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Ravished Amanda Quick 9780553588699 Books

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Ravished Amanda Quick 9780553588699 Books

A heroine annoyingly obsessed with fossils, a hero who glowers and protests, an aunt overly concerned about reputation and image along with a housekeeper who has the vapors at a drop of a hat populate a novel that had wonderful potential but bogged down in its own excesses. There are some secondary characters that mill around without much to do and some red herrings that are easily spotted and overlooked. The author attempted to walk the line between comedy and drama but ended up with turgid melodrama, especially at the big climactic reveal at the end. I did finish it but found myself skimming through the last 40% of the novel.

Bottom line: This retelling of Beauty and the Beast failed to deliver.


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Ravished Amanda Quick 9780553588699 Books Reviews

"It was she, Harriet who had been the foolish one. She had summoned the Beast of Blackthorne Hall back to Upper Biddleton."

THE STORY Miss Harriet Pomeroy is a rector's daughter who at the age of almost twenty five is on the shelf. She is not interested in a romance of her own but rather spends her time on her scientific work with fossils. When thieves invade the caves in which Harriet is working, she calls the local lord back to town to help. Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. Justin has come to Upper Biddleton because of the imperious summons of Harriet. He wants to see who dares to order the Beast of Blackthorne Hall about. Gideon is rumored to have seduced, impregnated and abandoned the daughter of the former rector and resulted in her suicide. When the investigations result in Harriet being compromised by Gideon, those around her fear that history is about to repeat itself.

OPINION I absolutely love this book. A historical beauty and the beast, it is the story of an intellectually minded woman and the beast who she tames and returns to being a man. I loved how Harriet and Gideon are well matched. Both are temperamental and stubborn. They are both used to getting their own way. I loved how they spar with one another. Harriet is determined to have her way and through her determination she is able to completely rebuild Gideon's life. She rescues him in all the important ways -- emotionally and socially. He saves her in more traditional ways but Harriet is no helpless heroine. It is her strength that is the most attractive part of her character. There is nothing in this book that I don't like. One of my all time favorites!

WORTH MENTIONING Amanda Quick is the historical pseudonym for the contemporary writer Jayne Ann Krentz.

FINAL DECISION My all time favorite Amanda Quick book, RAVISHED is the story of a man who is believed a beast and the woman who saves him.

CONNECTED BOOKS RAVISHED is a standalone.

STAR RATING I give RAVISHED five stars!
This tangled but very entertaining story of Harriet and The Beast of Blackthorne Hall is definitely one of my favorite romantic mystery adventures by Amanda Quick.

Set at a time when the fledgling science of paleontology is all the rage in London society, fanatic fossil-hunter Harriet finds that someone is interfering with her exploration of her favorite fossil bed. She calls for the aid of the actual owner of her hunting ground and finds herself in a frantic struggle for the liberation of not only her beloved Beast of Blackthorne Cave but also the menacing Beast of Blackthorne Hall as well.

All in all, Ravished is a delightful romp of a romantic mystery adventure. Why did I take off a star in my review? There were too many times when the intellectually intelligent heroine acted like an irritatingly naive nitwit.
The Amanda Quick stories have a pattern in which the female protagonist, regardless of her station in life is spunky (not to say "headstrong"), strongly individual, and constant in her belief in the goodness of her male lead. She tells her version of his character despite his own skepticism, even as he clings to his own, usually negative, image of himself until in the end she is shown to be correct. She often has no or limited sexual experience until he introduces her to physical lovemaking. They work together, though not often entirely smoothly, to solve whatever puzzle has brought them together. Usually, the apparent end is only a waypoint as the villain of the piece either eludes immediate capture or is a lesser villain in a subplot and the heroine faces one final potentially deadly situation from which her hero must rescue her at the last moment.

All that said, there is a satisfying comfort and familiarity in the course of the tale. In addition, while the heroines have similar basic characteristics, each expresses them in some unique way. Each has her own paved, personality and small quirks that keep me coming back for another even knowing the rough outline of events. Like potato chips or popcorn, it's very hard to take just one.
This book was lots of fun, which I needed after my recent slogs through miles of deep mud. Gideon and Harriet had great chemistry. Has anyone else noticed that the main characters have an alphabetical order--Aunt Effie, Felicity, Gideon and Harriet? If murder mystery can be lighthearted, this one belongs on that list. The revealment of the villain was only mildly surprising but that wasn't the point. This would qualify as a romp, I think. Mildly steamy but not salacious. Moves quickly. I liked Gideon and Harriet well enough that I would enjoy a sequel--perhaps one leading to Felicity's happy ending. Harriet may have been a bit fixated on her intellectual obsession but it was the device for some of the humor that I found effective. I love Harriet's complete faith the Gideon will arrive in the nick of time--and he does, more than once.
A heroine annoyingly obsessed with fossils, a hero who glowers and protests, an aunt overly concerned about reputation and image along with a housekeeper who has the vapors at a drop of a hat populate a novel that had wonderful potential but bogged down in its own excesses. There are some secondary characters that mill around without much to do and some red herrings that are easily spotted and overlooked. The author attempted to walk the line between comedy and drama but ended up with turgid melodrama, especially at the big climactic reveal at the end. I did finish it but found myself skimming through the last 40% of the novel.

Bottom line This retelling of Beauty and the Beast failed to deliver.