TEST
Paranormal touches are very popular in romance right now and, as every romance reader knows, Regency-set historicals have been popular for quite a while. I’ve seen several books combining the two and wondered how well authors managed it. Sadly, Lost in Shadow combines some of the most tired Regency clichés with paranormal touches far too hokey to be enjoyable.
Jade Nethercott treasures the memory of her late, dear daddy. He may have been a little overly devoted to a number of eccentric theories (and his daughters, like many in Romanceland, are named after one of his passionate areas of study, rather than having normal names of their time), but she loved him and longs to see his theories about the existence of ghosts proven true. When Sir Mitchell Renshaw’s ghost comes to her begging that she travel to London to see to the safety of his beloved fiancee, of course Jade will do his bidding. Perhaps in unmasking Renshaw’s murderer, Jade can also convince others of the existence of the ghost, thereby showing the correctness of her father’s theories.
Jade and her sisters head to London for the Season and, of course, they have lodgings arranged for them by no less than a duchess. Upon arrival in London, Renshaw becomes more imperious and insistent in his demands of Jade. He is positive that his fiancee’s brother Gideon, Lord Banntyne, killed him and Jade accepts his suspicions with little question. Renshaw then informs Jade that she will have to go into the world of the demimonde in order to find the evidence needed to prove Gideon’s guilt.
Though gently bred, Jade has suprisingly little trouble with the idea that she will need to consort with courtesans and their protectors as she works to solve the mystery of Renshaw’s murder. She meets Gideon at a masked ball shortly after her arrival in London and, though she is supposed to be seeking evidence of his guilt, she instead finds herself strangely attracted to him. She is also impressed by the honor and integrity she sees in the actions of this purported rake, but she still listens to the petulant ghost of Renshaw.
Jade and Gideon spend a lot of time together as Jade tries to enlist his aid in penetrating the world of the demimonde. Why the heroine would seek the assistance of the supposed murderer rather than trusting someone else with her quest does not exactly make a lot of sense. Actually, lots of things in this book don’t make sense. An upper class girl of good family spending time with a courtesan with nary a complaint from her chaperone and nary a dent to her reputation seems improbable. Jade’s reliance on the word of a ghost who displayed many unfavorable qualities both in life and afterwards seems ill-advised as well.
Most importantly, while the book has some humorous scenes, it is near impossible to believe in the romance between the main characters. I can see Gideon lusting after Jade, but I never did believe in him falling for her. Jade has her good moments, but there’s a little too much feistiness and too many downright TSTL qualities to her personality, making her seem terribly immature compared to Gideon. Gideon is an intelligent, interesting hero and he deserves a better match.
While Lost in Shadow has a few promising moments, most of it is ordinary Regency stuff that most readers have seen before. The ghost angle is unusual, but the ghost is unlikable and the mystery never flames to life properly. While there is nothing truly distasteful about this book, it is not particularly fun to read either. Slow, mediocre reads are not worth your hard-earned money – especially when there is no shortage of Regency-set historicals and paranormals out there to enjoy.
Grade: C-
Book Type: Paranormal Historical
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 10/07/07
Publication Date: 2007
I enjoy spending as much time as I can between the covers of a book, traveling through time and around the world. When I'm not having adventures with fictional characters, I'm an attorney in Virginia and I love just hanging out with my husband, little man, and the cat who rules our house.
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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.