A Heart Stirring Gothic Styled Romance
Two lonely people tread the streets in the blackest depths of the midnight hour ¿ One walks deliberately¿to let free the demons of her imagination ¿ One walks determinedly¿to banish the demons that torment his soul ¿. Neither realizes something evil is lurking in the dark¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿. In her latest novel, THE SEDUCTION OF AN UNKNOWN LADY, Samantha James creates a mesmeric and thoroughly intriguing romantic tale that successfully captures the style, flavor and essence of the classic gothic romance. And the author gives us a heart stirring narration of her heroine, Miss Fionna Hawkes and hero, Lord Aidan McBride¿s intensely passionate love story¿set in the cold winter of 1852 London, during the Victorian Era¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿.. This is kind of a ¿dark¿ story¿with several extremely poignant and heartrending elements¿but I never felt it was too dark. I felt Ms. James completely gains the reader¿s attention with her clever¿and knowledgeable¿use of the shadowy, eerie gothic writing style to create a wonderfully dark, mystifying, and sometimes ominously sinister atmosphere in the story. I know I was totally captivated. Ms. James deftly sets up many delightful¿or perhaps, a better choice of words would be frightful, mysterious, and occasionally disturbing¿twists and turns in her skillfully constructed and multi-layered storyline¿ all strategically designed to keep her readers a bit unsettled, continuously guessing, and anxiously turning the pages¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿. And I thought she did a really superb job with the story¿s mood and tone, effectively using setting and language that was frighteningly suggestive¿of fear, terror, gloom, menace, danger, secrecy, and a hint of the supernatural/paranormal¿to appeal to all our emotions and senses. This spooky visual imagery worked so well that there were definitely moments that I felt a little prickling, spine-tingling chill on the back of my neck, and had a disquieting sense of unease right along with Fionna. At times I was so deeply immersed in the story that had anyone tapped me on the shoulder, I would surely have jumped out of my chair¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿.. Also, I really appreciated Ms. James use of the ¿story within the story¿ literary technique¿ which included pieces of the fictional author F J Sparrow¿s scary tale, The Demon of Dartmore at the beginning of every chapter¿ and ran parallel to Fionna and Aidan¿s story. It was an ideal combination of titillating horror and romance that enhanced the main story, and set the mood of each chapter perfectly¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿.. I loved how Ms. James wrote both Fionna and Aidan. I thought they were interesting, genuinely likable, and very relatable, believable characters. Fionna¿s an unconventional heroine a strong, intelligent and fiercely independent woman who wants to be in charge of her own destiny¿and for a woman of her time she is, to a degree¿but when Aidan enters the picture she becomes deeply conflicted by her need for independence and her desire for love. I thought Fionna was truly a character any woman could relate to¿ and I sooo wanted her to be happy! Aidan is a rather tragic war hero who carries some physical and mental scars from his time in India. He¿s a proud, honorable and caring man¿ he tries so hard to understand Fionna, to provide the emotional support he knows she needs and to protect her. Even though she rebuffs him, he remains steadfast. I just loved him! I was so caught up in watching how their passion and desire for each other grew as the tensions between them¿and in the story¿escalated. And I loved how Aidan breaks down all of Fionna¿s defenses¿W0W!!!¿their love scenes were sizzling HOT and VERY sensual¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ The Seduction of an Unknown Lady is a marvelous book that will appeal to historical romance readers who appreciate a well written love story with a potent combination of sensual seduction and fiery passion¿intertwined with a dark gothic styled drama, a
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