Last series of the Duncan's Trilogy, The Wedding Game by Jane Feather

Last series of Jane Feather’s Duncan’s Sisters Trilogy! I’m all excited because these sisters are smart, funny, and wicked.Chastity Duncan, the youngest of all the Duncan’s, is a fun, carefree young woman with a sweet tooth. I’ve been waiting impatiently to read this novel and find out who or what kind of man would suit her. She’s the fun of the Duncan’s, in both the other novels, she had admirers, men flocked around her like bees to a flower. Hahaha… She enjoyed their company but she treated them as not more than friends.

The Wedding Game is mostly dedicated to Chastity. After the marriage of her sisters, Constance and Prudence, she was left at home by herself (with her father). She continued the publication of The Mayfair Lady and its matchmaking service. One day, a letter arrived from Douglas Farrell, a new doctor in town. He wanted help from their matchmaking service. Chastity agreed to meet him and after stating his requirement for wife, Chastity was taken aback. He was looking for a rich wife! Remembering that this is a paying customer, she reluctantly agreed to help him.

A match was found in a short time, a rich young English lady who was either born in France or raised in France. To be honest, I wasn’t really interested in her character. She is so annoying and spoilt rotten. Chastity introduced her to Douglas and he seemed to enjoy her company for a short period of time. However, Douglas can’t hide his interest in Chastity, a fun and loving young lady who treated everyone equally. While Chastity tried to ignore this attraction, she couldn’t resist this young handsome doctor. Something intrigued her and she later found out that the reason behind his need of rich wife is to build a clinic in a slum area of London. It is such a noble thing to do with a high price to pay. He was estranged from his family because of this. They expected him to be a high profile doctor, instead of hanging around poor people.

When Chastity found his hidden clinic in the slum of London, he was horrified. He was worried about the prejudice of high class society. He was even more scared of the fact that Chastity might be disgusted by this act of kindness to the poor people, like his family. However, she wasn’t at all disgusted and all the misunderstanding between “The Mayfair Lady” and Douglas was cleared up.

I think this novel is the funniest of all the 3 books, I’m not going to spoil it here, but the relationship between Douglas, the rich lady and Chastity is so funny and refreshing to read.

-secret vixen -

The Bride Hunt by Jane Feather is sooo sexxxyy

This is the second instalment of Jane Feather’s Duncan’s Sisters Trilogy.

Prudence Duncan, the younger sister of Constance Duncan, is a bespectacled awkward beauty. She’s the mind of the Duncan sister and financial advisor of the family.

This novel is more intriguing than the last one because the Duncan sisters were sued! Well, not them, but the newsletter they wrote, The Mayfair Lady. In the last book, they published an article accusing a mistreatment by a respectable gentleman. This gentleman then sued the publication to an amount of money.

Financial shortage and anonymity in jeopardy caused them desperately trying to find a good and reliable lawyer. When Max recommended a young and famous barrister, Sir Gideon Malvern, they thought they give him a try. Prudence was appointed as the spoke person of The Mayfair Lady because of her intelligence.

Her first encounter with Gideon was horrible, he was a very famous and high profile barrister and he rejected the case immediately. But Prudence is not one to accept rejection; she managed to attack Gideon back to his surprise until he agreed to take on the case.

Secretly Gideon really liked Prudence. He was drawn to her because of her intelligence and well hidden beauty. Same as Prudence, she was impressed by this young and smart barrister. More impressed when she found out about his passion for cooking and love for his young daughter.

Eventually they went on a trip to the city side to prepare for the hearing of the case. It was quite a long trip and they had to stop over for the night. (How convenient?!) What they discovered that night was magic, the way their body reacted to one another was similar to how their mind works together. Prudence was taken to a trip of her lifetime, discovering her true self and finding a love that had been there all along.

-secret vixen -

The Bachelor List by Jane Feather

What an exciting book!! After I read ‘The Accidental Bride’, I decided to read a couple more of Jane’s book. This particular one, The Bachelor List, is really good. It’s a story about the eldest of the Duncan sisters, Prudence Duncan.

In the time of women’s suffrage, Constance Duncan is one of many women who secretly supporting it. At the same time, Max Ensor, a new acquitted member of parliament arrived in town. Immediately the chemistry between them surfaced, although both of them tried to deny it. They insisted that this is not more than just a spy game. The parliament member wanted to have more insight about a rapidly growing women’s suffrage and the stubborn woman wanted to change his mind about women’s suffrage.

Surprisingly hot romance we’re talking about here, as Prudence tried to seduce her way to achieve her goal in the name of women’s suffrage.  I guess it backfired as inevitably they both ended up falling in love. The scene was depicted beautifully, the country side villa, the meadow with tall grasses. It really is a perfect place for love… and lust! They even gave in to a hot and steamy love making behind the hedge of the tennis court. That will be next in the places I want to have sex list!

-secret vixen -

Accidental Bride by Jane Feather

Hello my fellow readers, :-) what a wonderful weather I have here today. There’s nothing better than a rainy Friday morning. It surely feels like an early weekend. Woo hoo….

A few weeks ago I read this paperback novel from Jane Feather. Again, I’m kind of experimenting on different type of novels and Jane Feather’s novels are classified as historical romance novels. So, I thought I give that a try. To my surprise, maybe it was just me and my old soul, but I was totally drawn into this historical world the moment I started reading the novel. I was drawn into that era with its magnificent environment, beautiful dresses, the elegant poise of the characters, and the charming ladies and gentlemen.

The Accidental Bride is a story about a young lady who was plain on the outside but full of spirit despite of her upbringing. Her older sister was more graceful and ladylike. Some unfortunate fate brought an end to her life and it was a custom back then to have the younger sister to replace her as a wife to her husband. (Thus the title, Accidental Bride)

Anyway, they resented one another at the beginning of this alliance. Phoebe Carlton is not a very striking lady and Cato Granville is a very serious man caught up in the civil war that was engulfing England at that time. Secretly though, Phoebe had liked Cato for years, the reason she resented him was because he wasn’t aware of her at all. It seemed to her that this marriage arrangement was just due to pure tradition and financial convenience. Their sexual life was boring, every sexual activities are brief and kept as required which kept Phoebe questioning, ‘Is that really all there is? Is there nothing more to it?’

Until one day she consulted her friend Portia and she suggested her to do this crazy makeover thing. She ditched her old gowns that didn’t suit her figure, she changed her attitude and finally she got everybody’s attention, especially Cato. ;-) She emerged from all of this and transformed into a real sensual well being and Cato was taken back by surprise. I think he never thought that inside this ordinary, boring girl there is a vixen laying waiting to be released. What is sexier than a woman who knows what they want? Cato was taken by surprise (and delight) the first time Phoebe showed her true nature. She hesitated at first, fearing of rejection, and had to cover his eyes with silk ribbon as she took him. Cato insisted that there is nothing to worry about, her fear was groundless, and that she is beautiful.

So begins the lovers’ journey through love, companion and even some serious actions as well. All of these proved that they are fit for one another. Both Phoebe and Cato were transformed for the better.

I think I had some very serious afterthought after reading this novel. I started to think that maybe our perception of beauty is wrong all this time. I’m convinced that everyone is beautiful in their own way and sometimes it takes a drastic self reinvention to show that. We are what we are, right? We change what we can and accept what we can’t. It’s as simple as that. On the other hand, I wouldn’t agree to making drastic changes to make everybody else happy. Whatever changes that we make, it has to be for us, purely for our self satisfaction. If we do that right, everything else will surely come to our way. I also have a motto that I try to live with, the better I look after myself, the better other people will look after or treat me. If we presented ourselves really well, people will surely appreciate us more. It’s really about give and take in this world.
I would like to close up this post by emphasizing again to all of you that you can find beauty everywhere around you. You just have to learn to appreciate their different forms and uniqueness.

-secret vixen-

Danielle Steele - A Good Woman

This is the first Danielle Steele’s novel that I read a while ago. I bought it because it was on sale that day :-). The moment I read the first paragraph, I was hooked! I can’t stop! I kept on flipping the pages. I’ve never in my life thought that I would be addicted to novels. Hahaha. I guess I was wrong.

For me, the main character in this novel is not only a good woman, she’s also very strong and she knows what she wants to do with her life. Self sufficient is probably the correct description for her.

Annabelle was raised in a high class family. She had everything. One day, everything was taken away from her and she’s left just by herself. At the beginning she was a bit lost and confused, she was only a very young girl after all. A hero rose to the occasion and seems to save her from all of her problem. This turned out to be a temporary solution that leads to a bigger problem. She eventually escaped the respectable society and jumped into the medical world during war. To her surprise, she actually found what she was looking for. She had found and lived her dream.

Until one day, a tragedy stroke, in a beaten and sad world of war, she was raped by an unknown soldier. The violence and the tragedy, ironically, brought her a new friend for life, a child that she decided to keep. Life went on and she had become one of a few women who practised medicine at that time. That is definitely something to be proud of. Intelligence, hard work and persistence are the main components here. In the world dominated by men at that time, she managed to challenge it all and had proven that she can do it.

To my amazement, this novel didn’t end with Annabelle finding her true love. Well, I guess, she had her true love, her daughter. This actually made me think that maybe not everyone is destined to have a partner for life. Maybe some of us are to be alone. Look around us, how many single mother and single father do you know? In America, almost 40% of marriages end in divorce. People are lonelier than ever ALL over the world, despite all the fuss about high tech communication via internet, high tech gadgets, etc. Where are we heading? What can we do about it?

I remember a few years ago, I was having a hard time, I was thinking a lot and feeling very down. I think my face must have crumpled so bad that afternoon when I walked home that a lady standing next to me on the crossing actually touch my shoulder and she actually said to me that I don’t need to worry, everything’s going to be just fine. I was utterly shocked and touched by that. I really thought she was an angel! Hahaha… anyway, all my worry and sadness disappeared after that. The Divine Power does works in a mysterious way, isn’t it?

I would like to close this post by encouraging you all my reader, to reach out. Reach out to your friends and families, even long lost friends. And remember to smile to people you meet on the street. You never know when your smile can ease someone’s pain. :-)

-secret vixen-

Star by Danielle Steele

I’ve just finished reading Danielle Steele’s novel Star today. To me, the main topic of this novel is about life’s beauty, loyalty, and faith. Sometimes two people are so destined to be together, but, circumstances hold them apart. If their love is strong enough then they will come together in the end.

It’s such a beautiful story and I especially love the way Danielle expresses the feeling of love with “thunder and lightning”. I surely know how that felt and it was a real close description of it.

I have to pinpoint something that caught my attention in this novel. I’ve always said that sometimes beauty can be a curse. People seem to think being beautiful is a blessing, but, it is really not that simple. Take example of Crystal Wyatt, her beauty caused her estrangement from her family, dreaded crimes and abuses she had to confront. I felt almost sad for her. I think at one stage I actually came to an idea that for every women with certain beauty level, it is compulsory for them to have some basic martial art skill. Hahaha, please forgive me and my randomness.

Now, back to what I really want to say. We do have to make choices in life, hard choices sometimes. Hard choices that are hard to stick to, sacrifices we have to make for these choices. Other times, the choices have been made for us. And it’s up to us to deal with it, either to grow strong with it or lose the battle.

In this novel, both main characters made wrong choices at times, which lead their existence to a whirlwind of bittersweet events. But they didn’t give up; they rose up from the problem, charged through them and in the end overcoming all of them. They’ve made themselves stars in their world and in one another’s world. I would love to see me being just that one day. Hopefully, one day...

-secret vixen-

Welcome to my blog! :-)

Welcome everyone to my blog. I'm going to use this blog mainly to share my thoughts and you're very welcome to comment or even ask questions... or answer my random questions :-)

I read a lot and reading makes me think about my life and also our life as a society. Sometimes the morale of the book teach me something new. Some other times, the topic of the book rises some questions that need answers. Most of the time I only read for pleasure.

So, enjoy the blog, I hope it will make a little difference in your life.

-secret vixen-