Velvet Song

I've read many of Jude Deveraux's historicals and this is one of my favorites. The book is flawed and it is major comfort food (as opposed to deathless prose) but it's still an enjoyable read. Raine does a lot to salvage it. He's sexy and honorable and stubborn and just plain yummy. Alyx (the heroine) gets a bit whiny at times and she doesn't really deserve Raine in my opinion because Hey, why don't you try talking to the man you're in love with, huh? Huh? No? Oh...

Sorry. Big Misunderstandings in Romance are one of my peeves and this one features several...in fact *counts on fingers* more than five! The book is very good, though, strong conflict, interesting plot. Alyx recovers from her father's death rather quickly and the ending frankly makes me want to bash my head against a wall. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Raine behaves SO TOTALLY out of character for the last 2-3 chapters but since I always skip those and go straight to the HEA its not a problem for me. First time readers might find those last 2-3 a bit of a slog, though, just FYI.

To sum up: Raine is sexy and the breeches plotline makes for some amusing hijinks. The ending, though, taints an otherwise enjoyable bit of junk food reading.

Velvet Song was definitely my least favorite of the Velvet series. Don't get me wrong it was still a good book, but it just wasn't as good in my mind as the others. I liked the plot, with Alyx dressing as a boy and Raine not realizing it and them falling in love, I liked seeing what happened to Jocelyn who played a big part in TVP (it was nice to see him move on from poor Constance and choose Rosamund instead she seems great) and I liked what Alyx became after she fell in love with Raine and their love changed her. But at the beginning I felt she was really annoying, with her constant bickering about the upper classes. Also the fact that Raine would get mad at her and leave, she'd come back, he'd get mad after awhile and leave again got old after about the 3rd time! I wasn't a big fan of the whole robin hood and the robbers story but maybe that's just me. One scene I will give Jude Deveraux a lot of credit on is finally showing us the reaction of one of the Montgomery brother's when they hear about Mary. Also I loved the burning scene and the wedding that follows, FABULOUS. I felt the scenes with Brian Chatworth were wonderful, he's even better though in Highland Velvet with Mary and Velvet Angel even though he's only in 1 scene there. I felt sorry for Roger with that but also it was his own fault (PS that scene is obviously based on Homer's Illiad with Hector, Patroclus, and Achilles). I did love how Alyx got Raine back in the end with Catherine, but I will say that at times she doesn't seem to be a very good mother - when her daughter's only a few months old, she leaves her to go stay in the forest with Catherine's father, and then when she's about a year old she sends Catherine to Raine completely on her own (OK maybe nto on her own, she had a nurse but still Alyx didn't go with her). Does she not want to be around her daughter that much? This book is good and the love that Raine and Alyx share is obvious and wonderful, but it definitely does not beat Velvet Promise, Highland Velvet, or Velvet Angel in the series and CERTAINLY does not top my very favorite Montgomery novel Wishes. Read it to help understand the series though.

Velvet Song is even BETTER than the first two books in the series and so far it is my favorite.

Up until the third book the women married to the Montgomery men have been head turning beauties. Not so Alyxandria Blackett. What she lacks in physical beauty she makes up for with her voice. She has a powerful singing voice and can out bellow Raine Montgomery! As for Raine Montgomery, he finds her entrancing which, considering she is disguised as a boy for the first part of the book, causes problems to his psyche. I will say it doesn't take him overly long to figure out that Alyx is actually female.

A delightful surprise for me in this book is that Jocelin Laing reappears. I liked the character and was concerned for him when he disappeared in Velvet Promise and had hoped that Deveraux would bring him back in one of the other books. Without giving to much of the story away, I will say that I was pleased with what happened to him.

Hated this book. Just hated it. I love most of Jude's books but this one was a huge disappointment. First, the romantic lead. He's a big, sulking bully. He spanks his wife. Seriously, he puts her over his knee and spanks her because he doesn't like the way she is acting! Give me a break. Second, the couple just fights fights fights. We're supposed to believe this couple who cannot have a civil conversation loves one another? No way.

Just skip this one.

ok - so i reviewed an earlier book in this series and said i was disappointed but i might not have been had i looked at the publication date. well, i knew the publication date and was still disappointed by this book.

basic plot of this book goes something like this - Alyx has been trained since she was small and treated as special in her community b/c of her amazing voice. after her father is killed she hides in the woods with raine and his group of cutthroats and misfits.

here is what i liked about the book - alyx was a likable character for the most part who grew throughout the book and came into herself. i liked seeing some of the previous characters and how they fit in with each other.

and here is what i didn't like - raine. i HATED him, he was hard and unforgiving and constantly acted like a child. he never grew up until the end of the book. he refused to listen to anyone and didn't care about anyone else or how they were hurt as long as he got what he wanted and his 'honor' was intact. **spoiler** i also hated that alyx took him back as easily as she did. to begin with she left her two month old daughter to go back to raine after he left her and treated her horribly. then after he continued to treat her like a leper and to act like a donkey, she sent her daughter to him. hello, how many of you mothers would send a young child to an unforgiving man? i know i would never risk that, especially given his previous actions. she took a huge chance (and obviously since this is fiction she won) however, i am sorry, i felt after she took him back so easily she deserves whatever things he dishes out to her - i believe the saying goes fool me once shame on you fool me twice, shame on me. and she defeinately put up with too much.

so, now that i have ranted i will say that if you have read the rest of the series and loved it, the you will probably like this book, but it isn't as good as the previous velvet highland. either way, i hope you enjoy whatever book you end up with :)