Reviews for More Than a Mistress

The average rating for More Than a Mistress based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-04-02 00:00:00 Noah Schlichting I'm going to start repeating myself, but I just love Ms. Balogh's writing! No other modern author is as apt at "transporting" me to Regency London as her. All it takes is the first paragraph, and the setting is crystal clear in my mind and I find myself in another time and space. More Than a Mistress was no exception: I was captivated from the start, and Jocelyn and Jane were another great couple to be added to my all-time favorite H/h in Romancelandia. Let me admit that I thought I would have some difficulty adjusting to the hero's name, Jocelyn, since it isn't a name I'm used to associating with a man. And I remembered complaining about the heroine's name in another book I had read recently, so I knew I was shallow enough to care about that, LOL. Well, Ms. Balogh could have named Jocelyn anything she wanted and I would still not be bothered! Yes, I was that entranced by him and Ms. Balogh even managed to make the first time Jane said his name a special and touching moment. *sighs* This was neither a love-at-first-sight or lust-at-first-sight tale. There wasn't even a spark of physical attraction between Jocelyn and Jane when they first met. This was a story about two people getting to know each other, opening up emotionally and falling steadily in love. And the build up was fully packed with emotion and sensual awareness: their first kiss, their first waltz... I could see them falling in love before my eyes, and I couldn't have been happier. They were just perfectly matched! Now, I have to make a special remark about the ending... There's an unpublished epilogue on Ms. Balogh's website that should have never been cut during editing, IMHO. Okay, the epilogue wasn't really necessary to give closure to the story - everything was pretty much wrapped up by the end of the book the way it was published - but that "extra moment" with Jocelyn and Jane gave the certainty that he had truly conquered his past "demons" and was finally at peace. Not to mention that it was more than nice to see them frolicking in the grass... ;)

Review # 2 was written on 2009-07-04 00:00:00 Anthony Markowski More then a Mistress is just one of those books that capture you from the start and doesn't let you go until long after. One of the most unlikely meetings to take place in both their lives. Jocelyn Dudley, Duke of Tresham is faced with another duel as he's ascued to have been the lover of a married woman. A gentleman through and through takes up the duel instead of calling the woman a liar. So when a young woman runs toward the duel to stop them, Jocelyn is annoyed when he's shot in the leg. Jane thought she was doing the right thing in stopping the duel, but when her efforts go astray things get a little tricky and she becomes the nurse of the infamous Duke of Tresham and later his mistress. Jocelyn runs from the demons of his past, taught that kindness and love were a weakness, those emotions if shown where beaten out of him or hid away behind his gentleman armor. Slowly his armor cracks as the kindness and understanding of Jane opens his heart and sees the world like never before. Jane runs from the demons of the present, after protecting herself from her cousin who would have raped her in order to gain her money, she runs away thinking she killed him (with a book no less)in order to find help, then to hide knowing it wouldn't last forever. When she starts to work for Jocelyn she starts to see a great man behind the society mask he dons to wear. Falling in love with the man inside. I adored Jocelyn, thinking like Jane he was some stuck up peer, but you see ,like her, he's much more then that and the pains from his past run deep. Jane slowly heals his wounds not only the shot through his leg, but on his heart. Jane was a great female lead, very straight-forward taking no lip from Jocelyn and giving it back ten-fold. Showing wisdom beyond her years and love and trust. Jocelyn and Jane don't fall head over heels in love with each other at first sight, but get to know each other, slowly falling in love with one another, but fighting and hiding it tooth and nail. You can see moments where both feel the connection between each other. The sensual level is like a warm burn making the moments feel special and magical (expect for one time). The pace of the book never stumbles or slows keeping pace as the story unfolds of the truth behind Jane and the struggles of Jocelyn. The secondary characters each shined in their own way, but not outshining either Jane of Jocelyn. While at the end I did want to smack Jane and Jocelyn up-side the heads for being so mule-headed and short-sighted, they do come to their senses in time for their wonderful happy ever after! Overall: I adore Mary Balogh's books as she makes these wonderful complex imperfect characters, making them human and real. Making a special place in your heart for them. More then a Mistress does that and so much more.