TEST
Dark Sapphire, Lisa Jackson’s new medieval romance, has a good sense of its time period and a memorable villain. Sadly, those are the only good things I can say about it. Bland characters and bad writing made this book a chore to finish.
Sheena and Keegan met as adolescents when their fathers, who loved the same woman, played a gambling game that turned deadly. Sheena saved Keegan’s life, and he abandoned her for her pains. Now Sheena is on the run, accused of killing her husband on their wedding night, and Keegan finds her hiding on his ship, the Dark Sapphire, named after the legendary, cursed stone which disappeared in the confusion. As he plans to ransom her and her pursuers close in, the two give in to their mutual desire.
From here we are treated to a plot that is strictly by-the-numbers, though enlivened by a few interesting glimpses into the hustle and bustle of life in a medieval castle. The characters were a big disappointment. At no point did I feel like I knew Sheena or Keegan as more than stock characters. I admired Sheena’s tenacity in her escape, but otherwise found her unmemorable. Keegan was worse; though he’s supposed to be an appealing rogue, he came across as a man who would sell out his own grandmother. The two do not trust each other until they hit the sheets, at which point they fall madly in love with no real explanation. My favorite character was Sheena’s stepmother Fawn (how’s that for a nice medieval name?), which is a pity because she is your stereotypical Wicked Stepmother. But at least she had brains and some original thoughts. The author seemed more interested by her villains than her hero and heroine as well; Sheena and Keegan’s consummation scene is followed by a flashback to Sheena’s horrific wedding night that is actually longer than their love scene.
But my biggest problem with the book was the clumsy writing. Rather than “show, don’t tell,” this novel is written in “show and tell” style. The number of redundancies eventually gave me a headache. Repeating information that should have been obvious from the context clues made me wonder if the author trusted her audience, or her own writing. Editing should have cleared up this repetition. In addition, the book is filled with enough Bams! and Thwacks! to make me think I was in an episode of the Batman TV show from the ’60s.
For me, Dark Sapphire was a near-total failure. If you really enjoy over-the-top villains, Fawn may make this book worth your time, but otherwise, stay away.
Grade: D
Book Type: Medieval Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 22/07/00
Publication Date: 2000
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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.