3.7 Stars Out Of 5
3.7 out of 5
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(2)
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Quality:
4 out Of 5
(4 out of 5)
Value:
3.5 out Of 5
(3.5 out of 5)
Meets Expectations:
3.3 out Of 5
(3.3 out of 5)
67%
of customers would recommend this product to a friend.
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  1. Sherri
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Loved it!
    September 12, 2012
    Sherri
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    After reading Laurie Eakes' midwives series, I wasn't really expecting much. I was wrong. This book had everything - intrigue, danger, and most important, a great romance. Christien was a great hero. You could definitely feel his great love for Lydia. The only irritating thing about this book was the sister Honore. I hope to see her mature in future books. Be prepared for a great read with this one.
  2. English Lady
    UK,
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: Female
    3 Stars Out Of 5
    An Englishwoman's view...
    September 10, 2014
    English Lady
    UK,
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: Female
    Meets Expectations: 3
    A Necessary Deception was, overall, a decent Regency Romance with an interesting subplot involving espionage, a smattering of political intrigue, and some incorporation of historical events and issues current at the time period when it was written, such as the Luddite insurrection and the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Percival. At times, however, the plot twists and turns were perhaps a little too ambitious, seeming to mae the story disjointed, lurching, and hard to follow in places.

    There also seemed a little too much reliance to dramatic chapter-endings and cliff hangers to maintain interest.

    Dont get me wrong- drama can be compelling, but sometimes its possible to have too much of it, perhaps at the expense of other literary devices like character development or depth of plot.

    I also found I had some of the same issues with the story as others by this author (and many others)foremost the use of various Americanisms by the ostensibly British characters, which appeared totally out of place for the time period.

    These included someplace instead of somewhere as is more commonly used in Britain, or a location being several blocks away.

    Or said British characters using the terms England and Britain interchangeably (sometimes in the same sentence) as if they were synonyms for the same country- which they are not. Such would be expected from American characters, but not from British ones who ought to have known the difference.

    I suppose such oversights or minor inaccuracies are to be expected, given the Christian Regency genre is dominated by American authors, and aimed at the US market. However, I suppose I would like a little more realism in terms of elementary details such as speech, language and dialect, especially in a novel that seemed to be generally well-researched in other ways.

    I did also question the plausibility of Lydias notion that a person could be thrown into the Tower for sedition at the slightest hint of any criticism of the royal family. How could this have been so when there were satirical cartoons about the Prince Regent?

    As for the characters- they were developed and well-rounded for the most part, but no always easy to identify or sympathise with. Lydias desire to protect her family was admirable, but her initial attitude towards men was very annoying. Basically, she believed that any man who wouldnt let a woman do what she wanted, or pursue her own interests was an evil, repressive, autocratic, tyrant but there was nothing remotely autocratic or controlling about her demanding men give up their careers to stay at home.

    An opinion resembling too much the extremes of militant feminism for my liking- never mind being arrogant, immature and nauseating.

    Admittedly, she seemed to realize this attitude was unfair and unrealistic towards the end, but a little too jarringly modern for my liking.

    Finally, the villain, when he was finally unmasked, seemed to be largely lacking in any real motivation- apart from being the person least expected, and the Christian themes did appear a little forced or contrived at times.

    I would consider reading the next two books in the series, to find out the story about Lydias sisters, and recommend this, but, like the Midwives Trilogy and A Ladys Honor by the same author, its not a favourite.
  3. Ellen
    Fort Worth, TX
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    3 Stars Out Of 5
    Too Many Loose Ends
    January 2, 2013
    Ellen
    Fort Worth, TX
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    Quality: 3
    Value: 2
    Meets Expectations: 2
    This was a hard read for me because plots were started and not fully concluded. I actually was tempted to jump to the last chapter to get some sort of resolution.

    I liked Ms. Eakes' other books well enough. This one just left me a little mystified with a lot of unanswered questions. Maybe I should re-read it to ensure that I didn't skip some critical pages.
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