5.0 out of 5 stars
A perfect blend of engaging story, fascinating characters, witty dialogue and sizzling passion.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 16 May 2014
When I pick up a Loretta Chase book, I am always assured of an outstanding historical romance. This book is a perfect blend of engaging story, fascinating characters, witty dialogue and sizzling passion.
In Marcelline and Clevedon, Ms. Chase has created two vibrant and unforgettable characters.
Marcelline is one of those strong heroines that Ms. Chase excels in creating. She is clever, confident and has worked tirelessly to promote the reputation of the Maison Noirot. Her passion for what she does is unmistakable:
{What had begun as drudgery – a trade learned in childhood purely for survival – had become Marcelline’s life and her love. She was not only Maison Noirot’s designer but it’s soul.}
However, Marcelline is not above using devious traits inherited from her Dreadful Delucey family in her efforts to become the foremost modiste in London. But, as she reveals to Clevedon, her motives are not totally mercenary because the welfare of her family is just as important to her:
{“This is how I feed and clothe and house and educate my daughter. This is how I provide for my sisters.”}
I think she also cares about her customers. She may manipulate them and want their money but as Clevedon points out, she gives totally of herself to make them better than they think they can be. In many ways, she lacks scruples but, in her dealings with her customers, she is completely honest.
I loved watching Clevedon slowly grow into the mantle of hero. When Marcelline accuses him of frittering his life away, he feels shame and is forced to take good look at himself for the first time. When he starts to take an interest in Marcelline’s business, he discovers a real purpose to his life. He also realises how talented and honourable Marcelline is in her business dealings. I also love how he cares for Marcelline when she is seasick on the return journey to London; how he risks his life to save her daughter, Lucie; how he comes to the aid of the sisters when disaster strikes the Maison Noirot, regardless of society’s censure.
The chemistry between Marcelline and Clevedon is fantastic! From their first meeting, I could feel the emotionally charged atmosphere between them and it is obvious that, whatever obstacles stand in their way, they are meant to be together. Ms. Chase is brilliant at conveying the sexual tension in the scenes between Marcelline and Clevedon with smart and witty dialogue and wonderfully descriptive writing:
{She moved his hands away, hers lightly brushing his. Glove against glove, that was all. Yet she felt the shock of contact as though skin had touched skin, and the sensation traveled the length of her body.}
Ms. Chase keeps the tension building and with all this passion bubbling under the surface, it is obvious that, when they finally surrender to it, their love scene will be explosive! The author certainly doesn’t disappoint, capturing all the urgency and emotion in their lovemaking:
{He gave in to it, too, in a mad, hungry kiss, while his hands moved greedily over her, wanting and wanting, endlessly wanting.}
I like how Ms. Chase doesn’t make all the problems they will have to face in their future together disappear but still manages to end on an optimistic note. The epilogue is just the icing on the cake.
Ms. Chase provides enough detail with regard the secondary characters to make them interesting in their own right. Marcelline’s sisters, Sophia and Leonie, bring their own talents to the running of the Maison Noirot and I can’t wait to read their stories. I loved the warm-hearted Lady Clara and was so glad when she told Clevedon that she deserved {to be loved, truly loved – mind, body and soul.} I hope she gets her own story with a hero worthy of her. Finally, I have to mention Marcelline’s daughter, Lucie (or Erroll as she prefers to be called). She is a miniature version of her mother with all her manipulative wiles but I couldn’t help but adore her, especially the way in which she wraps Clevedon around her little finger.
VERDICT: SUPERB, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
RATING: 5/5 STARS
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