Originally written: Sunday, March 26, 2006

***WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD! If you haven't read these two books yet and don't like spoilers please don't continue reading. Just come back after you read the books. :D***

These are the two books that I have just finished reading recently and what can I say? They are just great. The last author who has made me feel this euphoric after reading her book was Judith McNaught. Now Julia London comes in close. (Nobody could top Judith McNaught, in my opinion!)

So anyway, I will talk about The Devil's Love first. TDL is JL's first book and I admit the first few pages was a little dragging for me. Abbey, the heroine, was so naive and gullible, in my opinion. I know her father was to be blamed for putting all those foolish thoughts about Michael on her head. But still, too much naivete can be grating to my nerves sometimes and seem unrealistic anymore.

Another observation is that TDL is similar to Judith McNaught's Once & Always. The heroes are both marquis (Michael is the Marquis of Darfield and Jason Fielding in O&A is the Marquis of Wakefield). Their wives both came from America and became familiar with the servants which is a big No-No in London. The heroines both attempted to do the common tasks - gardening, birthing/milking a cow, help in the kitchen. They also were not fetched from the port according to their expectations. The heroines in both story has found a pet in unwanted dog/wolf. And there was a duel. The similarity is endless.

There are a lot of things that the character did that I dont like. One, Michael went to his mistress after they are married. Now before some of my friends would react and point out the never-ending Jason debate, NO JASON DID NOT CHEAT ON TORI! Is that clear? LOL!!

Ok, back to the things I don't like, he was callous too. He was like Jordan Townsende when he thought of leaving his wife in Blessing Park while he would go to his other house in London. I don't like it when he was not being true to Abbey about the doll.

I think these two characters are the most stubborn, most hardheaded, most unforgiving character. Michael got angry at Abbey because he thought she is conspiring with her cousin, Galen, to drain him of his money. And he was so distrustful that it led to Abbey's injury. When Abbey was recovered and Michael has apologized, she was the one who was angry this time. She cannot forgive Michael for not believing in her. My Goodness! When will the misunderstanding end?

I know in JM's book the misunderstanding usually comes from only one side but in DL it went on forever.

However, after much thought, I still like the book. LOL! There are a lot of touching and thrilling and romantic scenes too that somehow made up for the grating scenes/incident in the book. And only JM's characterization has evoked this genuine feelings of annoyance and giddiness in me. Now, I can say Julia London does this to me now too, along with only a few authors.

Regarding Wicked Angel, I love this book more than TDL. I read this book just overnight. I read it in my transport on the way to work, I read it in my lunch break of 1 and a half hours, I even read it almost the whole afternoon at work when my supervisor was printing lots of documents in the computer outside our room.

From the start, this book has gripped me. I love Lauren for her good heart and her kindness but she can be firm when needed. I love how Alex was so unaffected by his title and didn't inform Lauren about it from the start. I love the wit and the humor in this book - especially Lucy and Alex calling Magnus "Madgoose". LOL!

While I was reading this book, I kept thinking that it's also a combination of JM books - Almost Heaven (having her uncle marry her off and having a younger brother who had a penchant for gambling and Lauren was also good in gardening like Elizabeth in JM's novel). It also reminded me of JM's Something Wonderful thru Lauren's constant use of quotes - just like Alex. The drunken scene is reminiscent of JM's Whitney my love - with his brother trying to help him.

I love their love story better than Abbey and Michael coz I have seen their relationship develop. And they tried so hard to fight their feelings for each other but it's just too strong. And i love the chemistry of them, since from the start.

One thing that I don't like again is the unending misunderstanding. I dont like it that Alex has broken his engagement to Marlaine in the last minute and has professed his love to her, yet Lauren chose to honor the words she gave to Magnus - a man she doesnt love. Yes, she was thinking of Rosewood and sacrificing herself but that's just too narrow for me. I don't blame Alex one bit for being that angry with her, and for doing stupid things.

I love Alexander Christian. Sigh. I think Alex is one of the names I love now. He's just perfect, in my opinion. Oh, the things love can do for a man.

I love Hannah, his mother too. Oftentimes, in historical novels, it's always the mother who wanted their children to follow the rules and the dictates of Society. But in this novel, it was refreshing and heartwarming to read a Duchess telling her own daughter to go after his love and his happiness. She also reminded me of Alicia Westmoreland, Clayton's mother in JM's Whitney my love.

Well, about Marlaine, the would-have-been wife of Alex, I don't like her, sorry to say that. Though I think she was being kind when her parents talked to Alex when he broke off their engagement, still, I don't like it when she talked with Lauren. I know it was not harsh or anything, but I just don't like her doing it. And especially the part when she said she won. *frowns*

This has been a good ending because despite Ethan's show of greed and callousness, he cares for his niece at all and told her to pursue Alex.

The funny thing about all of this is that from among all JM's novels, my most favorite is Once and Always so it might have been safe to assume that I would love TDL more since its very similar to O&A. But no, I love Wicked Angel more, which is ironic since Wicked Angel is similar to AH, my least favorite JM historical.

Julia London is a good writer too coz she was able to grip me with her novels. I just wish she would lessen the misunderstanding in her books too coz sometimes it's already irritating. And also another observation is that she is fond of using "other names". For example, in The Devil's Love, Abbey has called Michael a lot of names in her head, like Duke of Rude among other else. She has also done it in Wicked Angel - like the Magnus to Madgoose and I think Lauren has called Alex Duke of Something too.

All in all, Julia London was a good discovery or rather was a Great recommendation. Thank you Kimmie, for the books and for recommending Julia London to us. She indeed comes close to JM.
Posted by Sharon in Thinker mode at 3/26/2006 12:37:00 PM 2 comments

Labels: Books, devil's love, julia london, wicked angel