although much speculated. When I first met her in Sophie's story, I initially liked her. However as the story progressed, I liked her less and less; mostly because of her scathing remarks regarding Sophie's situation. By the end, I'd decided to go into her story with an open mind. Moving on... Lady Julianna is looking for a scandalous story to out-wit her rival "The Man Around Town." She comes upon a delicious, scandalous scene invol... moreving one of her most favorite subject matters, Lord Simon Roxbury, a devilish rake whom she has no love for. This is just the story she needs to trounce her rival and her story is a success, much to her delight. What she didn't count on was the impact to Lord R's reputation and livelihood. Enter our hero, Lord Roxbury; a rake who enjoys and loves women and has no intention to marry. He is often mentioned in Julianna's gossip column much to his dismay. When his father summons him to lay down an ultimatum, marry within the month or be cut off, he is shocked and furious. He entertains thwarting his father but knows that he must marry to continue his lifestyle. Unfortunately, due to the rubbish in A Lady of Distinction's gossip column; finding someone to accept him is nearly impossible. He intends to set the record straight. Lord R. storms into The London Weekly demanding an audience with Mr. Knightly to explain the scene that started this mess. Fortunately for him, the author is in Knightly's office when he bursts in. Hoping to convince her to retract the story, he explains the scene that she witnessed. Julianna refuses to even validate his story, let alone retract or apologize. This decision not only cements his ruin but results in someone close to her being wounded. Despite feeling remorse and sympathy for Lord R's situation, she won't back down. Then when The Man Around Town publishes the truth (thanks to the second participant in the scandalous scene Lady Julianna witnessed), Lady Julianna's credibility is questioned which could compromise her position @ The London Weekly. She comes up with a plan to infiltrate a Gentleman's club in disguise to up the ante and out-wit her rival. Naturally Lord R. notices her yet he does not expose her secret, he actually helps her and is the perfect gentleman despite her ruining his reputation and any marriage prospects. They actually part on a good note.Sounds interesting right? Unfortunately, this is where the story takes a strong left for me....How does she repay his kindness? By writing a column fueling the fire to the lies in her original column, despite that they are obvious lies. I was furious when she refused to validate his claim but to continued to publish untruths just for the sake of sales and notoriety pushed me over the edge. I liked Lord R but at this point, I expected him to use his trump card and expose Julianna as The Lady of Distinction, He does not, but he does ruin her to an extent. Her ruination = no parties or social events which = no juicy gossip for The London Weekly which = a precarious position for her column. She had the audacity to be upset because he ruined her and he was stupid enough to feel remorse [Insert Face-palm]. He had no plans to offer for her but soon realizes that the only way for both of them to become respectable is to marry each other which will also satisfy his father's ultimatum. She puts up a fight but soon see's the logic in his plan. They marry and the drama continues which made me like her less and less. The ton is wary and speculates that this is not a normal marriage. The nitwit aka Julianna decides that she'll still support herself and live in her town-house without her brand new hubby. He reminds her that it will only add to the gossip so she reluctantly agrees to live with him, temporarily of course. They continue with their circus of a marriage and It's easy for the reader to deduce that he is falling in love with her. At this point despite liking Lord R, my eyebrows are creased in puzzlement. I was ready to throttle him for his stupidity. Julianna misses being independent and writing. Surprisingly enough, We see them become closer, more like a couple who is courting (at this point, there's no intimacy). Then when an intruder breaks into their home, they finally become man and wife in truth. They continue to become closer. Lord R wants to help her find the identity of her bitter rival so he concocts a plan to draw the man out at a ball. Julianna doesn't like secrets so because he did not confide in her, she feels betrayed. So much so, she moves out while he is still asleep. Of course, Lord R feels that he was wrong [Insert WTF].I won't go on. Julianna was one of the most unlikable heroins I've ever encountered. She was a shrew and stubborn beyond reason. I could not get over her lies and ruining a mans life all because of her ambitions. Lord R while likable was too accommodating and quick to forget the wrongs that she has imposed on him. I was so ready get to the end of this book. It was a frustrating read and if I didn't believe in reading each book in a series, I would have stopped after she repaid his kindness with more insinuations. The secondary characters were not that great, we catch up with the other Writing Girls but that's about it. Another thing that cooked my goose, I was expecting for The Man Around Town to be someone whom we knew, instead he's a nobody. There was potential for this book but Julianna was entirely too stubborn and never fully redeems herself in my eyes. In general I liked Lord R but he was a doormat for Julianna and therefore he was not enough to redeem this story. I simply couldn't stand her. 1.5 read/listen for me.
review 2: I rather enjoyed this read. Maya Rodale has a style similar to my favorites in the genre; Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, Mary Balogh. I'm sure that I could be called out over the anachronstic nature of the whole Writing Girls concept but oh well. I find them to be interesting women. I was taken with how the Female Protagonist finds herself falling for the Male Protagonist even with her previous (unmitigated disaster) relations with one such as him. less

Download links for: A Tale of Two Lovers

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