Flawless (The Christies) [マスマーケット]

Vivienne has been running from her estranged husband for over a year. He is a drunk, has a gambling problem, appears to love prostitutes and he just generally embarrasses her. She can't be held liable in the failure of her arranged marriage, she tried, she really did. She even thought she was falling in love with Viscount Miles Bancroft. Until one night he left her alone, panting after their sexual encounter under the stairs at a gala event. She fled to America to care for her ailing father, a business tycoon with interests all over the globe. Upon his death Vivienne learns that in order to receive her inheritance she has to take over a failing business and make it thrive. Knowing her inheritance could buy the pricey divorce she needs from Miles, she readily accepts.

Miles wants revenge. Revenge on his wife for leaving him and fleeing to America. She made him appear a fool and that cannot be tolerated. Knowing she needs his help if her business venture in South Africa is going to thrive he heads that way, with intentions to make her scream his name once more. Working closely allows Miles to begin to know the woman he married. Slowly she is cracking his hardened exterior. Vivienne is feeling the sparks as well, but with the lust comes fear. Fear that her secret ancestry may finally come to light. Something she has vowed never to allow Miles to know.

I will readily admit I was skeptical when I picked this one up. In fact I wasn't going to read it. I'm short on time this month and though the back blurb drew me in, this being a historical (which I don't read often) made it a harder sell to me. Then I picked it up on a whim and read the first couple of pages....and was hooked. I fell completely in love with Lofty's ability to paint a scene straight out of history and make me care, make me believe and give me a story with depth and vision. I finished all 384 pages in one afternoon and that is a feat for me!

Vivi is a complete handful and I loved how she straddled the polite English woman role with that of a outspoken, tough woman. She felt like the real deal. Often in a historical romance I get seriously annoyed with the heroine. They are way to polite, way to soft spoken and just generally annoying. Fainting over everything. Being prim and proper. I don't like it. Hence my aversion to a lot of historical romance. Vivi felt real. She talked and acted like I would suspect a woman of that time to be. Yes she still incorporated those qualities but she was more. She was direct when she needed to be and told Miles exactly what she thought when approached.

While I found Vivi to be real, I found Miles to be rugged and misunderstood. Ok, he was misunderstood because he was horrible at talking about his feelings. He spent the first half of the book alternating between being vindictive and just downright cold at times. He was as manipulative as he was sexy. Underneath the facade though, he did care for Vivi...a lot. Constantly at war with himself over wanting to take his revenge and his need for a wanton Vivi.

These two set the pages on fire with their push and pull throughout the book. I wanted them to break down their personal walls to find some happiness. Vivi had huge trust issues and so never wanted Miles to know that she was not adopted into the Christie family as he believed. Thinking he would abandon her if he knew she was a illegitimate child and daughter of a whore.

I loved the concept of the diamond mine and thought the back drop of South Africa made for lush scenery. Not knowing much about that area myself afforded me the ability to not think, to go with the picture Carrie had painted for me. What a picture Carrie painted....complete and well rounded I didn't have to imagine much of anything.

Flawless has a bit over everything, historical reference, erotic imagery and a story line that will suck you in and make you want to live it yourself. For just a moment in time, you too will want to be mining for diamonds in the 1800's, working the terrain and living a life free from the constraints of this day and age. I am eagerly awaiting book two, Starlight, in July of 2012. Where we will get to read Alex Christie's story.

I give Flawless by Carrie Lofty 4 stars!

Nikki- Ramblings From A Chaotic Mind

This love story is set in South Africa, not a likely place for a reunion of a barely married separated couple! I am a sucker for a great historical and when a book comes along with a totally new place in history for a romance I get excited. Not only was the diamond field in South Africa volatile with the dangers associated with digging for diamonds, the tension that was created by Vivienne and Miles was volatile in it's own way...and a whole lot of heat.
I loved the way that Ms. Lofty created a character that was quite an accurate portrayal of the men of that era. A man who thinks that he is the hero and can get whatever he wants, including his lovely wife, but also learns a lesson or two of his own along the way. While Vivienne herself portrays herself as a woman who knows nothing so she can gain access to important records, she doesn't let herself be led around by the nose. The ending was an explosive bomb that definitely generated heat and perhaps both characters learned a little more about each other.. It did take some time to get to know the back story, but I liked the fact that there was a lot of tension at the beginning that was unraveled throughout the book.
I loved being shown a different part of the earth that I know almost nothing about and getting a romance along the way. I can't wait for the rest of this series to come to print...but the next book isn't due to be released until next summer! Thank you for another great start to a collectible series!

recieved review copy from Publisher...no other compensation given

Lady Vivienne Bancroft has tried so hard to fit into what she deemed was proper society and please her father by marrying Miles Durham, Viscount Bancroft. However, she couldn't handle Miles' vices anymore. The last straw for her was after his blatant seduction of her in public, walking away, hearing of the rumors of him spending the night in a house of ill repute, and then having the gall to ask her for more money! Viv fled England for New York and hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with her wayward husband until she could set herself free of him and exist on her own. Yet, their paths cross once again at the reading of her father's Will. It looks as though Viv may finally realize her dreams when she stands to inherit monies from her late father. However, there is a catch. In order for her to gain her inheritance, Viv must fulfill a duty given by her father. She must take control of a diamond brokerage in Africa that her father owns and make it turn a profit within a year. If she can do, this she will have the option of buying the brokerage and inheriting quite a bit of money. If she is unable to fulfill the mission, she will not get nearly enough to see her dreams come to fruition.

Miles Durham, Viscount Bancroft, enjoys his hedonistic ways, but he much prefers a challenge! He has heard that his father-in-law has recently passed away and his estates are in need of cash to remain solvent. Miles would also like to exact revenge on his estranged wife, Vivienne Bancroft . . . what better way than to kill two birds with one stone. He will get his revenge as well as some money to save his estates. Miles goes on to Africa and Viv arrives shortly thereafter to find her husband already ensconced in the life there. He offers to stay and help her as he can enter into more business situations as a man than she can, but she will have to agree to take up her wifely duties while they are in Africa. Miles longs to have her back in his bed and then he plans on walking away from HER. They embark on fulfilling the terms of the Will while also being forced to ferret out a villain amongst the locals. However, neither counted on discovering secrets that the other had carefully hidden, and Viv isn't sure that Miles will want his soiled wife when all is said and done. Can Miles convince Viv that he has changed and can offer her the security that she longs for if she will just trust him, or will Miles find that what he thought he wanted wasn't what he wanted after all?

Flawless is a surprisingly entertaining historical romance set in a different part of the world from the usual romances. Miles starts at the bottom of the barrel when Flawless opens, and I was actually hoping that Viv would meet a better hero in the end. Yet Miles soon grew on me as his point of view was explored and contrasted with Viv's.

Neither Viv nor Miles truly knew one another, but over the course of Flawless, they soon found that there were strengths in each other that could be tapped if one only searched for them. Viv wants security and Miles couldn't seem to give her that, but he never knew how desperately she needed it either. Miles wanted what Viv refused to offer and she was too scared to have that part of her revealed because of her past. He felt that Viv was a pretender and he wanted to break her polite mask that she hides behind. Miles really did come across as an ass in the beginning of Flawless, but as his emotions and feelings were explored and revealed, he redeemed himself.

Miles changes from what he was in England to a better person in Africa as he rises to the challenges set forth before him. Miles could have never been trusted with Viv's secrets in the beginning of their marriage in Flawless, but he and Viv grew with their experiences and learned to trust one another. Viv had entered the marriage of convenience with hopes of companionship and respect, instead she was forced to cope with what she had rather than what she lacked. Yet by the end of Flawless, Viv was taught that it's okay to ask for what she needs.

The beauty in Flawless was the potential for so much between the characters of Miles and Viv. It was the knowing that they could be so much more if only they worked for things and learned to give and take in their relationship. It was the looking beyond the surface of what is presented and trying to understand Miles and Viv, to see what they will become.

Vanessa
For Joyfully Reviewed