Reviews for Bajo el brillo de la luna (Everything and the Moon)

The average rating for Bajo el brillo de la luna (Everything and the Moon) based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-03-28 00:00:00 Bil Hodges I've read worse romance novels, but this is the first one that I've ever actually thrown across the room in rage. The other books I'd read by Julia Quinn made me really trust her as someone with a feminist understanding about female autonomy and male-female power dynamics. Everything and the Moon betrayed that trust throughout its plot, summarized below. The book goes wrong from the first. In the 'Dear Reader' author's note, Quinn says that in this book she tries something she normally doesn't believe in: having the hero fall in love with the heroine at first sight. I wish she'd never tried this at all, because the result was an immature young man with a great deal of power (social and financial--he's an earl) suddenly developing an obsession with a naive young woman who has none (her father is a clergyman). He's used to getting everything he wants, so when he decides he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, he doesn't believe anything could stand in his way. He convinces her that they are fated for each other, then when their fathers unwittingly conspire to break them up, believes that she's intentionally jilted him and goes off to London to live a cynical, worldly life. Her heart is broken, she no longer trusts her father, and in order to escape from her old life she finds a series of miserable jobs as a governess. Seven years later, he discovers her again at a garden party he's attending at her employer's home. She wants nothing to do with him, but, still driven by obsession and anger, he forces her to pay attention to him on multiple occasions. When she makes it clear to him that his association with her is placing her job, and therefore her entire welfare, in jeopardy, his first thought is that she can always put herself in his protection. When she is fired, through something that is, in fact, indirectly his fault (his attentions to her made another party guest sexually interested in her; when he attempts to rape her the hero rescues her and beats up her attacker, who later slanders her to her employer), she finally finds employment that makes her happy: work in a dress shop where she makes friends and feels that she is in control of her life at last. However, the hero can't believe that she's happy without him, and when he discovers that she is living in a "dangerous part of town" he begins stalking her. No, really. He stands outside her window, he "escorts" her to and from her job, he constantly sends her presents that she never asked for, and he continually berates her about her choices. Finally, when someone is killed in her neighborhood, he kidnaps her--he persuades her to ride home from work in his carriage, she falls asleep, and when she wakes up they're halfway to his cottage by the sea. She's horrified and tries to explain to him (again) why her autonomy is important to her, but she only sounds pathetic and he doesn't get it. They stop at an inn for the night. She attempts to escape, but doesn't get far before she's attacked by two men in the street. He rescues her, then blames her for endangering herself and tells her she's sleeping in his bed for the rest of the night. [This is when I threw the book against the wall. I wasn't even going to finish reading it, but I ended up too curious not to.] It turns out he doesn't actually rape her then--how nice of him! They continue to his cottage, where he makes her feel guilty because she turns him on so much that he's in pain. So eventually she does have sex with him. Let me go over that again. She's been abducted and taken to the middle of nowhere from where she has no ability whatsoever to return. If she did return, she would probably have no job because she's been missing from it without excuse for several days. She feels morally obliged to him for saving her from being violently raped twice. She is sexually attracted to him and can't help feeling some nostalgic affection for him (despite her better judgment). Her position is hopeless, unless, as he makes absolutely clear, she marries him. At this point she has sex with him. Of course, it's great sex and she doesn't feel bad at all about it in the morning, because they after all were destined for each other. They go back to London and get married and live happily ever after. Heroine: "I just worry sometimes that you won't let me have my way." Hero: "But I love you and I want to protect you FOREVER!" Heroine: "Oh, okay." If I were trying to write a book that sympathetically spells out the twisted psychology of a stalker, it would come out very much like this one. The more I think about it the more it blows my mind that Quinn wrote it herself, given her statements about being a feminist, and her understanding, demonstrated clearly in other books, of why men in the social situations she writes about have inherently more power than women, why that isn't fair, and why it's important that romantic heroines retain a whole lot of personal autonomy. My only guess is that her feminism developed a whole lot after she wrote this book, as it's one of her earliest.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-12-13 00:00:00 Lucille Vaccaro Omg Julia Quinn wrote this novel that's destined to bring a tear or two to the eyes of any romantic. The hero Robert, is the son of an Earl and the heroine Victoria is the daughter of the vicar who depends on the Earl for his employment. The MC's are similar to Romeo and Juliet except that they don't die in the end. It's their respective fathers who pull them apart by cruel manipulation and it's heart breaking. Robert and Victoria meet and soon fall madly in love. Robert was totally besotted with Victoria and wanted to marry her even though she was not an aristocrat, had no dowry and was merely a poor vicar's daughter. They used to meet in the woods in secret but Robert respected her so much that he refused to consummate their relationship until they were married. His father, however, was appalled that his only son and heir would dare to taint their proud family heritage by wanting to marry such an unsuitable bride. The old Earl warned Robert to stay away from Victoria but when the H defiantly asserted that he would elope with her if he had to, his father turned to a more diabolical solution. The snobbish old Earl visited the vicar and warned about Victoria's relationship with Robert. Basically, he threatened the vicar's livelihood and reputation by insisting that Victoria will never be allowed to marry his son. The vicar was appalled because he now thought that his daughter was behaving like a wanton and fallen woman. Victoria refused to give up Robert and this rare show of defiance infuriated her father. He was the type of father who believed that good daughters did what they were told and did not use their feminine wiles in immoral ways with men who were too good for them. God I hated how her father belittled her. This vicar clearly had very little self esteem too because he obviously believed that his own daughter was not good enough to be a future countess. The vicar even refused to budge when Robert declared to him how much he was in love with Victoria. Any other father would have been proud that his daughter had managed to capture the love of a man who will provide a wealthy and happy future for her. Robert and Victoria decide to elope when they realize that their respective fathers will never agree to the marriage. On the night she's supposed to meet him to run away, Victoria's father tied her up to her bed ! Her sister sees her shivering on the bed and covers her up with blankets. Robert, who soon grew weary of waiting for her at their meeting place, comes to search for her and sees her sleeping on her bed. This part was so dumb ! The idiot doesn't stop to think about sneaking into her room and asking her what's going on. He just assumes that she had changed her mind and didn't love him. If he had come inside and removed the bed covers he would have seen she was tied up. Robert then gets angry and departs from the village. Poor Victoria goes searching for him when she's untied but can't find him and is told by his evil dad that he's left because he never loved her. Victoria is so mad and disillusioned that she too leaves the village and seeks employment as a governess. She manages to get a job with an aristocratic family and her charge is the most obnoxious, spoilt and stupid little boy who treats her with no respect. His mother is even worse. I really empathized with Victoria at this point because her life is miserable; in spite of how downtrodden she is, however, she still tries her best to be the perfect governess to this demon child. She soon meets Robert again, after all these years, at a house party that her employers are hosting. Robert treats her like crap. It's clear that he has changed from a loving and kind man into a cruel womanizing bastard who thinks nothing about sleeping with married promiscuous noblewomen. Robert finds himself wanting Victoria again and he suggests that she give up her job and become his mistress. He was extremely insulting and his hurt pride made him say that she's not good enough to be his wife. I hated him during this period in the novel. All he needed to do was talk to her and ask her why she didn't meet him the night they'd planned to elope. Victoria also has a lot of pride and rejects his insulting offer. They keep meeting with each other and this draws another male guest's lustful eyes onto Victoria. When this other man sees Robert and Victoria together, he assumes arrogantly that they're lovers. This sleazebag decides he wants a piece of Victoria too, so he attempts to rape her. Fortunately, Robert saves her and beats him for touching Victoria. She's really overcome with shock and falls into bed with Robert, who is astonished that she is still a virgin. Things turn for the worse when Victoria's mean employer ( the lady of the house ) fires her and says she won't be getting any references because she's a tart. Victoria leaves and eventually finds employment in a dress shop. Robert, meanwhile, gets his head out of his ass and returns to the home of her previous employment only to be told by the witch that she's gone. He's now sick with worry and insults the woman, telling her that she's being disparaging to his future countess. It was fabulous to see that bitch's shocked reaction, especially since she had been trying to suck up to Robert during the house party. Robert returns to the village to search for Victoria and discovers the truth about the night of the failed elopement. Victoria's younger sister tells him what really happened that night and he is heart broken to realize that he had misjudged the love of his life. He's even more worried now because he can't locate her. He eventually meets her again but this time Victoria hates him even more. He is very sorry and apologizes to her, begs her forgiveness and proposes. Victoria keeps rejecting his proposal because she is so mad with him. I thought she was being a bit too pig headed here because the guy was really grovelling. He is consistent in his grovelling though and is determined to gain her forgiveness and her hand in marriage. The last part of the novel focuses on this aspect: Robert's efforts to prove his love is true and all the many things he does to get the woman he loves. Their journey back to happiness is hard won but they both grow to know each other again, they spend a lot of time alone with each other and even go on a mini vacation trip together. It doesn't happen as simply as that but with time and grovelling comes forgiveness and the birth of an even stronger love than what they had shared before. I loved this novel because it hit all the right spots in my romantic and sentimental heart. I also love seeing how an alpha male grovels when the woman he loves is not bending to his wishes. I will definitely be reading the next novel that focuses on Victoria's younger sister and a hero who happens to be an old friend of Robert's.