Try, Try Again...

Okay, I've got a little more time and a functioning brain, so I'm going to attempt turn my thoughts about Madeline Hunter's Lady of Sin into a coherent and understandable review...

I think I'm finally getting into Madeline Hunter's "new" series, it's only 7 books in. I loved her medieval books, so untypical with interesting characters, not necessarily Lords and Ladies, but merchants and plain "knights". She used her knowledge of history and turned it into additional characters and that's what is missing from her Regency/Victorian books. I've finally realized these books are fine without all the detail. We have no idea exactly when this book is set, it's not a Regency and it's not a Victorian and you know what it doesn't really matter. What matters is the relationship between the characters and how it grows and changes throughout the book.

This is a grown up, adult book. Not a book about a fresh faced deb and a rakehell in need of reform. It's about adults with adult thoughts and problems who actually think beyond what the day's entertainment will be and yet it never falls into the TSTL category that so many social crusader books fall prey to.

If you've read any of this series, the characters will already be familiar to you. Charlotte is a widow crusading for women's rights and Nathaniel is what we would call a defense attorney. These characters have a back history of not liking one another, but before the book opens they've already had intimate moments at a "masked" event, see Lord of Sin. Charlotte knows with whom she's had this liason and she is hoping he doesn't make the connections.

There are two sub-plots that bring them into one anothers circles. Charlotte is working toward having the divorce laws changed to protect and give women more rights within marriage and Nathaniel is untangling a mystery surrounding a young man found in the protection of a thief Nathaniel has been asked to prosecute instead of defend. They end up working together, and in the process they start one hot affair and fall in love.

What I loved about this book is they're adults, they treat each other like adults and their family and friends treat them like adults. When Charlotte's brothers realize that Charl and Nathaniel are lovers there is no big brother scenes and in fact each of those scenes are rather humorous.

I searched out reviews after reading this book, oddly, I actually agree with RT and disagreed with the AAR review. What didn't work for AAR is exactly why it worked for me:

...On the positive side, this means there are no TSTL moments, awkward prose, or Big Mis. On the less than positive side, it also means that there was simply nothing here to really engage me.

Two adults acting like adults, engaged in an adult relationship--how clever.

Gosh, that was work, when I actually write a real review, I'm reminded why I don't write them for everything I read.

Have a good one and happy reading,

Tara