Customer Reviews

The Secret Lover

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In truth this is an amazing piece of historical fiction. Being a 2 book a day reader, I've become jaded and it takes alot to get me to run home to read a book. This story had it, funny characters, great dialogue and a to die for hero. The book is by turns witty and charming and had the Eplogue NOT been included I would have added Julia London to my must buy list. But not now.. I literally threw the book across the room and as far as I am concerned I wasted 3 hours reading a book that in the long run left me feeling rather [upset]. So in fair warning don't read the Epilogue unless you DON'T like to think of "Happily Ever After."

Favorite scene with Sophie-
Questioning the boy.

Favorite scene with Caleb-
Barging into the house and protecting the women from Trevor.

Together-
Sophie turns down his marriage proposal.

This is London's best. This is a fast-moving love story you'll enjoy. It is sexy and fun and Caleb is a great hero. I liked it as much as Kenyon's Fantasy Lover, Holly's Beyond Seduction, and Anything, My Love by Cynthia Simmons. All page turners that will warm up cold nights.

I was having a good time reading the Rogues of Regent Street series and I couldn't wait to get to the story of Sophie Dane, whose first love turned out to be the worst. Actually, this book is pretty good. I agree that it did have moments of stagnancy...but they were brief and nearly painless. It was great to watch the relationship between Sophie and Caleb develop. However, I wish Ms. London would have given them more dialogue instead of describing the kinds of things they would talk about when together. But that initial meeting and the next were perfect. I really enjoyed the secondary characters...Honorine Fortier and Will Hamilton, Fabrice and Roland, Lucie Cowplain and even Trevor (especially as his insanity grew). I could really picture all of them living as I read. That is precisely why I was really aghast by the epilogue. I expected to read, you know, the traditional Caleb and Sophie become parents and reflect on how beautiful the future will be now that they're together. However, we got a glimpse into the next several decades (which I thought was great and refreshing). What I did not expect to get at the end was the telling of how family members that I became fond of died off, including this book's main character. How depressing! This is the only time I've ever read a romance novel and cried from utter melancholy at the end. I like a lot of realism in my fiction, but that was cruel.

This was such a wonderful book!! It starts off a bit slow but develops into such a heart warming plot that leaves you wanting more! I do have to say I was a bit taken back by the epilogue, it wasn't something I would like to end a book with. However after a few sad tears...I read the book again!

This was such a fabulous story! From a previous Rouges novel "The Ruthless Charmer" you would have been introduced to our heroine, Lord Kettering's youngest sister, Sophia Dane. Even if you had not read the earlier novel, you would very easily be able to pick up this book and with the prologue, surmise Sophia's earlier years and the scandal that had surrounded her eight years prior to the setting of this story. Shipped off to, France, from the scrutiny of London's haute ton, Sophia had led a quiet existence, never calling attention to herself, living quietly and healing herself, both physically and mentally. She has spent the last seven years as the companion to the widow and very eccentric Lady Honorine Fortier accompanying her on her travels through Europe.

The journey Sophia took as the companion to Lady Honorine was exceptional, but for Sophia the trip back to London, would be the most eventful so far - the haute ton had long memories, especially where the scandal Sophie had caused was so great! For Sophie, years earlier, rocked the ton by first eloping with what turned out to be a beast of man, then obtaining a parliamentary divorce - unheard of by those of the upper class!

Her family supported Sophie in her introduction back into the ton events and had hopes of her being accepted, especially when a very desirable widower Lord Trevor Hamilton started paying her marked attention. The old Sophie would have been thrilled at Trevor's marked attention, but the new older and wiser Sophie had a niggling suspicion that all was not what it seemed. Trevor had never given her a second look back in the old days, and now, practically a social pariah he is going out of his way to court her? Trying to step back Sophie had found a quiet place that restored her soul - and it was in this setting that she met the man who would become quite dear to her. Caleb Hamilton, half illegitimate brother to Trevor - shunned by the ton for the fact of his base born birth, yet in him Sophia found a kindred spirit and soul mate. As her relationship with Caleb grew, Trevor became more insistent in his pursuit. Naturally, Sophie's family was intent upon restoring her to respectability and brought pressure to have her accept the suit of Lord Trevor.

It was absolutely inspiring to see Sophie's growth. No longer the frightened young girl, but a woman who would stand on her own two feet and make choices that were hers alone to make - not for the sake of propriety, not for the sake of her family whom she loved dearly, but for herself. This was indeed a true love story. Wonderfully heart warming and thrilling - and may I say, that the sensuality was just 'over the top'!

Reading this you will just fall in love with Sophie and Caleb both - they are just so RIGHT for one another. You will stand up and cheer for Sophie taking a stand against the the ton and family members who continually tried to make decisions for her. You will absolutely love Lady Honorine who is just a wonderfully loving 'true original' who found her own true love as well. You will be amused by Lady Honorine's two gay sidekicks - Fabrice and Roland and the intractable housekeeper Lucie Cowplaine. All of these characters will remain in your heart long after you turn the last page. Lastly, you will take my advice and go and get a copy of this book, and treasure it as I will to reread again and again! Absolutely wonderful!

This book is the most purely romantic I have ever read and I have read many. The love is what makes this book. The sex is sensual and wonderful between the two lovers. ... It actually makes you cry it is so poignant. I have read it over and over again. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in romance and it is not your typical romance story. The ones where man meets woman and they have wild sex and find they cannot live without each other. ...

The Secret Lover is the sixth book in the Regency/early Victorian series created by Julia London. Julia London has only written six books so far and they are all related and chronologically flow on from each other. In order they are The Devil's Love (a first novel), Wicked Angel, and then the three Rogues of Regent Street novels - The Dangerous Gentleman, The Ruthless Charmer and The Beautiful Stranger.

Sophie Dane, the heroine of A Secret Lover, is the sister of the hero in The Ruthless Charmer and the first part of Sophie's story is told there. A naive, plain girl with low self-esteem, Sophie was seduced into a terrible marriage with a fortune seeker. In order to escape this physically abusive marriage, a painful, expensive and scandalous divorce was arranged. As a result, Sophie left England to live on the Continent.

In The Secret Lover (set in early Victorian England), Sophie has returned to England in the company of an eccentric French aristocratic woman. The Secret Lover is about a woman who has to confront her role in society. Should Sophie choose the secret lover or attempt to conform to English upper class society?

I particularly liked the secondary romance, between the hero's father, a viscount and a stroke victim, and Honorine, the eccentric Frenchwoman.

I rated this book 3/5 because I've decided London's historicals don't do it for me. That is I've read each once but wouldn't read them again, but I can see that for other readers they might be 4s and 5s. I found her first couple of books more in the Judith McNaught style, and then the Regent Street ones more towards a Stephanie Laurens style. Judith McNaught and Stephanie Laurens don't appeal to me at all. The Secret Lover is hard to categorise. However, London's writing is good and I've heard that she is going to be writing contemporaries. So I would read a contemporary by her definitely to see whether I like that better, as sometimes I don't like a historical by a certain author but I really enjoy a contemporary by the same author.

The romance between Sophie Dane and Caleb Hamilton was moving, touching and wonderful. Eight years ago Sophie Dane was ostracized by the ton because of leaving London and obtaining a divorce, which was almost a crime back in those days. She is a companion to Honorine Fortier and after all these years they return to London. Sophie is very uncomfortable knowing she is being talked about by everyone in London. She meets Caleb Hamilton, the bastard son of Lord Will Hamilton, and they have a secret love affair. Honorine, meanwhile, meets Will Hamilton and falls in love with him, helping rehabilitate him after apparently having had a stroke. However, that is not the only thing affecting Will's speech and mobility--most of his problems can be attributed to his legitimate son, Trevor. Justin Dane, one of the Regents of Rogue Street, and Sophie's brother is a disappointment in this story; however, he does redeem himself at the end. The Epilogue is one of the very best I have read. It brought lots of tears to my eyes--happy tears. This is one of Ms. London's best.

A true delight to read! Sophie and Caleb's characters were well written. At first I was frustrated with Sophie's inability to stand up for herself but the story was a true journey of a woman learning self confidence after horrible dissapointments in her life. And surprise, surpise Caleb was never an irrational jerk as you see in so many romance novels. I loved the way this book ended. They truly lived happily ever after.