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Title: Surrender to a Stranger by Karyn Monk ISBN: 0-553-56909-0 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 December, 1994 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.16 (25 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: FX of the 18th Century
Comment: SURRENDER TO A STRANGER is one of the very best historical romances around. It reads like an FX (remember that wonderful movie of a master of disguise?) taking place during the French Revolution. Jacqueline has been taken captive by the French rebels who are summarily sentencing to death anyone who was an aristocrat. She fully expects to be guillotined at daybreak. Instead, an old man shuffles into her cell at night, and helps her escape. Jacqueline learns she has been rescued by the Black Prince, who helps spirit French aristocrats away to England. Their trip to England is fast-paced, full of adventure, and superb plotting as Ms. Monk dresses her characters in disguise after disguise to avoid being caught. The romantic tension bet. Jacqueline and her Black Prince is wonderful. It's the terrific, timeless plot of how two people thrust together in a highly tense situation fall in love.
This book first appeared in 1995--hats off to Bantam Books for releasing it again now so it can find new fans!
I heartily recommend it!
Rating: 4
Summary: Truly a book worth reading.
Comment: When a (romance) book comes on the market written about the French Revolution, it usually written from the perspective of England and their struggle against Napoleon, or some sort of spy thriller, again written from the perspective of England or the victors. Once in a while we will stumble upon a book set in New Orleans about a displaced French aristocrat, but very rarely are we introduced to the French view of their Revolution or to the period of time known as The Reign of Terror. Granted, this is not a very romantic setting, with all the death and what we think today of as nazi-like paranoia against your fellow "citizen". Thousands upon thousands of people were killed in the name of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Karyn Monk takes this time period and weaves a wonderful tale of two lost souls. It is not easy to balance the darkness of the time period and the classical happily-ever-after ending of a romance, but Ms. Monk succeeds.
Jacqueline is a spoiled elitist, who nevertheless learns and grows throughout the story. I always find character development to be key in any good book, and Jacqueline definitely develops. One might not agree with her thoughts and views, but is given the opportunity to see why she thinks like she does and how she rises above her beliefs to truly be "noble". Armand, our "Scarlet Pimpernel" is motivated by his own demons (as most of our romantic heroes are), but this doesn't detract from his character. He is a master at disguise and uses his various "counterrevolutionary" contacts (which are convenient though never truly explained) to help him rescue the unfortunate victims.
The secondary characters, Jacqueline's sisters, Philippe, Nicolas, and various others, add even more depth and interest to the book. I have but a few criticisms. First, the amount of times, and with seeming ease our hero and heroine escape prisons and France. If it were so "easy" more people would have done it. Ms. Monk gives a great description of a prison wardens thoughts and worries with overcrowding and rushed paperwork. This is terrific insight on how tired and over-worked the bearocrats were, but doesn't allow for such ease of escape for two such wanted people. I also didn't like how characters seemed to appear and then we hear nothing about them. What happens to Jacqueline's ex-fiancé, to Justin and others we meet along the way? This is a great book so don't miss reading it!
Rating: 2
Summary: Stick with the original "Scarlet Pimpernel"
Comment: Jacqueline is a spoiled French aristocrat languishing in the Conciergerie prison when she is rescued by the "Black Prince" and taken to England against her will. Yes, I said "against her will" because, oddly enough, she wants revenge against the man who destroyed her family more than she wants to be reunited with the little sisters who need her in England.
Imagine the "Black Prince," a half-English, half-French, Scarlet Pimpernel-type, who goes to a great deal of trouble disguising himself and thinking up elaborate rescue schemes that could easily land him a date with Madame la Guillotine, finding his efforts actually REJECTED by a young woman only hours away from execution!
Frankly, in his shoes, I would have left her there and saved my efforts for a more grateful recipient.
Even after her reunion with her sisters proves to her how much they have suffered and how much they need her in their lives, Jacqueline is scheming to return to France to kill Nicolas, the man who caused the deaths of her father and brother and the loss of her home and wealth. Armand, the "Black Prince" himself, refuses categorically to take her, and rightfully so.
But then she comes up with the idea of getting him to take her to France on the pretext of rescuing her fiancé. It's not that she loves the guy or anything, although she doesn't like to think of him in prison; what she really wants is to have a go at killing her nemesis, Nicolas.
This is a very long book and rather than go into all of the details, let me say that both Armand and Jacqueline, portrayed as being clever and brave enough to outwit the French revolutionaries over and over again, repeatedly fall into obvious traps and repeatedly have to find innovative and frankly incredible ways to escape the bloodthirsty mobs. They both seem to be inflicted with a death wish. Armand's motives can be explained by his guilt feelings following a terrible family tragedy. But Jacqueline's don't ring true.
For one thing, why does she blame all of her problems on Nicolas? He's a villain, to be sure, but doesn't she realize that losing her family and her wealth was inevitable? Aristocrats were being imprisoned and executed and their estates and wealth confiscated without any plausible reason. Nicolas's betrayal may have expedited the process, but the outcome would have been the same even without his participation.
Has Armand truly been cured of his self-destructive behavior? Will he be a faithful husband to Jacqueline when he wasn't with his first wife? I'm not convinced of that.
It bothers me that the hero and heroine supposedly speak to each other in French when there isn't even a smattering of French anywhere, other than names of people and places. (But that's the natural prejudice of a French teacher.)
It bothers me that the hero asks for the heroine's virginity as payment for his rescue services. . . and gets it.
It bothers me that the hero is looked down on as a commoner by Jacqueline when his mother was the daughter of a French marquis.
It bothers me that the character of the "Black Prince" is so similar to the Scarlet Pimpernel, from his elaborate disguises to the ship and valiant crew to the incident where the villain's guards are replaced by the hero's men dressed in their uniforms.
But what bothers me most of all is it suddenly started me wondering if the Scarlet Pimpernel truly lived happily ever after with Jane Seymour or whether he continued his daring rescue operations in spite of their happy marriage. Oh rats!
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Title: The Prisoner by Karyn Monk ISBN: 055357762X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 29 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Rose and the Warrior by Karyn Monk ISBN: 0553577611 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Once a Warrior by Karyn Monk ISBN: 0553574221 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 31 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: The Wedding Escape by Karyn Monk ISBN: 0553584405 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Witch and the Warrior by Karyn Monk, Karyn Monk ISBN: 0553577603 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 04 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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