Do not be fooled by the cotton-candy exterior, ladies and gentlemen! What lies between these pepto-pink covers is a book that is most certainly not sugary, insubstantial fluff. Don't be drawn in by the completely non-supernatural blurb on the back or the fact that the spine marks this book as a pure historical romance. If you like Amanda Quick's Arcane Society books, then you will love Anne Mallory's For the Earl's Pleasure - though even the title sounds sadly non-paranormal. This book is a Regency romance, yes, but our heroine sees dead people! (And, as it turns out, not-so-dead people.) There is mortal peril (not cotton candy!), ghosts (not pink!), and the threat of being permanently institutionalized in an asylum should anyone notice our heroine talking to thin air (blushing rose? I think not!). I shake my head at the Avon marketing folks, darlings. I just don't understand what they were thinking when they studiously avoided any mention of the metaphysical on the exterior of this book. This is a brilliantly executed Regency-paranormal hybrid! Why are they hiding that?
I'm puzzled. Distinctly puzzled. But For the Earl's Pleasure rocked my socks. Lovely, readable style. Cleverly-handled paranormal elements. Nuanced characters. Delicious twists. And a sigh-worthy ending.
Perhaps it is all a marketing ploy? I don't know that I would be so rabid to recommend this book to all and sundry if I didn't feel its trappings grossly misrepresented the content. Hmmm.... did they bumble the cover or have they outwitted us all?
4 comments:
hmmm... well that's good to know because I wouldn't have picked it up from the title and the fact that it's a historical ( I don't read those NEARLY as much as paranormals!)
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I would not have thought it was paranormal either. Are they trying to lure in a new audience? Hmmm...thanks for letting us know. I'll add it to my list!
The cover is scary.
Hmmm... about luring in a new audience: This particular author is not known for paranormal elements in her other Regency novels, so I wonder if the publisher is trying to make sure they don't lose her reader base when she steps outside her box? But I would think the base would be happier with the book if they had some warning of what was coming. I dunno.
I'm always nervous when I recommend something - like you will all hate me personally if you read it and it doesn't float your boat - so I shall make a disclaimer: it *is* a Regency - with all the balls and the rich at play in Hyde Park, etc. - but I love to read that genre as much as Paranormal so this one was right in my wheelhouse.
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