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A Lily Among Thorns #1
A Lily Among Thorns
London 1815, just before Waterloo... After her noble father disowned her, Lady Serena Ravenshaw clawed her way from streetwalker to courtesan to prosperous innkeeper. Now she’s feared and respected from one end of London to the other, by the lowest dregs of the city’s underworld and the upper echelons of the beau monde, and she’ll do anything to keep it that way. When mild-mannered chemist Solomon Hathaway turns up in her office, asking for her help, she immediately recognizes him from one fateful night years before. She’s been watching and waiting for him for years—so she can turn the tables and put him in her debt, of course, and not because he looked like an angel and was kind to her when she needed it most. She’s determined not to wonder what put that fresh grief in his eyes. But after a betrayal even Serena didn’t expect, she must put aside her pride and work with Solomon to stop a ring of French spies and save her beloved inn, her freedom—and England itself.
392 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Rose Lerner
23 books568 followersI discovered historical romance when I was twelve, and took my first stab at writing one a few years later. My prose has improved since then, but my fascination with all things Regency hasn’t changed. When I'm not writing and researching my own stories, or helping other authors write and research theirs over at Rose Does The Research, you can find me reading, watching, cooking, doodling, rambling, and daydreaming in Philadelphia.
Sign up to be notified when my next book comes out! https://www.roselerner.com/#news
FYI: I use this space for recs of books I wholeheartedly love only. My recs are honest, but I have social relationships with some of the romance authors whose books I rec.
Sign up to be notified when my next book comes out! https://www.roselerner.com/#news
FYI: I use this space for recs of books I wholeheartedly love only. My recs are honest, but I have social relationships with some of the romance authors whose books I rec.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
January 1, 2015
Too many confusing subplots, not enough focus on the main story and characters, unfortunately. The main characters did not work for me: the hero is supposedly a genius at a) fashion design b) fabric dye chemistry c) cooking d) playing the organ, and he's just over 25 years old. Oh, and he's also a hunk. Could not suspend my disbelief that far. The heroine, meanwhile, is only about 25 and started off as a prostitute (although she's the daughter of an earl?) when she was 18. Now she's the queen of London's criminal underworld and the owner of a high-class restaurant and inn that is hired for fancy dinners by the Prince Regent himself, and of course, she is stunningly gorgeous and supremely skilled at sex. Couldn't suspend my disbelief for all that either.
August 22, 2011
Original review posted on Angieville: HERE.
I've had A LILY AMONG THORNS on my list ever since I read Rose Lerner's debut novel--In for a Penny--more than a year ago. In fact, I actually reread it a couple of weeks ago to see if the character and writing were as lovely as I remembered. They were and it was. So I practically bounced in my seat when I saw the tweet pop up stating that A LILY AMONG THORNS was available on NetGalley. Click, click, click. And I sat down with it that night. Personally, I think this cover is nowhere near as nice as the cover of In for a Penny, which I thought both represented the tone of that novel as well as the "lighter" romance found within. These two look nothing like how I picture Serena and Solomon, particularly as he seems about to eat her nose and, honestly, Solomon would never do that. And even if he did give it a go, Serena would most certainly never let him get that close. Ah, the woes of cover art. On to the tale!
Serena Ravenshaw and Solomon Hathaway have A History. And they don't even know it. Ever since that one fateful night, years ago, when Solomon inadvertently provides Serena with the means to change her life, she's thought of him and wondered. Who was he? Why did he give her that money? Where is he now? And most importantly--does he have any idea what that inexplicable act meant to her? And while Serena has been carving out a new life for herself, Solomon has been quietly watching his fall apart. After the death of his twin brother in the Napoleonic Wars, Solomon can hardly summon the will to go on. A gifted chemist and tailor, he spends his days and nights working in his uncle's shop and fending off the aching loneliness and despair. Then his sister announces her marriage and the family jewels go missing. And when his sister announces she cannot be wed without the precious heirloom, Solomon seeks out the famed Black Thorn--the one woman in town who is rumored to be able to find anything that is lost. When Serena sees the one man she thought she'd never see again walk through her door, she is at once panicked, thrilled, and suspicious. Whether or not Solomon will survive the encounter is another matter entirely.
What a talent Rose Lerner has for making her characters essential to your happiness in such a short period of time. And not in a superficial way either. I genuinely care about them, believe in their fears, and grin affectionately at their quips and quarrels. By the end of the shattering prologue, I simply had to find out what in the wide world was going to happen to these characters after the intervening years had their way with them. A favorite scene early on (taken from my uncorrected ARC):
It was incredibly fun watching mild-mannered Solomon court death and heartbreak (not necessarily in that order) by renewing his association with Lady Serena Ravenshaw. Hard-hearted, calculating, and about as remote as formerly renowned courtesans turned underworld mavens come, Serena has vowed no one will ever have control over her again. But since she is determined to repay Solomon, she agrees to find the Hathaway rubies and call it good. Unfortunately for both of them, there are larger forces brewing outside the Ravenshaw Arms. Within the space of 24 hours, Serena's former partner returns with unexpected demands, her imperious father threatens her life, and this thing between she and Solomon threatens to break the choke hold she has on control. This book lived up to its promise from the first page to the last. Charming and intriguing, I never tired of it. The secondary characters were excellent as well, and all the threads tied up satisfactorily in the end. My favorite things about Ms. Lerner's books are the sly humor that weaves its way through the stories and the wonderful, endearing protagonists she creates. Like Penny and Nev, Serena and Solomon are . . . well, they're good. And by good I don't mean they're above reproach or without their fair share of flaws. But they are people I would want to know and keep in my life. Witness my favorite passage in the book:
You see? All that and an ending that will make you smile, too.
I've had A LILY AMONG THORNS on my list ever since I read Rose Lerner's debut novel--In for a Penny--more than a year ago. In fact, I actually reread it a couple of weeks ago to see if the character and writing were as lovely as I remembered. They were and it was. So I practically bounced in my seat when I saw the tweet pop up stating that A LILY AMONG THORNS was available on NetGalley. Click, click, click. And I sat down with it that night. Personally, I think this cover is nowhere near as nice as the cover of In for a Penny, which I thought both represented the tone of that novel as well as the "lighter" romance found within. These two look nothing like how I picture Serena and Solomon, particularly as he seems about to eat her nose and, honestly, Solomon would never do that. And even if he did give it a go, Serena would most certainly never let him get that close. Ah, the woes of cover art. On to the tale!
Serena Ravenshaw and Solomon Hathaway have A History. And they don't even know it. Ever since that one fateful night, years ago, when Solomon inadvertently provides Serena with the means to change her life, she's thought of him and wondered. Who was he? Why did he give her that money? Where is he now? And most importantly--does he have any idea what that inexplicable act meant to her? And while Serena has been carving out a new life for herself, Solomon has been quietly watching his fall apart. After the death of his twin brother in the Napoleonic Wars, Solomon can hardly summon the will to go on. A gifted chemist and tailor, he spends his days and nights working in his uncle's shop and fending off the aching loneliness and despair. Then his sister announces her marriage and the family jewels go missing. And when his sister announces she cannot be wed without the precious heirloom, Solomon seeks out the famed Black Thorn--the one woman in town who is rumored to be able to find anything that is lost. When Serena sees the one man she thought she'd never see again walk through her door, she is at once panicked, thrilled, and suspicious. Whether or not Solomon will survive the encounter is another matter entirely.
What a talent Rose Lerner has for making her characters essential to your happiness in such a short period of time. And not in a superficial way either. I genuinely care about them, believe in their fears, and grin affectionately at their quips and quarrels. By the end of the shattering prologue, I simply had to find out what in the wide world was going to happen to these characters after the intervening years had their way with them. A favorite scene early on (taken from my uncorrected ARC):
"After Elijah died, I moved my laboratory into the back of the shop for awhile."
"How kind of him, to allow you to use his space in your work for his business. I'll wager he doesn't pay you enough either."
"Did you tell him that?"
"Maybe."
The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Anyway, that's not what I meant. I moved it there because I--well, I caught myself eyeing the bottle of arsenic. And I didn't think I would, but I knew I wouldn't if my cousin Clara might find the body."
The oyster Serena has just eaten transformed itself into a brick in her stomach.
"I couldn't sleep and I'd show up there at all hours to work. Uncle Hathaway took to waking at three or four in the morning and coming downstairs. He'd bring in tea, and then he'd go into the other room and work. He didn't try to talk to me, but I could hear him through the door and it--it helped."
Serena leaned back against a tree. "I--"
"I said I didn't want to discuss it."
"I know. I just wish I could have been there."
Solomon looked at his hands. "So do I."
It was incredibly fun watching mild-mannered Solomon court death and heartbreak (not necessarily in that order) by renewing his association with Lady Serena Ravenshaw. Hard-hearted, calculating, and about as remote as formerly renowned courtesans turned underworld mavens come, Serena has vowed no one will ever have control over her again. But since she is determined to repay Solomon, she agrees to find the Hathaway rubies and call it good. Unfortunately for both of them, there are larger forces brewing outside the Ravenshaw Arms. Within the space of 24 hours, Serena's former partner returns with unexpected demands, her imperious father threatens her life, and this thing between she and Solomon threatens to break the choke hold she has on control. This book lived up to its promise from the first page to the last. Charming and intriguing, I never tired of it. The secondary characters were excellent as well, and all the threads tied up satisfactorily in the end. My favorite things about Ms. Lerner's books are the sly humor that weaves its way through the stories and the wonderful, endearing protagonists she creates. Like Penny and Nev, Serena and Solomon are . . . well, they're good. And by good I don't mean they're above reproach or without their fair share of flaws. But they are people I would want to know and keep in my life. Witness my favorite passage in the book:
"You're right," he said again. "I haven't been fair. I was afraid, too. Afraid of being alone, I suppose. Afraid of being without you. But--you know, I--" His voice cracked. Damn.
"Solomon--" she said, and he loved the way she said his name so much that he had to keep talking or he might do something selfish like tell her that.
"I never believed, before I met you, that I could go my own way," he said. "That I could deserve more than someone was willing to give me. That love might not be worth the sacrifices we have to make for it. You've taught me that. What I mean is--I do understand, if you decide you don't want--" He waved a hand between them, as if in a moment the word that would describe all that lay between them would pop into his head. As if such a word existed. He shook his head. "This."
She stared up at him, the shadows making her eyes look huge.
"You're giving up?"
He stood up. "That's exactly the problem. This has turned into some kind of tug-of-war. I'm not giving up. I'm just saying that I won't push you anymore. I won't ask for anything. I've been torturing you, and it's not fair. If nothing's changed when we go back to London on Sunday, I'll leave. Just please--make a decision that will make you happy. Take good care of yourself." She looked as lost as he felt. He went to the bed and stood looking down at her: at her perfect face and her perfect body that suddenly, for the first time, looked ordinary.
She wasn't a goddess, or an angel, or a harpy. She was a woman, a frightened, unhappy, determined, beautiful woman, and he loved her so badly that just leaning down and brushing his lips across her left temple, where her birthmark was, brought tears to his eyes. "Thank you for everything," he said, and left.
You see? All that and an ending that will make you smile, too.
February 22, 2016
Loved this book! RL writes with a lot of emotional depth and I couldn't read this book fast enough. Solomon, our hero is just a regular guy who happens to be the nephew of a Duke, but has a job as a tailor and loves science. He has sandy blond hair, freckles across his nose and tends to blush easily. On his 20th birthday his friends decide it is time for him to lose his virginity. Oh did I mention he was a son a vicar? So at the house of ill repute he is taken by the hand and led upstairs, by one of the soiled doves. Unfortunately Solomon who has been drinking isn't holding his liquor very well. Also paying a woman to have sex with him is extremely abhorrent to him. He notes things in his stupor about his little black-haired, grey-eyed dove, but in the end he can't go through with it and gives her all of his money and stumbles away.
Unknown to Solomon, he sets Serena free with that money and she soon becomes a courtesan to the Prince Regent himself for a while. Eventually she gives up that life and opens an inn and makes it the "in" place to dine and be seen. She still has to put up with men’s looks and innuendo, but she does it on her terms. She never forgets the debt she owes the man who saved her. She hates it, she doesn't like to owe anybody as then that person has a hold on her. Serena is very cold, but then she has to be in order to protect her heart. She also has a reputation for finding things and that is where the story begins.
One day six years later, in walks Solomon to Serena's inn. He needs her help to find a pair of stolen earrings and once he meets her, he doesn't recognize her at first, but eventually he remembers her. Serena knows him instantly and also knows how he has filled out and only became better looking. Nope she is only in it to pay back the debt. Soon enough however, their attraction starts to take center stage, even though Serena is fighting for her very lively hood and everybody that she truly cares about.
This is where the book shines; coming into the story, Solomon appears to be the weak one and Serena strong. Solomon wearing his emotions on his sleeve and Serena guarded...very guarded. Solomon is ok with it, he doesn't feel he is any less of a man and celebrates Serena's strengths because that is what kept her safe. But eventually, Solomon displays his strength of will and Serena shows her emotions for Sol, but boy is she a fighter about it. Once you get her background you understand where she is coming from and why she is like she is. There is also a surprising twist with Solomon’s brother Elijah and Rene.
This was a fun, unique historical read with more role reversals then I could keep up with, but it was well worth my time and I can't wait to get my hands on another RL.
Unknown to Solomon, he sets Serena free with that money and she soon becomes a courtesan to the Prince Regent himself for a while. Eventually she gives up that life and opens an inn and makes it the "in" place to dine and be seen. She still has to put up with men’s looks and innuendo, but she does it on her terms. She never forgets the debt she owes the man who saved her. She hates it, she doesn't like to owe anybody as then that person has a hold on her. Serena is very cold, but then she has to be in order to protect her heart. She also has a reputation for finding things and that is where the story begins.
One day six years later, in walks Solomon to Serena's inn. He needs her help to find a pair of stolen earrings and once he meets her, he doesn't recognize her at first, but eventually he remembers her. Serena knows him instantly and also knows how he has filled out and only became better looking. Nope she is only in it to pay back the debt. Soon enough however, their attraction starts to take center stage, even though Serena is fighting for her very lively hood and everybody that she truly cares about.
This is where the book shines; coming into the story, Solomon appears to be the weak one and Serena strong. Solomon wearing his emotions on his sleeve and Serena guarded...very guarded. Solomon is ok with it, he doesn't feel he is any less of a man and celebrates Serena's strengths because that is what kept her safe. But eventually, Solomon displays his strength of will and Serena shows her emotions for Sol, but boy is she a fighter about it. Once you get her background you understand where she is coming from and why she is like she is. There is also a surprising twist with Solomon’s brother Elijah and Rene.
This was a fun, unique historical read with more role reversals then I could keep up with, but it was well worth my time and I can't wait to get my hands on another RL.
March 16, 2022
This is my first book by Rose Lerner and I am glad to have checked it out. I liked the beta hero (a chemist! Yay!), and appreciated the characters and interactions in the story. I liked that this wasn’t a book about ‘the ton’ and more about real people living on the fringes of the aristocracy. I am tired of stories about Bonaparte but the war between England and France was part of the backdrop for most of the story.
July 28, 2017
Okay guys you all know this story. There's a man with pain in his past and a dangerous reputation. He's got walls round his emotions a mile thick and it's going to take a very special person to break through them. Enter our lady, stubborn and compassionate and exactly the kind of sweetheart who can slip in sideways through the cracks. Lots of push-pull, emotional progress hard won and then finally FINALLY a happy ending.
Now let's take all that and enjoy some genderswap!
A Lily Among Thorns is about Serena, former prostitute, now inn proprieter who is hard and prickly because you need to be if you're a woman trying to carve out power in a world determined to deprive you of it. She knows the Christian name of every criminal in London and they're all well acquainted with what happens if you cross the Thorn.
Enter Solomon, chemist and tailor. Way back in the day Solomon's friends took him to a brothel to enjoy the company of a lady of experience on his twenty-first birthday. Solomon, who is burdened with an overactive conscience, panicked, gave her 125 pounds, and vamanosed. Five years later he's come to Serena to ask her to use her contacts to find a pair of earrings his sister needs to get married.
Naturally you all see where this is going right? :D This book reminded me a lot of Courtney Milan's Unclaimed, with it's emphasis on the heroine's agency and acknowledging the hero's privilege and being really really good on gender and class. Also race and sexuality! (Not that Unclaimed was necessarily bad on those last two but A Lily Among Thorns has black characters and queer characters where Unclaimed had neither so. Hard to judge something in absentia!)
On a related note A Lily Among Thorns tops it all off with a bonus secondary romance between starcrossed queer spies. Two amazing rare kinds of romances for the price of one? Come buy my friends, please come buy. 4.5 stars
Now let's take all that and enjoy some genderswap!
A Lily Among Thorns is about Serena, former prostitute, now inn proprieter who is hard and prickly because you need to be if you're a woman trying to carve out power in a world determined to deprive you of it. She knows the Christian name of every criminal in London and they're all well acquainted with what happens if you cross the Thorn.
Enter Solomon, chemist and tailor. Way back in the day Solomon's friends took him to a brothel to enjoy the company of a lady of experience on his twenty-first birthday. Solomon, who is burdened with an overactive conscience, panicked, gave her 125 pounds, and vamanosed. Five years later he's come to Serena to ask her to use her contacts to find a pair of earrings his sister needs to get married.
Naturally you all see where this is going right? :D This book reminded me a lot of Courtney Milan's Unclaimed, with it's emphasis on the heroine's agency and acknowledging the hero's privilege and being really really good on gender and class. Also race and sexuality! (Not that Unclaimed was necessarily bad on those last two but A Lily Among Thorns has black characters and queer characters where Unclaimed had neither so. Hard to judge something in absentia!)
On a related note A Lily Among Thorns tops it all off with a bonus secondary romance between starcrossed queer spies. Two amazing rare kinds of romances for the price of one? Come buy my friends, please come buy. 4.5 stars
November 1, 2011
Review originally posted on The Book Smugglers
Warning: this review contains a few spoilers
I loved In For a Penny, Rose Lerner’s first book and had been waiting anxiously for A Lily Among Thorns although part of me feared it wouldn’t be as good as that other book. But thankfully, A Lily Among Thorns turned out to be an excellent read. Showing a penchant for beta heroes, strong heroines and an incredible awareness of important issues (gender, race, sexual orientation identity), this author is definitely a favourite now.
Solomon and Serena first met years ago when she was a courtesan and he, a young and shy Cambridge student about to say goodbye to his virginity. He got cold feet though and left in a hurry but not before paying handsomely for Serena’s troubles. The money was enough to help her starting over and to build a reputation as a top Courtesan until eventually she had enough money to quit that life and to start her own business. In the meantime, Solomon graduates as a chemist and becomes a tailor (his dyes are the best in London) working for his uncle, a job that is the only thing that will keep him going on after his twin brother dies during the Napoleonic Wars.
Years later they meet again. Serena is now not only the owner of a reputable Inn but also of a disreputable reputation as a former whore and a fallen member of aristocracy. She also has connections to the underground crime scene which is what brings Solomon to her door: he needs her help to find the famous Hathaway Earrings, the precious family jewels that had gone missing. Recognising the man who saved her life, Serena agrees to help him and in return asks only for his help updating the furnishings of the Inn which brings Solomon to move in and…things start to happen at speed of light.
Within the course of a few hours, Solomon’s twin brother reappears, alive and well – and working for the Government. Serena’s aristocratic father comes back to her life and resumes tormenting her with the threat to send her to Bedlam for daring to associate with Solomon, a working man; her best friend and business partner who had been gone for years shows up and threatens to take over her business and leave her with nothing. If all of this “coincidence” wasn’t enough already, the biggest threat to Serena’s sanity and independence comes from the adorable, loving Solomon.
Plot-wise, A Lily Among Thorns is quite clever. The story develops beautifully and subtly as all the aforementioned events start to make sense and fall into place – it is a bit of a game of spies’ story and I tend to enjoy those. I also enjoyed how the hero and heroine although having connections with the aristocracy are both working class protagonists and I loved seeing that dynamics playing out.
Beyond that, I loved the gender reversal of this story. Those accustomed to Historical Romance, will know the trope of the degenerate, hardened hero with random criminal connections who is bent on not letting anyone close until he meets the nice, steadfast heroine who is equally bent on avoiding just that. In this book, this role is played by Serena – the former whore, who wishes never to let anyone close enough to make her vulnerable but who falls hard and fast for Solomon. Solomon on the other hand is an awesome beta hero as far from being an alpha hero as it can be. He loves being a tailor and genuinely loves clothes and cooking. Take for example this scene between the two when she tells him that she was once the mistress of the Prince Regent – she expected revulsion but this is Solomon’s reply:
“Does he use French holes?”
She stared at him. She hated to admit that Solomon knew of a perversion of which she had never heard, but there was nothing for it. “French holes?”
“On his corset,” Solomon said impatiently. “You know – most use ordinary buttonholes, but some use a sort of eyelet made of ivory or bone. You can lace them tighter that way.”
She blinked. Then she bit the back of her hand, shaking with silent, helpless laughter.
He is loving, shy and loyal and totally the bee’s knees but he is not perfect and that is perhaps my favourite part of the story.
Because as though it wasn’t enough to have a story with gender reversal and a beta hero and a more than capable heroine, the author goes even further down the path of awesome. Serena is a woman and a former whore and those things are who she is – she can never forget that. She can never forget that people have expectations about her and she has a supposedly pre-determined role to play in life and she always and forever has to deal with this and basically carve her own way up. And yet Solomon – even though he is moved by genuine love and concern – wants her not to care about her past because he doesn’t. But the author makes Solomon’s understanding of the extent of his own privilege an important part of his arc and not only about Serena either because his brother eventually reveals himself as queer (and boy, the secondary love story between him and his lover is awesome) and Solomon doesn’t react that well to start with. But eventually he realises it isn’t about him and that is when he is able to really get through to Serena and to really, really give her a choice. And that makes all the difference in the world.
This is a great book, all. I highly recommend it, especially to those who are reluctant about reading romance novels: this is fabulous place to start.
Warning: this review contains a few spoilers
I loved In For a Penny, Rose Lerner’s first book and had been waiting anxiously for A Lily Among Thorns although part of me feared it wouldn’t be as good as that other book. But thankfully, A Lily Among Thorns turned out to be an excellent read. Showing a penchant for beta heroes, strong heroines and an incredible awareness of important issues (gender, race, sexual orientation identity), this author is definitely a favourite now.
Solomon and Serena first met years ago when she was a courtesan and he, a young and shy Cambridge student about to say goodbye to his virginity. He got cold feet though and left in a hurry but not before paying handsomely for Serena’s troubles. The money was enough to help her starting over and to build a reputation as a top Courtesan until eventually she had enough money to quit that life and to start her own business. In the meantime, Solomon graduates as a chemist and becomes a tailor (his dyes are the best in London) working for his uncle, a job that is the only thing that will keep him going on after his twin brother dies during the Napoleonic Wars.
Years later they meet again. Serena is now not only the owner of a reputable Inn but also of a disreputable reputation as a former whore and a fallen member of aristocracy. She also has connections to the underground crime scene which is what brings Solomon to her door: he needs her help to find the famous Hathaway Earrings, the precious family jewels that had gone missing. Recognising the man who saved her life, Serena agrees to help him and in return asks only for his help updating the furnishings of the Inn which brings Solomon to move in and…things start to happen at speed of light.
Within the course of a few hours, Solomon’s twin brother reappears, alive and well – and working for the Government. Serena’s aristocratic father comes back to her life and resumes tormenting her with the threat to send her to Bedlam for daring to associate with Solomon, a working man; her best friend and business partner who had been gone for years shows up and threatens to take over her business and leave her with nothing. If all of this “coincidence” wasn’t enough already, the biggest threat to Serena’s sanity and independence comes from the adorable, loving Solomon.
Plot-wise, A Lily Among Thorns is quite clever. The story develops beautifully and subtly as all the aforementioned events start to make sense and fall into place – it is a bit of a game of spies’ story and I tend to enjoy those. I also enjoyed how the hero and heroine although having connections with the aristocracy are both working class protagonists and I loved seeing that dynamics playing out.
Beyond that, I loved the gender reversal of this story. Those accustomed to Historical Romance, will know the trope of the degenerate, hardened hero with random criminal connections who is bent on not letting anyone close until he meets the nice, steadfast heroine who is equally bent on avoiding just that. In this book, this role is played by Serena – the former whore, who wishes never to let anyone close enough to make her vulnerable but who falls hard and fast for Solomon. Solomon on the other hand is an awesome beta hero as far from being an alpha hero as it can be. He loves being a tailor and genuinely loves clothes and cooking. Take for example this scene between the two when she tells him that she was once the mistress of the Prince Regent – she expected revulsion but this is Solomon’s reply:
“Does he use French holes?”
She stared at him. She hated to admit that Solomon knew of a perversion of which she had never heard, but there was nothing for it. “French holes?”
“On his corset,” Solomon said impatiently. “You know – most use ordinary buttonholes, but some use a sort of eyelet made of ivory or bone. You can lace them tighter that way.”
She blinked. Then she bit the back of her hand, shaking with silent, helpless laughter.
He is loving, shy and loyal and totally the bee’s knees but he is not perfect and that is perhaps my favourite part of the story.
Because as though it wasn’t enough to have a story with gender reversal and a beta hero and a more than capable heroine, the author goes even further down the path of awesome. Serena is a woman and a former whore and those things are who she is – she can never forget that. She can never forget that people have expectations about her and she has a supposedly pre-determined role to play in life and she always and forever has to deal with this and basically carve her own way up. And yet Solomon – even though he is moved by genuine love and concern – wants her not to care about her past because he doesn’t. But the author makes Solomon’s understanding of the extent of his own privilege an important part of his arc and not only about Serena either because his brother eventually reveals himself as queer (and boy, the secondary love story between him and his lover is awesome) and Solomon doesn’t react that well to start with. But eventually he realises it isn’t about him and that is when he is able to really get through to Serena and to really, really give her a choice. And that makes all the difference in the world.
This is a great book, all. I highly recommend it, especially to those who are reluctant about reading romance novels: this is fabulous place to start.
September 21, 2015
A Lily Among Thorns ของโรส เลิร์นเนอร์
เล่มนี้เป็นหนังสือไฮไลท์ของปีของเราไปแล้วค่ะ ส่วนหนึ่งเพราะเป็นงานของนักเขียนที่เราไม่เคยอ่านมาก่อน อีกส่วนหนึ่งก็เพราะเป็นเรื่องแนวย้อนยุคที่สามารถแหวกความเบื่อหน่ายของเราต่อเรื่องแนวนี้ขึ้นมาได้
นั่นอาจจะเป็นเพราะเรื่องนี้ไม่ใช่เรื่องพระเอกที่เป็นขุนนาง นางเอกที่เป็นสาวน้อยไร้เดียงสาที่เพิ่งออกงานสังคมเป็นปีแรก และนี่ก็ไม่ใช่เรื่องนางเอกที่ตัดสินใจจะอยู่เป็นโสด จนมาได้เจอพระเอกที่เป็นสายลับ
ในแง่นึงเรื่องนี้ก็ใช้พล็อตที่เราว่าไปทั้งหมด แต่เป็นการใช้อย่างฉลาด ใช้เทคนิคง่าย ๆ นั่นก็คือ การสลับบทบาทระหว่างชายและหญิง
ดังนั้นเรื่องนี้จึงมีนางเอก ���ลดี้เซรีนา ลูกสาวของมาร์ควิสที่เจนโลก กับโซโลมอน ชายธรรมดา ๆ ที่แม้จะมีความเกี่ยวข้องกับตระกูลขุนนาง แต่ก็เลือกที่จะทำงานในร้านตัดเสื้อ เพราะนั่นคือสิ่งที่เขาต้องการ
เราไม่คิดว่า เป็นการสปอยล์เรื่องนะคะ เพราะเป็นเหตุการณ์ที่อยู่ในบทแรกของเรื่อง และเราคิดว่า เป็นประเด็นที่เราอยากเตือนคนที่คิดจะอ่านเรื่องนี้ไว้ก่อน เนื่องจากว่า เราคิดว่า เป็นเรื่องสำคัญ และเป็นสาเหตุที่ทำให้เราเก็บเรื่องนี้ดองมาหลายปี นั่นก็คือ โซโลมอนและเซรีนาได้พบกันครั้งแรกในซ่อง เมื่อเพื่อนพาโซโลมอนมาขึ้นครู และเซรีนาทำงานที่นั่น การพบกันที่โซโลมอนพบว่าตัวเองไม่ได้เป็นเหมือนเพื่อน ๆ ที่เรียนเคมบริดจ์ด้วยกัน เขาไม่อาจเฉยเมยต่อดวงตาอันว่างเปล่าของโสเภณี แล้วใช้บริการราวกับไม่ได้มีจิตวิญญาณภายในดวงตาคู่นั้น เขายื่นเงินทั้งหมดที่มีให้กับเธอ หวังว่าหญิงสาวจะใช้มันในการทำให้ชีวิตดีขึ้น แล้วจากไปโดยไม่มีอะไรเกิดขึ้น
เงินของโซโลมอนสร้างความแตกต่างให้กับชีวิตของเซรีนา มันคือเงินที่เธอใช้ในการสร้างชีวิตใหม่ และเป็นทุนที่ทำให้เธอกลายเป็นเจ้าของโรงแรมชื่อดังในตอนนี้ ดังนั้นเมื่อเธอได้พบกับเขาอีกครั้ง (อย่างบังเอิญ) เมื่อโซโลมอนปรากฎตัวขึ้นเพื่อขอความช่วยเหลือให้เธอตามหาต่างหูประจำตระกูลที่ถูกขโมยไป เซรีนาไม่ลังเลที่จะช่วยเหลือเขา และถือโอกาสให้โซโลมอนย้ายมาพักที่โรงแรมเพื่อให้ตัวเองมีโอกาสได้ใกล้ชิดกับเขามากขึ้น เพราะแม้เวลาผ่านไปหลายปี แต่เซรีนาก็ยังคิดถึงชายคนนี้อยู่เสมอ
หนังสือเล่มนี้ไม่หนามากนะคะ แต่มีเรื่องราวมากมายเกิดขึ้น ซึ่งคนแต่งเก่งมาก ๆ ตรงที่ไม่ได้ทำให้เรารู้สึกว่า มันเยอะเกินไป แต่กลับเป็นการทำให้เรารู้สึกว่า เรื่องนี้ช่างน่าติดตาม ทุกหน้าอ่านได้สนุกมาก ๆ จนถึงหน้าสุดท้าย
เรารู้สึกว่า คนแต่งได้ใช้ความคิดเยอะมากในการใส่องค์ประกอบแต่ละอย่างลงไปในเรื่อง เพราะท่ามกลางเหตุการณ์มากมายในเรื่อง ไม่มีส่วนไหนที่เรารู้สึกว่า เยอะเกิน หรือทำให้เสียเวลาในการอ่าน คาแร็คเตอร์ทุกตัว เหตุการณ์ทุกอย่างเสริมเรื่องให้สนุกและลงตัว
คาแร็คเตอร์คือส่วนที่โดดเด่นในหนังสือที่มีอะไรมากมายให้เด่น การใช้คาแร็คเตอร์ที่สลับบทบาทกันเป็นความฉลาด แต่คงจะไม่มีค่าอะไรเลย ถ้าคนเขียนไม่ได้ทำให้น่าสนใจ เรื่องราวสลับบทให้เซรีนาเป็นคาแร็คเตอร์ที่เจนโลก และเป็นฝ่ายที่มีประสบการณ์มากกว่า เราลังเลนานมากกว่าจะหยิบเรื่องนี้มาอ่าน เพราะภูมิหลังที่เคยเป็นโสเภณีของเธอ แต่คุ้มค่าค่ะ เราชอบที่คนแต่งไม่ได้ทำให้เธอต้องขอโทษกับสิ่งที่เธอเคยเป็น แต่ไม่ได้สร้างให้เป็นความภาคภูมิใจ มันเป็นสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้น เรียนรู้ และก้าวพ้นมัน เราชอบภูมิหลังที่ทำให้เธอต้องหันมายึดอาชีพนี้ มันไม่ได้แสดงว่าเธอเป็นเหยื่อ แต่เพราะเธอเป็นคนที่เอาตัวรอด เราคิดว่า คนแต่งสร้างภูมิหลังที่ลงตัวให้กับนางเอก
และพระเอก เรื่องที่สลับบทบาทแบบนี้มันง่ายมากที่จะทำให้พระเอกเป็นคนแสนดี หรือซื่อเกินเหตุ แต่ไม่ใช่เลย เราชื่นชมที่คนแต่งสามารถทำให้เราสัมผัสได้ถึงความไร้เดียงสา (ในบางเรื่อง) ต่อโลกของโซโลมอน แต่ในขณะเดียวกันเขามีความเข้าใจมนุษย์อย่างยิ่ง และก็ไม่ได้ทำให้เขากลายเป็นแสนดี โซโลมอนมีข้อบกพร่องอย่างคนทั่วไป และนั่นทำให้คาแร็คเตอร์ของเขายิ่งดึงดูดเรามากขึ้น
ขอบอกว่า ��ราชอบทุกอย่างในเรื่องนี้ ตั้งแต่ฉากที่โซโลมอนและเซรีนากลับมาเจอกันอีกครั้ง เมื่อเขามาขอความช่วยเหลือ การบรรยายมุมมองที่เซรีนามีต่อโซโลมอน การที่เขาหน้าแดงตลอดเวลาในการสนทนาครั้งแรก (โคตรน่ารักมาก) การที่คนแต่งสามารถรักษาจังหวะของเรื่องให้ต้องติดตามอ่านตลอด คาแร็คเตอร์ที่มีความเป็นมนุษย์ มีข้อดีข้อเสียโดยไม่สมบูรณ์แบบจนน่ารำคาญ
โดยรวมเราแนะนำแบบเสียงดังมาก ๆ ว่า อยากให้อ่านกัน เราพอเข้าใจนะคะว่า อดีตของนางเอกอาจจะทำให้เรื่องนี้ยากที่จะหยิบขึ้นมาอ่าน (เราลังเลอยู่เกือบสี่ปี) แต่มันคุ้มค่ามาก ๆ
ปัญหาเดียวก็คือ หลังจากอ่านเรื่องนี้ไปแล้ว เราไม่คิดว่า ตัวเองจะกลับไปอ่านเรื่องของลอร์ดและเลดี้ที่ใช้ชีวิตไปวัน ๆ ในห้องเต้นรำได้น่ะสิ
เล่มนี้เป็นหนังสือไฮไลท์ของปีของเราไปแล้วค่ะ ส่วนหนึ่งเพราะเป็นงานของนักเขียนที่เราไม่เคยอ่านมาก่อน อีกส่วนหนึ่งก็เพราะเป็นเรื่องแนวย้อนยุคที่สามารถแหวกความเบื่อหน่ายของเราต่อเรื่องแนวนี้ขึ้นมาได้
นั่นอาจจะเป็นเพราะเรื่องนี้ไม่ใช่เรื่องพระเอกที่เป็นขุนนาง นางเอกที่เป็นสาวน้อยไร้เดียงสาที่เพิ่งออกงานสังคมเป็นปีแรก และนี่ก็ไม่ใช่เรื่องนางเอกที่ตัดสินใจจะอยู่เป็นโสด จนมาได้เจอพระเอกที่เป็นสายลับ
ในแง่นึงเรื่องนี้ก็ใช้พล็อตที่เราว่าไปทั้งหมด แต่เป็นการใช้อย่างฉลาด ใช้เทคนิคง่าย ๆ นั่นก็คือ การสลับบทบาทระหว่างชายและหญิง
ดังนั้นเรื่องนี้จึงมีนางเอก ���ลดี้เซรีนา ลูกสาวของมาร์ควิสที่เจนโลก กับโซโลมอน ชายธรรมดา ๆ ที่แม้จะมีความเกี่ยวข้องกับตระกูลขุนนาง แต่ก็เลือกที่จะทำงานในร้านตัดเสื้อ เพราะนั่นคือสิ่งที่เขาต้องการ
เราไม่คิดว่า เป็นการสปอยล์เรื่องนะคะ เพราะเป็นเหตุการณ์ที่อยู่ในบทแรกของเรื่อง และเราคิดว่า เป็นประเด็นที่เราอยากเตือนคนที่คิดจะอ่านเรื่องนี้ไว้ก่อน เนื่องจากว่า เราคิดว่า เป็นเรื่องสำคัญ และเป็นสาเหตุที่ทำให้เราเก็บเรื่องนี้ดองมาหลายปี นั่นก็คือ โซโลมอนและเซรีนาได้พบกันครั้งแรกในซ่อง เมื่อเพื่อนพาโซโลมอนมาขึ้นครู และเซรีนาทำงานที่นั่น การพบกันที่โซโลมอนพบว่าตัวเองไม่ได้เป็นเหมือนเพื่อน ๆ ที่เรียนเคมบริดจ์ด้วยกัน เขาไม่อาจเฉยเมยต่อดวงตาอันว่างเปล่าของโสเภณี แล้วใช้บริการราวกับไม่ได้มีจิตวิญญาณภายในดวงตาคู่นั้น เขายื่นเงินทั้งหมดที่มีให้กับเธอ หวังว่าหญิงสาวจะใช้มันในการทำให้ชีวิตดีขึ้น แล้วจากไปโดยไม่มีอะไรเกิดขึ้น
เงินของโซโลมอนสร้างความแตกต่างให้กับชีวิตของเซรีนา มันคือเงินที่เธอใช้ในการสร้างชีวิตใหม่ และเป็นทุนที่ทำให้เธอกลายเป็นเจ้าของโรงแรมชื่อดังในตอนนี้ ดังนั้นเมื่อเธอได้พบกับเขาอีกครั้ง (อย่างบังเอิญ) เมื่อโซโลมอนปรากฎตัวขึ้นเพื่อขอความช่วยเหลือให้เธอตามหาต่างหูประจำตระกูลที่ถูกขโมยไป เซรีนาไม่ลังเลที่จะช่วยเหลือเขา และถือโอกาสให้โซโลมอนย้ายมาพักที่โรงแรมเพื่อให้ตัวเองมีโอกาสได้ใกล้ชิดกับเขามากขึ้น เพราะแม้เวลาผ่านไปหลายปี แต่เซรีนาก็ยังคิดถึงชายคนนี้อยู่เสมอ
หนังสือเล่มนี้ไม่หนามากนะคะ แต่มีเรื่องราวมากมายเกิดขึ้น ซึ่งคนแต่งเก่งมาก ๆ ตรงที่ไม่ได้ทำให้เรารู้สึกว่า มันเยอะเกินไป แต่กลับเป็นการทำให้เรารู้สึกว่า เรื่องนี้ช่างน่าติดตาม ทุกหน้าอ่านได้สนุกมาก ๆ จนถึงหน้าสุดท้าย
เรารู้สึกว่า คนแต่งได้ใช้ความคิดเยอะมากในการใส่องค์ประกอบแต่ละอย่างลงไปในเรื่อง เพราะท่ามกลางเหตุการณ์มากมายในเรื่อง ไม่มีส่วนไหนที่เรารู้สึกว่า เยอะเกิน หรือทำให้เสียเวลาในการอ่าน คาแร็คเตอร์ทุกตัว เหตุการณ์ทุกอย่างเสริมเรื่องให้สนุกและลงตัว
คาแร็คเตอร์คือส่วนที่โดดเด่นในหนังสือที่มีอะไรมากมายให้เด่น การใช้คาแร็คเตอร์ที่สลับบทบาทกันเป็นความฉลาด แต่คงจะไม่มีค่าอะไรเลย ถ้าคนเขียนไม่ได้ทำให้น่าสนใจ เรื่องราวสลับบทให้เซรีนาเป็นคาแร็คเตอร์ที่เจนโลก และเป็นฝ่ายที่มีประสบการณ์มากกว่า เราลังเลนานมากกว่าจะหยิบเรื่องนี้มาอ่าน เพราะภูมิหลังที่เคยเป็นโสเภณีของเธอ แต่คุ้มค่าค่ะ เราชอบที่คนแต่งไม่ได้ทำให้เธอต้องขอโทษกับสิ่งที่เธอเคยเป็น แต่ไม่ได้สร้างให้เป็นความภาคภูมิใจ มันเป็นสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้น เรียนรู้ และก้าวพ้นมัน เราชอบภูมิหลังที่ทำให้เธอต้องหันมายึดอาชีพนี้ มันไม่ได้แสดงว่าเธอเป็นเหยื่อ แต่เพราะเธอเป็นคนที่เอาตัวรอด เราคิดว่า คนแต่งสร้างภูมิหลังที่ลงตัวให้กับนางเอก
และพระเอก เรื่องที่สลับบทบาทแบบนี้มันง่ายมากที่จะทำให้พระเอกเป็นคนแสนดี หรือซื่อเกินเหตุ แต่ไม่ใช่เลย เราชื่นชมที่คนแต่งสามารถทำให้เราสัมผัสได้ถึงความไร้เดียงสา (ในบางเรื่อง) ต่อโลกของโซโลมอน แต่ในขณะเดียวกันเขามีความเข้าใจมนุษย์อย่างยิ่ง และก็ไม่ได้ทำให้เขากลายเป็นแสนดี โซโลมอนมีข้อบกพร่องอย่างคนทั่วไป และนั่นทำให้คาแร็คเตอร์ของเขายิ่งดึงดูดเรามากขึ้น
ขอบอกว่า ��ราชอบทุกอย่างในเรื่องนี้ ตั้งแต่ฉากที่โซโลมอนและเซรีนากลับมาเจอกันอีกครั้ง เมื่อเขามาขอความช่วยเหลือ การบรรยายมุมมองที่เซรีนามีต่อโซโลมอน การที่เขาหน้าแดงตลอดเวลาในการสนทนาครั้งแรก (โคตรน่ารักมาก) การที่คนแต่งสามารถรักษาจังหวะของเรื่องให้ต้องติดตามอ่านตลอด คาแร็คเตอร์ที่มีความเป็นมนุษย์ มีข้อดีข้อเสียโดยไม่สมบูรณ์แบบจนน่ารำคาญ
โดยรวมเราแนะนำแบบเสียงดังมาก ๆ ว่า อยากให้อ่านกัน เราพอเข้าใจนะคะว่า อดีตของนางเอกอาจจะทำให้เรื่องนี้ยากที่จะหยิบขึ้นมาอ่าน (เราลังเลอยู่เกือบสี่ปี) แต่มันคุ้มค่ามาก ๆ
ปัญหาเดียวก็คือ หลังจากอ่านเรื่องนี้ไปแล้ว เราไม่คิดว่า ตัวเองจะกลับไปอ่านเรื่องของลอร์ดและเลดี้ที่ใช้ชีวิตไปวัน ๆ ในห้องเต้นรำได้น่ะสิ
February 13, 2017
4.5 stars!
A Lily Among Thorns proved to be another rare find. Rose Lerner, who has quickly climbed her way up my favorite authors list as of late, took the often stereotypical heartless rogue and beguiled innocent HR roles and completely reversed them. Here, it was the heroine wielding all the power while scoffing at love and the patient hero slowly peeling back the layers surrounding her guarded heart.
The main plot involving unbelievable underworld connections, stolen jewels and spies in love (this side romance was unexpected and it slayed me thoroughly) was, if not convoluted at times, very intriguing. And I loved how sciencey and adorable Solomon was, especially when it came to dyes and proper tailoring (at one point he even gets all pissy when the heroine dares to wear a shoddy secondhand ensemble when she disguises herself as a man). But it was Serena who ultimately stole the show and my heart in the end.
Serena fascinated me because she’s not a heroine we see all that often. Or when we do, people either hate her or deem her a bitch or whatever. The choices she made were her own and whether anyone understood or agreed with them it didn’t matter because she was her own person, always. She was not in touch with her emotions. She wasn’t overtly kind, nor was she ever cruel. She was ice and steel and she hated feeling vulnerable because that leaves you susceptible to be hurt and so it was easier for her to pretend not to feel anything. This is why she fought Solomon and the feelings he awakened in her the entire book because fighting is all she’d ever known and she never felt she deserved any better; until she did.
I could and would fill up this entire review with memorable quotes by Serena, but these three stood out the most to me:
A Lily Among Thorns proved to be another rare find. Rose Lerner, who has quickly climbed her way up my favorite authors list as of late, took the often stereotypical heartless rogue and beguiled innocent HR roles and completely reversed them. Here, it was the heroine wielding all the power while scoffing at love and the patient hero slowly peeling back the layers surrounding her guarded heart.
The main plot involving unbelievable underworld connections, stolen jewels and spies in love (this side romance was unexpected and it slayed me thoroughly) was, if not convoluted at times, very intriguing. And I loved how sciencey and adorable Solomon was, especially when it came to dyes and proper tailoring (at one point he even gets all pissy when the heroine dares to wear a shoddy secondhand ensemble when she disguises herself as a man). But it was Serena who ultimately stole the show and my heart in the end.
Serena fascinated me because she’s not a heroine we see all that often. Or when we do, people either hate her or deem her a bitch or whatever. The choices she made were her own and whether anyone understood or agreed with them it didn’t matter because she was her own person, always. She was not in touch with her emotions. She wasn’t overtly kind, nor was she ever cruel. She was ice and steel and she hated feeling vulnerable because that leaves you susceptible to be hurt and so it was easier for her to pretend not to feel anything. This is why she fought Solomon and the feelings he awakened in her the entire book because fighting is all she’d ever known and she never felt she deserved any better; until she did.
I could and would fill up this entire review with memorable quotes by Serena, but these three stood out the most to me:
“I know this is how you want me to be. I saw how you were looking at me in that church. You want that laughing flower of a girl who clings to your arm, but I can’t be that girl. You think that if you just keep digging at me and trying to crack me open, I’ll giggle and say ‘Oh, la, Mr. Hathaway, what a tease you are!’ You think it’s somewhere underneath but it’s not. I am what I am and---and you can go to the devil.”
“My father could have me locked up on a word,” Serena said flatly. “Lord Braithwaite threatened and insulted me at a ton party. René could pretend to be my husband and take everything I owned, and no one would stop him. Because I’m a woman and because of the life I’ve lived, I sleep with a bar across my door and a loaded pistol in my night table. And I’m not asking for your approval for any of it.”
“It’s easy for you to say ‘I love you’. Plenty of people have loved you and stood by you and told you you were worth the trouble. I---it isn’t easy for me. I don’t know how to say it, I don’t know how to do it. I don’t even know if this is love. It’s deeper than I thought it would be---if I tried to uproot it, it would pull my heart out of my chest. I need you desperately. I need you to make demands, I need you to hurt me. I need you to love me, and you can’t stop. You could decide I’m not what you wanted after all, that I’m not worth the trouble, and I won’t be able to stop feeling this was, I won’t be able to hate you, I won’t be able to live”
December 3, 2023
Not my favorite Lerner by any means, but lovable LOVABLE characters and her lovely creation of romantic acts between characters never fails, slightly meandering in plot but still satisfying. 3.75 rounded up.
January 13, 2015
The writing is uncommonly good, because it's Rose Lerner, and she's ace. I loved the characters, Lerner can characterise like no one else. That's on fine display here. There's a charming, unique hero who pursues the heroine, in spite of her failings. 'Failings' meaning she's a three-dimensional person with stuff going on. I loffed her. Oh, and there's an m/m secondary romance which was charming and hawt. I'm suddenly into m/m. See my KJ Charles review which I'll post at some point. SOOOO, why is this only a three star? Well, it's not. It's 3.5. But that's all. It feels unfair because this book is much better than 90% of the stuff I've read. BUT I read romance, in large part, for the sexytimes. It doesn't have to be explicit, or all that frequent, but it has to be there and be well done. This one had all the story, but Lerner forgot the sex. AND I know she can do it and do it damned well, so I'm doubly disappointed.
June 23, 2018
This was a most excellent read and the prove that it can be done: a believable historical romance set in England, with diversity, class issues and social commentary - all the while being a beautiful love story with a hero who is actually a very nice person and super sexy AT THE SAME TIME!!! Also the heroine’s former profession as a courtesan is not ever romanticized, but gives you a pretty accurate picture of women‘s choices at the time. Lerner takes sides, making this a progressive and feminist book, with thoughtful dialogue and realistic interactions - without it ever diminishing the hopefully romantic aspects we rightfully expect from a satisfying romance.
June 30, 2019
I was just bored. Part of this is that it didn't really feel like a romance. It was more like historical fiction with a romance subplot. Except I didn't really follow the plot. Not sure I really bought either of the characters.
I DID fall pretty hard for the secondary romance. For that matter, I liked the very little we saw of the sister and her romance. So I will probably give Lerner more chances, especially considering how much I loved In For a Penny.
Fulfills "On the Page Atheist" for 2019 Ripped Bodice Bingo"
(It's just one line. But I picked the book up because the internet said it had an atheist character. So I'm counting it!)
I DID fall pretty hard for the secondary romance. For that matter, I liked the very little we saw of the sister and her romance. So I will probably give Lerner more chances, especially considering how much I loved In For a Penny.
Fulfills "On the Page Atheist" for 2019 Ripped Bodice Bingo"
(It's just one line. But I picked the book up because the internet said it had an atheist character. So I'm counting it!)
March 15, 2022
A Regency romance where no one's a duke! Not a whiff of Seasons or Town Houses, either. And I'm pretty sure no one was ever within ten feet of a curricle. Instead, Solomon is a Cambridge-educated tailor who loves chemistry, and Serena is a retired sex worker who owns her own inn. They are adorable together.
I loved this. It has sexual tension and banter and flirting. It doesn't go from first kiss to sex on the same page. The romance is slow and fun and between equals. I had an excellent idea of who the characters were, and any conflict that arises between them comes from personality differences, not contrived misunderstandings. But wait, there's more! It has mystery and SPIES and even a little gay romance between the supporting characters, and all the pieces come together in an extremely satisfying way.
The other day, when I complained about the reliance on traditional gender roles in Regency romances? This book is the antidote. Solomon's the one who always notices what people are wearing. Serena's the tough, emotionally reserved one who has to protect Solomon. Solomon woos her with tailoring and baking. Serena tries to chase him off with her abrasive attitude. It feels very modern, though always with the awareness that Serena continues to pay for the choices she's made.
Lerner doesn't ignore that Serena's reputation makes it difficult, if not impossible, for her to be a part of normal society, in addition to the usual lack of rights women have to suffer just for being women, and I felt that was well done, not anvilly at all, but because it was so skillfully handled, it almost had the effect of understating it. Because all those other Regencies would have us believe that a girl who so much as receives a letter from a strange man is tainted for life, it's hard to picture a woman who once worked as a prostitute as being anything but utterly ruined. But ruined for society, I guess, and Serena doesn't have much use for society; she can take care of herself and she's happy where she is. Until Solomon comes along and turns her world upside down and she learns she has more options available to her than she realized.
Five stars. A flirty romance with an independent heroine and a non-alpha male. Very satisfying. Recommended.
eBook: epub with DRM purchased from Kobo, has a cover, and no errors.
I loved this. It has sexual tension and banter and flirting. It doesn't go from first kiss to sex on the same page. The romance is slow and fun and between equals. I had an excellent idea of who the characters were, and any conflict that arises between them comes from personality differences, not contrived misunderstandings. But wait, there's more! It has mystery and SPIES and even a little gay romance between the supporting characters, and all the pieces come together in an extremely satisfying way.
The other day, when I complained about the reliance on traditional gender roles in Regency romances? This book is the antidote. Solomon's the one who always notices what people are wearing. Serena's the tough, emotionally reserved one who has to protect Solomon. Solomon woos her with tailoring and baking. Serena tries to chase him off with her abrasive attitude. It feels very modern, though always with the awareness that Serena continues to pay for the choices she's made.
Lerner doesn't ignore that Serena's reputation makes it difficult, if not impossible, for her to be a part of normal society, in addition to the usual lack of rights women have to suffer just for being women, and I felt that was well done, not anvilly at all, but because it was so skillfully handled, it almost had the effect of understating it. Because all those other Regencies would have us believe that a girl who so much as receives a letter from a strange man is tainted for life, it's hard to picture a woman who once worked as a prostitute as being anything but utterly ruined. But ruined for society, I guess, and Serena doesn't have much use for society; she can take care of herself and she's happy where she is. Until Solomon comes along and turns her world upside down and she learns she has more options available to her than she realized.
Five stars. A flirty romance with an independent heroine and a non-alpha male. Very satisfying. Recommended.
eBook: epub with DRM purchased from Kobo, has a cover, and no errors.
October 5, 2015
4 stars for characters, 2 stars for plot. As in her first book, IN FOR A PENNY, Lerner crafts nuanced, intriguing, and immensely appealing characters (primary and secondary). I love having a heroine who is often mean and angry but still worthy of love, and a male lead who isn't constrained by the straightjacket conventions of the alpha hero of historical romance is hugely appealing as well.
The plot of this follow-up, though, is overly ambitious, with several plot lines that don't seem vital to the romance or the character development. The opening chapters especially seem rather plot-heavy and contrived (why would Solomon move into the hotel? Why are the missing earrings introduced only to not be brought up again for 100 pages? Would members of the aristocracy really frequent a hotel run by a former courtesan? Why have the far from likely situation of a heroine who is not only the daughter of a marquess AND a former whore, but also a force recognized by power brokers in the criminal underworld?). I didn't really start to care for the characters until about a third of the way into the book, when the narrative got past establishing all these plot lines and allowed the relationship between the protagonists to breath and grow.
Given the difficulties Lerner had with her publisher (editor leaving mid-book; the company's financial difficulties leading to the long delay between the publication of IN FOR A PENNY and this title), that the book is less than perfect is perhaps not surprising, and makes me willing to overlook some of its flaws. Lerner's outstanding character constructions and lovely metaphors will keep her on my "to read as soon as a new one comes out" list, despite some of the weaknesses of this latest.
The plot of this follow-up, though, is overly ambitious, with several plot lines that don't seem vital to the romance or the character development. The opening chapters especially seem rather plot-heavy and contrived (why would Solomon move into the hotel? Why are the missing earrings introduced only to not be brought up again for 100 pages? Would members of the aristocracy really frequent a hotel run by a former courtesan? Why have the far from likely situation of a heroine who is not only the daughter of a marquess AND a former whore, but also a force recognized by power brokers in the criminal underworld?). I didn't really start to care for the characters until about a third of the way into the book, when the narrative got past establishing all these plot lines and allowed the relationship between the protagonists to breath and grow.
Given the difficulties Lerner had with her publisher (editor leaving mid-book; the company's financial difficulties leading to the long delay between the publication of IN FOR A PENNY and this title), that the book is less than perfect is perhaps not surprising, and makes me willing to overlook some of its flaws. Lerner's outstanding character constructions and lovely metaphors will keep her on my "to read as soon as a new one comes out" list, despite some of the weaknesses of this latest.
February 23, 2016
The best historical romance I've read since Lord of Scoundrels. Just lovely. Also praise be to Lerner for writing about someone other than Lords and Ladies! Happy sighs all around.
October 19, 2011
I was so excited to read this book. I adored, In For a Penny, Rose Lerner’s debut book last year. She has such a unique, if somewhat complex voice and I find her books very refreshing.
It is hard to set up the plot in this book because there are some big twists about halfway through that change the direction. But I can definitely talk about the first half.
My favorite thing about this book is that the hero, Solomon, is a chemist who makes dyes for his uncle’s “Fine Tailoring” shop. He flourishes there, while his people skills make him fumble. He also has an eye for design. And the heroine is a former prostitute turned inn owner. Now – they both come from titled families, but have both chosen to leave them. Granted, Serena didn’t choose to become a prostitute. She wanted to run off with her boyfriend, who ended up using her. With no other option, starving on the street, she turned to a brothel. But Solomon, loves what he does. He is passionate about it even though he is a tradesman.
When Solomon walks into the Ravenshaw Inn, Serena can’t believe her eyes. He is the very man that came to her years ago when she was a prostitute. But instead of having his way with her, he threw 125 pounds at her and ran away. That changed her life. She was able to become a very selective, notorious prostitute, and eventually leave to own the Ravenshaw Arms Inn. It seems that every man that comes to the inn has had her in his bed. Solomon recognizes her as well, although embarrassed, he doesn’t bring up the subject.
Solomon is seeking out Serena because his sister needs these special ruby earrings that have been in their family forever for her wedding, and they have been stolen by a highwayman. Serena knows everyone in this town, and is known for being able to track down items such as these. Solomon moves into the inn temporarily in order to assist Serena in this venture. But he soon realizes how much this inn means to her just like his tailor company means to him.
About a year and a half ago, Solomon received word that his twin brother Elijah died on the battlefield. Solomon was more than devastated. Almost contemplating suicide before the company of his uncle and the work he does at the tailor shop saved him. He still carries this grief when he becomes reunited with Serena. This is a huge part of who he is.
The first half of this book is an intimate look at Serena and her issues of self worth (in which she has none) and Solomon’s place in the world (in which he struggles about disappointing people). They are such complex characters – Solomon is this beta hero who is enamored with the sharp-tongued Serena. Beta in many senses – he can barely look her in the eye to start. She intimidates him. He starts to design her gowns – he even does a dress fitting for her. He bakes tarts in her kitchen. He is an adorable beta, and Serena recognizes this.
“Would you prefer burnt cream or almond-pear tartlets? Those are the most elegant selections in my repertoire.” His smiled turned self-deprecating and conspiratorial. “Actually, those are the only selections in my repertoire. But they’re both good.”
“Is there no end to your womanly talents?”
“Baking is just like chemistry!” he protested.
Or when Serena confesses to have slept with the Prince Regent when she was a prostitute:
“Does he use French holes?”
She stared at him. She hated to admit that Solomon knew of a perversion of which she had never heard, but there was nothing for it. “French holes?”
“On his corset,” Solomon said impatiently. “You know – most use ordinary buttonholes, but some use a sort of eyelet made of ivory or bone. You can lace them tighter that way.”
She blinked. Then she bit the back of her hand, shaking with silent, helpless laughter.
Or when Serena has to dress like a man to be sneaky and is in quite a rush– Solomon’s reaction:/
“What are you wearing?”
Serena looked down at her frock coat and Hessians in annoyance. “Solomon, I really don’t have time for this right now—“
“You bought that from Fitzhugh! How could you be such a gull? Just look at that waistcoat. Not only is the color streaky, but if he had cut it differently and added some extra quilting toward the bottom, it would have hid your shape much better. And it’s not as if his prices rae cut-rate. Promise me you’ll go to my uncle next time.
They start this dance around each other – where Serena just can’t give in to feeling attracted to a man. Because she was owned and used so much in her prostitution days – it puts her in a total panic to give up an inch of herself and give it to Solomon. He is totally intimidated by her at first, which I find so fascinating.
And then Rene marquis du Sacreval comes on the scene. A dear friend, and former part owner of the Inn, Serena bought out his share when he left for France. Now Rene is back, and wants to buy the inn from her – something Serena will never let go. The Inn has allowed her to be an independent woman, and free from men or so she thought. But when Rene presents a forged marriage certificate, and threatens to use it in two weeks time to force the inn ownership to him if Serena doesn’t accept his pay-out, Serena realizes she will never, ever be free of men’s control. Nor their deceit.
From this point, the story turns directions, and this entire scheme of spies starts to be integrated. What starts happening are all of these layers start getting inserted into the story. We start with Serena and her self esteem issues, layered with Solomon who she can’t figure out what he wants. And then we discover something shocking about Solomon’s family, and then Rene comes on the scene, and although he is blackmailing Serena, she still has this deep rooted fondness for him. And then we discover Rene’s connection to Solomon. And on and on these delicious layers of intrigue and complexity get added in. This book became something different than what it started out, and I really enjoyed that.
I do have one frustration and that comes with the romance. Serena can’t accept Solomon’s love. She just can’t get over her past issues with selling herself to men. And while I think this is really examined well, it lasts until the very bitter end of this book. I love that it is not an easy road for Serena but I also would have loved to see her transformed before the very end of the story.
Overall a lovely and intriguing story.
Rating: B+
It is hard to set up the plot in this book because there are some big twists about halfway through that change the direction. But I can definitely talk about the first half.
My favorite thing about this book is that the hero, Solomon, is a chemist who makes dyes for his uncle’s “Fine Tailoring” shop. He flourishes there, while his people skills make him fumble. He also has an eye for design. And the heroine is a former prostitute turned inn owner. Now – they both come from titled families, but have both chosen to leave them. Granted, Serena didn’t choose to become a prostitute. She wanted to run off with her boyfriend, who ended up using her. With no other option, starving on the street, she turned to a brothel. But Solomon, loves what he does. He is passionate about it even though he is a tradesman.
When Solomon walks into the Ravenshaw Inn, Serena can’t believe her eyes. He is the very man that came to her years ago when she was a prostitute. But instead of having his way with her, he threw 125 pounds at her and ran away. That changed her life. She was able to become a very selective, notorious prostitute, and eventually leave to own the Ravenshaw Arms Inn. It seems that every man that comes to the inn has had her in his bed. Solomon recognizes her as well, although embarrassed, he doesn’t bring up the subject.
Solomon is seeking out Serena because his sister needs these special ruby earrings that have been in their family forever for her wedding, and they have been stolen by a highwayman. Serena knows everyone in this town, and is known for being able to track down items such as these. Solomon moves into the inn temporarily in order to assist Serena in this venture. But he soon realizes how much this inn means to her just like his tailor company means to him.
About a year and a half ago, Solomon received word that his twin brother Elijah died on the battlefield. Solomon was more than devastated. Almost contemplating suicide before the company of his uncle and the work he does at the tailor shop saved him. He still carries this grief when he becomes reunited with Serena. This is a huge part of who he is.
The first half of this book is an intimate look at Serena and her issues of self worth (in which she has none) and Solomon’s place in the world (in which he struggles about disappointing people). They are such complex characters – Solomon is this beta hero who is enamored with the sharp-tongued Serena. Beta in many senses – he can barely look her in the eye to start. She intimidates him. He starts to design her gowns – he even does a dress fitting for her. He bakes tarts in her kitchen. He is an adorable beta, and Serena recognizes this.
“Would you prefer burnt cream or almond-pear tartlets? Those are the most elegant selections in my repertoire.” His smiled turned self-deprecating and conspiratorial. “Actually, those are the only selections in my repertoire. But they’re both good.”
“Is there no end to your womanly talents?”
“Baking is just like chemistry!” he protested.
Or when Serena confesses to have slept with the Prince Regent when she was a prostitute:
“Does he use French holes?”
She stared at him. She hated to admit that Solomon knew of a perversion of which she had never heard, but there was nothing for it. “French holes?”
“On his corset,” Solomon said impatiently. “You know – most use ordinary buttonholes, but some use a sort of eyelet made of ivory or bone. You can lace them tighter that way.”
She blinked. Then she bit the back of her hand, shaking with silent, helpless laughter.
Or when Serena has to dress like a man to be sneaky and is in quite a rush– Solomon’s reaction:/
“What are you wearing?”
Serena looked down at her frock coat and Hessians in annoyance. “Solomon, I really don’t have time for this right now—“
“You bought that from Fitzhugh! How could you be such a gull? Just look at that waistcoat. Not only is the color streaky, but if he had cut it differently and added some extra quilting toward the bottom, it would have hid your shape much better. And it’s not as if his prices rae cut-rate. Promise me you’ll go to my uncle next time.
They start this dance around each other – where Serena just can’t give in to feeling attracted to a man. Because she was owned and used so much in her prostitution days – it puts her in a total panic to give up an inch of herself and give it to Solomon. He is totally intimidated by her at first, which I find so fascinating.
And then Rene marquis du Sacreval comes on the scene. A dear friend, and former part owner of the Inn, Serena bought out his share when he left for France. Now Rene is back, and wants to buy the inn from her – something Serena will never let go. The Inn has allowed her to be an independent woman, and free from men or so she thought. But when Rene presents a forged marriage certificate, and threatens to use it in two weeks time to force the inn ownership to him if Serena doesn’t accept his pay-out, Serena realizes she will never, ever be free of men’s control. Nor their deceit.
From this point, the story turns directions, and this entire scheme of spies starts to be integrated. What starts happening are all of these layers start getting inserted into the story. We start with Serena and her self esteem issues, layered with Solomon who she can’t figure out what he wants. And then we discover something shocking about Solomon’s family, and then Rene comes on the scene, and although he is blackmailing Serena, she still has this deep rooted fondness for him. And then we discover Rene’s connection to Solomon. And on and on these delicious layers of intrigue and complexity get added in. This book became something different than what it started out, and I really enjoyed that.
I do have one frustration and that comes with the romance. Serena can’t accept Solomon’s love. She just can’t get over her past issues with selling herself to men. And while I think this is really examined well, it lasts until the very bitter end of this book. I love that it is not an easy road for Serena but I also would have loved to see her transformed before the very end of the story.
Overall a lovely and intriguing story.
Rating: B+
July 16, 2014
A Lily Among Thorns is an unconventional historical romance if there ever was one, but it's so, so good. Lady Serena, a prosperous woman in possession of her own inn, can never forget the life of prostitution she left behind to reach her current status. Nor can she forget Solomon, the drunken young gentleman who, instead of paying her for her services, simply gave her the means to start a new life. When Solomon knocks on Serena's door, seeking her help in retrieving a stolen heirloom, she doesn't hesitate to accept. Here, dear reader, is the start of a beautiful romance--only you nor the characters quite know it yet. Serena is tough-as-nails, having grown up fighting for not only her independence, but her own body as well, and as a result, getting past her barriers is practically impossible. Solomon, however, grieving his twin brothers death, content living the life of a mere merchant, and downright sweet, just may be the man to see the real Serena. Neither Serena nor Solomon is flawless, but their journey to love--battling through a sea of societal hatred for a former prostitute who is no longer putting out, a former friend who plans to claim Serena's inn for himself, and espionage--is unforgettable. I dare you not to fall in love with these characters yourself; just try.
February 17, 2016
This was very enjoyable. It took me a little while to get into it, but it soon picked up a good head of steam and turned into an exciting story of espionage and treason. I always enjoy historical romances that aren't all about the aristocracy--this one is about a tailor-chemist and an innkeeper. The main characters are both fascinatingly complex people, and theirs is not an easy romance. I liked the consideration given to gender roles, class, sexual orientation, and race. Kudos to the author for not only having a major secondary character be queer, but for having them be nice and charming and smart and loved. Three cheers for positive representation of queer folk and PoC in historical romance. I really enjoy Rose Lerner's books. They're smart and well-written and maybe a little more real than most Regency romances.
January 9, 2012
Why didn't I read this sooner? It's definitely a keeper--rich chartacterization, a plot that kept me turning the pages, emotional punch, and subtle humor. And Solomon! He alone would earn the five-star rating.
June 30, 2017
This books reads like a contemporary masquerading as a historical romance BUT, I was easily able suspend my disbelief and adjust to the modern dialogue, because the characters and the romance were absolutely brilliant.
You won't see run-of-the-mill dukes and virgins here. The heroine is a former prostitute and current owner of a high-class inn. The hero is a chemist who makes dyes for his uncle's shop. They first meet when the young hero visits the brothel heroine works at to lose his virginity. He's too mortified to do the deed and gives her his entire allowance before running away. The heroine uses the money to buy herself out and goes on to become the queen of London's underworld. They meet again years later when the hero is robbed by a highway man needs her help in finding a family heirloom. Have you ever read a more interesting premise before? I definitely haven't!
There is an interesting reversal of traditional gender roles.
Serena is cold and guarded. The barriers she put up were understandable, as people have not been kind to her when she was a prostitute. She constantly struggles to show vulnerability to Solomon and gradually warms towards him during the story. This is what I was missing in the previous book I read (With this Kiss) which had a similar character.
Solomon is shy and wears his heart on his sleeve. He's so sweet and tender towards the heroine, and gets past her defences by baking desserts and designing dresses. I loved his personal growth, changing from someone who's afraid of confrontation to a strong person who can stand up for others. He never criticises or shames Serena for her past, and later stands up for her when she's harassed. The romance between them is flirty and hot and just so satisfying.
There is secondary romance between two gay characters. I'm glad that they're not just put in for token diversity and are complex individuals with secrets and motives of their own. Major spoiler alert!
I should also note that this book is not without its faults. The dialogue is too modern with jarring nicknames and anachronisms. It is also hard to believe that a woman managed to become the 'queen' of the cut-throat underworld of London, in those times and at such a young age (she's in her twenties.)
However, Lerner's strength is not in her dialogues or setting but in her characters. She makes you care for them on a deeper level. If you're someone who focuses more on relationships between the characters than historical accuracy, like me, you'd probably like this book.
You won't see run-of-the-mill dukes and virgins here. The heroine is a former prostitute and current owner of a high-class inn. The hero is a chemist who makes dyes for his uncle's shop. They first meet when the young hero visits the brothel heroine works at to lose his virginity. He's too mortified to do the deed and gives her his entire allowance before running away. The heroine uses the money to buy herself out and goes on to become the queen of London's underworld. They meet again years later when the hero is robbed by a highway man needs her help in finding a family heirloom. Have you ever read a more interesting premise before? I definitely haven't!
There is an interesting reversal of traditional gender roles.
Serena is cold and guarded. The barriers she put up were understandable, as people have not been kind to her when she was a prostitute. She constantly struggles to show vulnerability to Solomon and gradually warms towards him during the story. This is what I was missing in the previous book I read (With this Kiss) which had a similar character.
Poor Solomon. He didn’t even ask her to be pleasant. He just wanted her to be willing to like him, and show it. He had such low expectations, and she still couldn’t meet them. What made it worse was that she liked him so damn much. But she couldn’t show it like other women did. She couldn’t be like other women. She didn’t want to be. It was too frightening; it would make her too vulnerable.
Solomon is shy and wears his heart on his sleeve. He's so sweet and tender towards the heroine, and gets past her defences by baking desserts and designing dresses. I loved his personal growth, changing from someone who's afraid of confrontation to a strong person who can stand up for others. He never criticises or shames Serena for her past, and later stands up for her when she's harassed. The romance between them is flirty and hot and just so satisfying.
His eyes widened. “You mean you—you slept with the Prince Regent?”
The pleasant heat faded. Not this again. “I did.”
He chewed at his lower lip. “Can I ask you something? I wouldn’t, but I’ve always wanted to know—”
“Certainly,” she said coolly. “But I shan’t promise to answer it.”
“Does he use French holes?”
She stared at him. She hated to admit that Solomon knew of a perversion of which she had never heard, but there was nothing for it. “French holes?”
“On his corset,” Solomon said impatiently. “You know—most use ordinary buttonholes, but some use a sort of eyelet made of ivory or bone. You can lace them tighter that way.”
She blinked. Then she bit the back of her hand, shaking with silent, helpless laughter. “I never noticed,” she admitted, when she could speak again.
He sniffed scornfully, but his eyes were warm.
There is secondary romance between two gay characters. I'm glad that they're not just put in for token diversity and are complex individuals with secrets and motives of their own. Major spoiler alert!
I should also note that this book is not without its faults. The dialogue is too modern with jarring nicknames and anachronisms. It is also hard to believe that a woman managed to become the 'queen' of the cut-throat underworld of London, in those times and at such a young age (she's in her twenties.)
However, Lerner's strength is not in her dialogues or setting but in her characters. She makes you care for them on a deeper level. If you're someone who focuses more on relationships between the characters than historical accuracy, like me, you'd probably like this book.
April 13, 2012
“A Lily among Thorns” is one of those books where it’s hard for me to properly put down my thoughts. There’s a lot that I love about it, from the perfect design of the cover (if I was the nitpicking kind I’d point out that the chosen models do not match the descriptions given in the book, but really, who cares? In all its stylish rigidity and staged appearance the couples pose strikes me as perfectly capturing the spirit of the time, and still romantic and believable), the fine, heavy, high gloss paper stock to the novel itself, an at times delightful quirky cloak & dagger style story about spies and thieves, not very respectable noblemen and true nobility.
I’m absolutely in love with the fact that the hero is a simple working man (or at least very close to) and as far from the moody, brooding, often emotionally abusive, arrogant Alpha types that seem to usually plague Romance novels. And yet there’s already the rub; Rose shows too much of an awareness of and too much eagerness to rectify the shortcomings of typical Romance writing, which leads to some strangely anachronistic feeling heroes in her tale; in the end the good guys are just too good to be true.
Another problem with lead character Solomon is his virtue in every aspects of live, he’s an educated worker, a dessert cook, a valiant fighter for his ladies honour, an accomplished lover… so much so that one can’t help but wonder why he’s still a bachelor.
Also there’s too swift a change in the character dynamic, with the at first appearance shy Solomon soon taking charge and Serena letting him seize control all too willingly.
Further, Rose let’s almost nothing unspoken, we are privy to every thought and motivation her characters go through, and her characters show such a perfect awareness of why they do the things they do (I wished I would only once I my life possess such clarity) that it becomes hardly believable that they should take so long to finally admit to the obvious, that they are meant for each other. In the end the characters have to work so hard on creating conflict on their own that by the middle of the book you just want to grab them by the neck and smash their heads against each other –
Rose simply shows an unfortunate tendency to undermine her own writing by an seeming urge to comment or explain everything happening, too seldom trusting in her strength as a writer and by that robbing the story of a lot of its flourish:
“He glanced up at her and smiled just as he licked a large dollop of almond-pear off his thumb.
Now she remembered why she disliked the kitchens during dinner. The ovens made everything so damned hot.”
Is followed only half a page later by
“She dipped her spoon in his bowl. Somehow, it seemed like an incredibly intimate act. Her cheeks heated. It’s just the ovens.”
Still, it’s a book I enjoyed to read because in all their unrealistic perfection, with all their strange strengths and even stranger weaknesses (because I found it difficult to see why characters that are so aware of their own should hold such), these are characters I liked to return to and always looked forward to spend some time with and learn more about as the story developed.
I’m absolutely in love with the fact that the hero is a simple working man (or at least very close to) and as far from the moody, brooding, often emotionally abusive, arrogant Alpha types that seem to usually plague Romance novels. And yet there’s already the rub; Rose shows too much of an awareness of and too much eagerness to rectify the shortcomings of typical Romance writing, which leads to some strangely anachronistic feeling heroes in her tale; in the end the good guys are just too good to be true.
Another problem with lead character Solomon is his virtue in every aspects of live, he’s an educated worker, a dessert cook, a valiant fighter for his ladies honour, an accomplished lover… so much so that one can’t help but wonder why he’s still a bachelor.
Also there’s too swift a change in the character dynamic, with the at first appearance shy Solomon soon taking charge and Serena letting him seize control all too willingly.
Further, Rose let’s almost nothing unspoken, we are privy to every thought and motivation her characters go through, and her characters show such a perfect awareness of why they do the things they do (I wished I would only once I my life possess such clarity) that it becomes hardly believable that they should take so long to finally admit to the obvious, that they are meant for each other. In the end the characters have to work so hard on creating conflict on their own that by the middle of the book you just want to grab them by the neck and smash their heads against each other –
Rose simply shows an unfortunate tendency to undermine her own writing by an seeming urge to comment or explain everything happening, too seldom trusting in her strength as a writer and by that robbing the story of a lot of its flourish:
“He glanced up at her and smiled just as he licked a large dollop of almond-pear off his thumb.
Now she remembered why she disliked the kitchens during dinner. The ovens made everything so damned hot.”
Is followed only half a page later by
“She dipped her spoon in his bowl. Somehow, it seemed like an incredibly intimate act. Her cheeks heated. It’s just the ovens.”
Still, it’s a book I enjoyed to read because in all their unrealistic perfection, with all their strange strengths and even stranger weaknesses (because I found it difficult to see why characters that are so aware of their own should hold such), these are characters I liked to return to and always looked forward to spend some time with and learn more about as the story developed.
July 11, 2015
What a fantastic book! If I could give it six stars I would.
In many ways, this novel inverts the standard tropes of romance novels. Serena, our heroine, is the character with the dark past and rakish reputation, the character with enough underworld connections to ensure that our hero is kept safe when someone threatens him. Our hero, Solomon, is the emotionally open character who works to draw out Serena from behind her walls - and also, the one who cooks and is fashion-focused. The inversion, of course, illustrates how differently these character tropes play out with someone of a different gender.
I was rooting for Serena and Solomon from the first moment. Their obstacles seemed real and loomed larger every time I turned the page. In nearly every chapter, it seems, Lerner raises the stakes for the characters - sometimes emotionally, sometimes situationally. I stayed up late at night reading because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next - and Lerner continually surprised me.
There is a secondary romance in this book as well, but I can't say much about it because it's a huge spoiler!
One of the greatest things about the book is that there are people of color and people of diverse sexualities, and a big twist toward the end involves a character realizing and examining their privilege. So many Regency novels create an unrealistic version of the era in which everyone was white and straight; that's an inaccurate depiction of the London of the era, and I was glad to see Lerner show something that was more true to life.
In many ways, this novel inverts the standard tropes of romance novels. Serena, our heroine, is the character with the dark past and rakish reputation, the character with enough underworld connections to ensure that our hero is kept safe when someone threatens him. Our hero, Solomon, is the emotionally open character who works to draw out Serena from behind her walls - and also, the one who cooks and is fashion-focused. The inversion, of course, illustrates how differently these character tropes play out with someone of a different gender.
I was rooting for Serena and Solomon from the first moment. Their obstacles seemed real and loomed larger every time I turned the page. In nearly every chapter, it seems, Lerner raises the stakes for the characters - sometimes emotionally, sometimes situationally. I stayed up late at night reading because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next - and Lerner continually surprised me.
There is a secondary romance in this book as well, but I can't say much about it because it's a huge spoiler!
One of the greatest things about the book is that there are people of color and people of diverse sexualities, and a big twist toward the end involves a character realizing and examining their privilege. So many Regency novels create an unrealistic version of the era in which everyone was white and straight; that's an inaccurate depiction of the London of the era, and I was glad to see Lerner show something that was more true to life.
March 10, 2015
Hmmm. I struggled with this one right from the off. The prologue - whilst I appreciated the significance of Solomon's 'gift' - didn't establish (for me) more than appreciation as a motive for Serena. So the first 'adult' meeting of Serena and Solomon, which results in him being given no alternative but to move in on the pretext of helping locate a pair of missing earrings because she had FEELINGS for him just felt all a bit 'eh?'. Well, to this reader anyway. I got the impression of a story that had lost a couple of chapters from the front end, and perhaps one or two along the way that might have provided a stronger storyline re the espionage. It all felt a little bit uneven in terms of set-up, story and - ultimately - also in being able to capture my attention.
It doesn't help that Serena was drawn as one of those hard and slightly pinched characters that authors often give to 'interesting' former prostitutes cf. Lydia Slaughter in Grant's A Gentleman Undone. I find it hard to warm to that sort of characterisation. I realise that life has not been kind to some of these characters, but brittleness is such a difficult emotional state to work with in a romance. It creates a barrier between the reader and the character as well as the H/h, without a more interesting and deftly handled inner dialogue from the heroine it just feels all a bit forced and strikes the wrong note.
February 15, 2017
DNF Chapter 8.
I tried and tried, I failed to engaged with the hero and heroine. I was unable to develop any bond, any connection or even like or dislike towards the characters. They remained very 'meh' to me.
The blurb seem interesting, I was expecting mystery and intrigue about the lost earring, but the heroine's own personal complication quickly took over and I lost sight of the earring mystery.
Personally, I prefer a more focused approached in books. There are entirely too many things going on that I found it hard to follow.
Sorry this isn't my cup of tea. There isn't anything really wrong with this book, it simply failed to engage me.
I tried and tried, I failed to engaged with the hero and heroine. I was unable to develop any bond, any connection or even like or dislike towards the characters. They remained very 'meh' to me.
The blurb seem interesting, I was expecting mystery and intrigue about the lost earring, but the heroine's own personal complication quickly took over and I lost sight of the earring mystery.
Personally, I prefer a more focused approached in books. There are entirely too many things going on that I found it hard to follow.
Sorry this isn't my cup of tea. There isn't anything really wrong with this book, it simply failed to engage me.
September 10, 2015
Closer to 3.5 stars.
As charming as Lerner's other work and with a wonderfully lovable central pair. It's just a tad weighed down by too many subplots. There's so much going on that it's easy to get tangled up in it all.
As charming as Lerner's other work and with a wonderfully lovable central pair. It's just a tad weighed down by too many subplots. There's so much going on that it's easy to get tangled up in it all.
October 26, 2011
THE HERO'S BIG REVELATION IS THAT HE HAS MALE PRIVILEGE AND THERE ARE POSITIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF LADIES AND POC AND QUEER PEOPLE I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE.
October 11, 2015
Very enjoyable although I never did find out why the heroine was so feared and respected as "Thorn"...
4 stars.
4 stars.
April 4, 2016
I REALLY would have liked this, but the plot was cumbersome and lacked focus—too much going on. The romance itself was almost always drowned out by other shenanigans.
July 5, 2018
The first Rose Lerner book where I'm frantically yelling 'DUMP HIM!!!!!!!!' at the heroine.
Not that I disliked Solomon. I liked him a lot. I loved him! but I loved Serena sooooooooooooo much my heart wanted to burst. I loved her prickliness, her uncompromisingness, her hardness, her strength and her weakness, and how damn sweet she could be, even when she was trying not to be. The thing I love about Rose Lerner's characters is that even though there's always a healthy amount of tropeyness (WHICH I LOVE) her characters aren't like any others. I can't mistake Serena for any other heroine I've ever read about. She was such a real person, with her carefully built walls and insecurities and self-sabotaging ways. Watching her fall in love with Solomon felt so rewarding (except for the part where I was like 'date me instead!'). I wanted to strangle every person who was mean to her, which unfortunately means I have a lot of people to strangle.
The plot of the book itself was sort of all over the place, but it was entertaining, and anyway, I don't care about plot as much as I care about characters and interaction. Speaking of characters, Elijah easily comes in as second fave. Kiddo. T_T I'm so glad about the ending!
Man. I really really liked this book, but I really really loved Serena.
Not that I disliked Solomon. I liked him a lot. I loved him! but I loved Serena sooooooooooooo much my heart wanted to burst. I loved her prickliness, her uncompromisingness, her hardness, her strength and her weakness, and how damn sweet she could be, even when she was trying not to be. The thing I love about Rose Lerner's characters is that even though there's always a healthy amount of tropeyness (WHICH I LOVE) her characters aren't like any others. I can't mistake Serena for any other heroine I've ever read about. She was such a real person, with her carefully built walls and insecurities and self-sabotaging ways. Watching her fall in love with Solomon felt so rewarding (except for the part where I was like 'date me instead!'). I wanted to strangle every person who was mean to her, which unfortunately means I have a lot of people to strangle.
The plot of the book itself was sort of all over the place, but it was entertaining, and anyway, I don't care about plot as much as I care about characters and interaction. Speaking of characters, Elijah easily comes in as second fave. Kiddo. T_T I'm so glad about the ending!
Man. I really really liked this book, but I really really loved Serena.
September 18, 2021
My HEART!
I loved this one. We have a "fallen woman" who has clawed her way up to become a real force to be reckoned with but understandably has trouble with trust, and a sweet, kind young man who goes after what he wants regardless of the priorities society SAYS he should have. We have not one but two love stories (), intrigue and spies on the eve of Waterloo, and a real element of found family in the staff at the inn. Also, we have a heroine who can and will defend anyone and anything she considers hers, including her employees, the inn, her friends and the man she is trying hard not to fall in love with. Serena would probably feel right at home in company with Terry Pratchett's witches.
If you're someone who needs a lot of sexy times in your romance in order to enjoy it, skip this one because there's really only one sex scene. If, however, everything else I've described above appeals to you, absolutely, read it and let Serena and Solomon melt your heart.
I loved this one. We have a "fallen woman" who has clawed her way up to become a real force to be reckoned with but understandably has trouble with trust, and a sweet, kind young man who goes after what he wants regardless of the priorities society SAYS he should have. We have not one but two love stories (), intrigue and spies on the eve of Waterloo, and a real element of found family in the staff at the inn. Also, we have a heroine who can and will defend anyone and anything she considers hers, including her employees, the inn, her friends and the man she is trying hard not to fall in love with. Serena would probably feel right at home in company with Terry Pratchett's witches.
If you're someone who needs a lot of sexy times in your romance in order to enjoy it, skip this one because there's really only one sex scene. If, however, everything else I've described above appeals to you, absolutely, read it and let Serena and Solomon melt your heart.
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