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Lord of Misrule is a tale of revenge and dark love set in the Elizabethan era. The heroine, Catrienne Lyly, born of noble blood, has grown up a street urchin after seeing her beloved family killed in a political plot. The hero, Nicholas D’Avenant, is a scandalous nobleman working as a spy for his Queen. Due to a series of frightening events, Catrienne finds herself under Nicholas’ protection.
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Catrienne has spent 12 long years scheming for revenge against the man who killed her family. Nicholas, known as the Lord of Misrule for his checkered past, knows Catrienne is scheming for something – is she a spy for the enemy or is she planning for some other purpose?
Both Catrienne and Nicholas are horribly wounded figures, unable to trust or to love. But their passion cannot be denied and they slowly begin to accept what the other has to offer. But for each two steps forward, there is a step backward. Both must reach the very depths of their souls before they can be reborn through the power of love.
This is a very dark, violent and disturbing story. The tone is perhaps a bit too dark and violent to work most effectively. While contrast between darkness and light, and hatred and love is a common element in many wonderful romances, the darkness and hatred are not contrasted greatly enough with lightness and love in this book. The resulting change leaves things gray rather than bright.
Too much of this book is spent in political machinations. While the politics of the time are a necessary component of the storyline, I wanted to spend more time with the lead characters as they dueled their way from despair to love. They had to endure too much bleakness and treachery to reach the light they were given. And the light just was not strong enough.
The author was very effective in bringing the characters oh-so-slowly together. The depths of despair both Catrienne and Misrule suffer before accepting their new reality is poignant. But, in the end, a strong personal connection between the characters and the reader just wasn’t there – these characters, with what they’ve endured individually and as a couple, deserved more than the author provided.
Readers of this book will feel their eyes tear up just a bit by the end. However, Cat and her Lord really deserve a good, strong cry. Like a crumb of bittersweet chocolate when an entire candy bar is craved, this book will leave you hungry and vaguely dissatisfied.
Grade: C
Book Type: Renaissance Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 01/04/96
Publication Date: 1996
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.