Lady Beware: A Novel of the Company of Rogues [Mass Market Paperback]

I picked up this book because I knew Jo Beverly was a prolific and prominent author in the field of romance. I must admit I'm somewhat disappointed -- I regret purchasing this book. Perhaps my opinion is somewhat skewed by the fact that I had just read another romance novel that was the most refreshing and enjoyable that I had read in months, so that the contrast between a book that I found thoroughly engrossing and one that is merely not-mediocre cast this book in a poorer light.

Certainly, if you're a fan of Ms. Beverly and like her formula, this would probably be a good purchase and enjoyable read (I often find myself snapping up Stephanie Laurens books even though I'd long ago found that 9 out of 10 of her books are the same story with different names, because sometimes you just want more of the same). This book can certainly be considered above par for the genre, as it is most definitely better written than many other works I've read. As with most works from industrial-strength authors churning out volume after volume to a well-established fanbase, this book shows the stylistic polish of an experienced writer, but lacks originality. You have your typical dark hero struggling to overcome shadows of the past, your average headstrong not-the-average-lady heroine, and the omnipresent love-hate relationship where the chemistry between the two can light a wet blanket on fire but oh-he's-such-a-rogue-her-pride-won't-stand-for-it kind of thing. Sometimes this formula works really well, but I think it falls a little flat in this case. The pacing seemed a little uneven, with a lot of set-up going on in the first 3/4 of the book, and not enough room given for what should have been dramatic denouements but ended up feeling almost anti-climactic. As for the romantic tension, a lot of it felt artificial and contrived to me. I understood what the author had intended to be the underlying conflict that stood in the way of their living happily ever after in sweet matrimony, but it never really felt like a genuine, integral part of the characters. And speaking of the characters, though I did like the hero and heroine, I never really cared too much about them. To be honest, the main motivation behind my finishing the book at all was this stubborn I-paid-for-this-book-and-I'm-damn-well-going-to-read-it-all feeling.

My overall experience of the book was also not helped by the clunky prose that cropped up every now and then. One element that I found very irritating was that the author never seemed to trust the reader to pick up on the literary allusions she was making, and so it felt like she belabored the point that they were allusions. For example, at one point she quotes Shakespeare's Julius Caesar -- "Let slip the dogs of war," but merely italicizing the font wasn't enough of a tipoff that it was an quote, so she had to follow it up with "she remembered" to emphasize that the character was recalling a quote in case the reader got the mistaken impression that it was an original phrase. While I can understand her sentiment that the quote isn't quite as widely-known as "To be or not to be," the addition of the little phrase at the end of the quote interrupted the flow of the narrative and detracted from the dramatic impact of the quote (which was, to her credit, extremely well-chosen). Though, I suspect that might well have been the intervention of a too-careful editor. I can just see the editor saying, "Ms. Beverly, I really like your usage of the quote from Shakespeare, but I don't think most of our readers are familiar with the work, so they probably won't realize it's a quote, so you should make it more obvious for them." I wouldn't have minded so much if it were just one isolated incidence, but the whole book seemed to be weighed-down with over-explanation, such as in the beginning when the narrative is put on pause for one entire page while the author retells the story of Rumplestiltskin so that she can be sure that the reader understands the exact parallel that she was drawing between the heroine of the novel and the heroine of the fairy tale. Again, I suspect an editor is culpable, as the majority of her writing does flow rather well.

The bottom line: I'm sure fans of Ms. Beverly will enjoy reading this work of hers, as it features many likeable characters and familiar acquaintances from the her other books. As a first-timer reader of her works, I was not entirely impressed, but a reader who has experienced her better-crafted works would probably be able to overlook the faults I've outlined, just as I'm able to overlook similar shortcomings in some works by my favorite authors that fall short of their usual abilities. Thus, I would not recommend this book to those who are not already fans of either Jo Beverly or the Rogues series. I give it 3 stars for it being professional and reasonably well-written, but lacking in the overall experience and enjoyment.

Note: I've tried to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, so I'll mention my opinions on plot-related matters in the following comment.

Lady Thea and Viscount Darien make for an interesting and exciting couple. He comes from a long line of bad blood, even murderers, and she is the darling sister of a wounded yet addicted war veteran, Dare (from a previous novel). Darien needs respectability and she needs to clear her brother's name of possible desertion. Darien holds the key. If she agrees to marry him, he will gladly swear that Thea's brother was, indeed, brave and noble and not a coward. After all, he says he was there to witness Dare's heroics. Lady Thea agrees under great duress to this scheme, however she and the ton are fully aware of Darien's family and she is determined to thwart this agreement.

This setup is original and I was prepared to put this book into the five star category, yet cannot. The writing was good and dialogue flowed nicely. However, for being a bad boy, Viscount Darien just didn't seem bad enough. I loved the verbal sparring that occurred early on with the two main characters. He was witty and the double entendres were delightful. He was tamed too quickly and I missed the early Darien

Lady Thea was thoughtful and loyal. Her actions usually conveyed both of these sentiments along with her words. She was likeable but the reader does not have a full picture of this woman. I believe she was in a previous novel. Presumably she helped her brother fight opium addiction. I think I would have known her much better if I had read the earlier Rogue book

The chemistry between these two started out sizzling hot but by the last third of the book was more of a simmer. The romantic interludes with these two are very few and far between. They also spend some time apart from each other. Absence makes the heart grow fonder but it can bore the reader. I skimmed these scenes quickly. The ending is tidy and well written but not terribly romantic. I give this one 3  stars.

Read the great reviews & checked it out. Ugh. This book is way too long, the actual interactions between the hero & heroine make up maybe 30 pages of the over-400 (including the sex scene, all one of them!), the story is labored and slow. The basic premise is that Viscount Darian comes from a crazy and disgusting family & has decided to become socially acceptable so his younger brother (who we meet for maybe 5 pages throughout the entire book) can marry the girl of his dreams. Most of the story is made up of a bunch of boring people talking endlessly about whether or not he can be socially acceptable again & how to get him to that state. I kid you not, there is more yammering in this novel than I have ever read in any other romance novel before and I've read some real stinkers! The problem with Viscount Darien's redemption is that he can only accomplish it by saving the reputation of his worst enemy (whose crime is calling him names in elementary school). His worst enemy is named Dare and the constant switching back and forth between Dare and Darien is extremely confusing. Dare's sister agrees to pretend to be engaged to Darien for awhile so everyone thinks he's socially acceptable again, but somehow during the few minutes they're together she decides she loves him and he decides he can't love her because of his situation or some such confusing plot twist. Throw in a bunch of secondary characters who do lots of dumb and confusing actions and you pretty much sum up the book. I didn't understand all the references to events and other people scattered throughout the book, even having read at least one of the prior books (which I found equally boring & confusing). There are couple of obligatory scenes in which Darien thinks fond thoughts about his younger brother, but it's not enough for a person to believe that he would completely change his lifestyle to help him. Other things in the book disrupt what little flow it has--the girl is so prim & proper that she has a fit when her corsets and her dress don't match, yet she has all kinds of wild sex in a closet with Darien at a ball they attend together (including the types of stuff that a proper young lady of the Victorian era would probably have not been too interested in during her first experiences with the opposite sex). Enough said. I can't believe I wasted so much time finishing this book as it just dragged on & on & on. Don't make my mistake! Read something else!

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