Her Secret Fantasy [Unknown Binding]

If this is your first Foley book, put it down and go back to any of her earlier books. This one was so disappointing. It started out promising, then just disintegrated. I caught myself in the middle realizing I was just skimming -- and I never skim! It takes until page 325ish before Foley realizes oops! no consumation scene so she squeezes one in during the most improbable circumstance. Derek starts out as a sizzling hero and ends up very wishy-washy. I found it disjointed and anticlimactic... where were her editors?? Oh, well ... all of her others have been grand, so I will forgive this one for now.

Book two is miles better than one, however, not a GF keeper for me. I was not wholly convinced I could tolerate either Knight brother after reading the first in the 'Spice' trilogy, but Derek has changed personalities. Major Derek Knight was the best part of "HSF" although I felt strongly for Lily as well.

What was missing was the dialogue. The reader was in the heads of the characters more than they were actually communicating. Also, lacking was the taut sensual tension I have grown to anticipate from a GF read. The love scenes were warm but I was left cold. I kept waiting for the big Kama Sutra sex scene I've been expecting from all the teasers and was again disappointed.

Normally, I enjoy the plots where the heroine is already betrothed because it usually induces hero-jealousy. Not in this instance. GF merely glanced upon it. The last 50 pages should have been summed up in an epilogue after the final resolution. I found them completely unnecessary.

That said, would I recommend 'Her Secret Fantasy'? I'd say read everything else by Gaelen Foley first. This series just hasn't been my favorite.

Lily Balfour is the consummate lady. She has grace, style, and manners, despite the fact that her family is nearly bankrupt after her father's death attempting to seek his fortune in India. With her house in shambles, and her grandfather's title passing to a distant relative, Lily has no other choice than to go to London and find a handsome--and preferably stupid--man who can dig her family out of debt while also benefiting from her good name.

Major Derek Knight returns to England from India to seek out aid that the government has promised to the British soldiers, and failed to send. He has no intentions of behaving like the typical cavalry officer, wiling away his time with drink and women. Instead, Derek only wants to get the money so that he can go back to the front lines and lead his men to victory.

When these two meet at a masked ball, Derek is captivated by Lily's beauty, but again he only has one reason to be in England. When he discovers that Lily is being courted by a man he suspects of treachery, Derek decides to protect the girl from her own fate. When Lily repudiates his efforts, and becomes even more determined to marry her rich, stupid beau, Derek is angered. After all, he has no shortage of women chasing him, and he cannot believe that anyone would turn him down. Together, they fight the love that we all know is coming, with a little bit of mystery and intrigue in the meantime.

I think I once wrote in a review (probably for The Duke, the first book in the Knight series, which I absolutely adored) that Gaelen Foley had never written a bad word in her life. Well, I'm recanting that statement. This book was just bad. I love Gaelen Foley. I love (most of) the Knight series, and I bought this book last winter when it came out. I wondered why it sat on my bookshelf so long, not calling to me even though I'd started reading it several times, but my TBR pile is outrageous so I figured I'd get to it eventually. I really wish it were still sitting on the shelf.

One of the things I love most about Gaelen Foley is her ability to combine romance with intrigue. She has great heroines who can endure even the worst circumstances, and still remain likable and steadfast in their determination to do whatever they're aiming to do. Her heroes are mostly the strong, silent type who are willing to do anything for the lady in their life. And then we have this book. That just seemed... rushed. I never got into this story. I was bored most of the time I was reading it, and wondering how in the world Gaelen Foley had fallen so far. Maybe it's that I liked the original Knight series more than this spin-off series of the Knight cousins, because to be honest I wasn't all that impressed with Her Only Desire: A Novel (the first book in the Spice triolgy) either. I'm going to read Her Every Pleasure: A Novel, the finale to this series, because I'm a person who finishes what she starts. I only hope that if it's as bad as this one that Foley soon moves on to a new family with new stories, because this one is getting old. I'm giving this book 3 stars, when it really only deserves 2, because I loved the earlier Knight stories, and I believe that Foley can turn this series around if she tries.

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