Maiden Lane #7
Elizabeth Hoyt
Historical Romance
Published in 2014
H/h - Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne/Lily Stump
Setting: London, 1743.
Read in December, 2014.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
Elizabeth Hoyt’s Darling Beast
is book #7 of her epic Maiden Lane series. This series, though much
different now than the original storyline, still manages to keep me
hooked. It never ceases to amaze me just how invested I am in the lives
of these characters that Ms. Hoyt created!
Darling Beast
was one of my 2014’s anticipated releases (not surprising really). Even
though it’s a great standalone on its own, I’d always recommend that
you start from book 1 for full enjoyment of the series. They are
interconnected one way or the other, either with ongoing incidents or
secondary characters or both. The first 6 books (in correct order), Wicked Intentions, Notorious Pleasures, Scandalous Desires, Thief of Shadows, Lord of Darkness and Duke of Midnight
were centered around the phenomena of The Ghost of St. Giles, a
mysterious masked figure that played robin hood (sort of) in the dirty
alleyways of St. Giles at the dead of the night. People had all sorts of emotions running regard this masked man; fear,
awe, skepticism. Also, the series originally started with the Makepeace
Siblings who ran (still do) an orphanage on the St. Giles. Temperance,
Silence and Winter have since found love in Lazurus, Lord Caire,
Charming Mickey or Michael and Lady Isabel. Now we’re onto the lives of
some of the interesting secondary characters that were introduced
throughout. The 2 eldest Makepeace siblings were never really a part of
this series but the middle brother, Asa was. He has been in and out of
the series, granting us very small appearances.
Since book 6, after the mystery of
the Ghost was finally put to rest, the series is going in a new
direction. At the course of the story, we met characters such as James
Trevillion, a Dragoon captain, now former, who used to chase the Ghost
before he was seriously injured in book 6. It effectively ended his
career. There was Maximus, the Duke of Wakefield, the rich and beautiful
but vapid brained Lady Penelope (a benefactress of the orphanage) and
her lady’s companion, Artemis Greaves. Maximus and Artemis found
each-other in book 6. We also met Artemis’ brother Apollo in it. Asa
makes a short appearance at the end of book 6 with some new characters
such as the Duke of Montgomery.
Apollo and Artemis, twins, had
been raised basically in poverty since childhood. Their father, though
titled, was an eccentric and callous man, who was never really caring of
his family. When their parents perished, Artemis and Apollo had not
much on the financial side. Then, as fate would have it, Apollo was
caught at the location of 3 gruesome murders. This saw him to Newgate
while Artemis was forced to be a companion to their wealthy cousin,
Penelope. It goes without saying that she was not welcomed in a warm,
open familial environment. Artemis was the proverbial ‘poor relation’
and was treated as such, without any prospect of a future beyond
catering to Penelope’s whims, until she met Maximus.
Penelope’s
father, an Earl, for the sake of the family name, didn’t want Apollo to
hang. Instead, he made sure that Apollo gets the ‘next best thing’; the
Bedlam. Yah, it’s not a pretty place to live in but at least, his neck
would be safe! Apollo is Viscount Kilbourne, though sh!t load of good it
did him. When we met him in book 6, he was already in bedlam for 4 or
so years, ill from the repulsive environment and already losing his
mind. Artemis was super worried as he’s what she got as a family. She,
with precious little she had, did her best to supply him with food and
stuff, spare money for Apollo’s gaolers so that they treat him better
than the rest. But that wasn’t enough and they both knew it. Apollo is
big man, with tall muscular physique, and maybe that, in the end, saved
him from a certain death; if not by illness but by the abuse of the
perverted gaolers in charge. A rebellion and will to save another
innocent female victim saw him beaten and bruised, half dead and without
a voice when one of the men stepped on his throat to kill him. In the
end, Maximus finds a way to secretly getting him out of that hellish
place and Apollo was finally freed from his nightmarish existence. But
his muteness reminds him every day of the past trauma, the guilt for his
dead friends even though he was innocent, yet had no way of proving it.
Apollo
was living the life of a dilettante peer when it happened. He was
taking care of Artemis as best as he could while finishing up his own
studies. He was always interested in architecture, especially in the
architectural garden designing. He even worked at a few places to earn
some extra money, though he was admonished for working as a ‘common
man’. He didn’t know what happened when he went to that seedy inn to
drink and gamble a night away with 3 of his acquaintances. When he woke
up in the morning with a splitting headache, Apollo found himself in a
pool of blood, all three of the other men grotesquely murdered, him with
the knife in hand. To say he was ‘caught red handed’ would be an
understatement. Truth was, Apollo wasn’t even given a chance to defend
himself as he was in as deep a sh!t a man can get into. Captain
Trevillion was the one who tied him up and thrown him in jail. Apollo
knew no amount of prayer could’ve saved him. Fortunately, or
unfortunately one can debate, he had a chance of saving his neck, as
narrated earlier.
Ever since he got out of bedlam, Apollo has
been in hiding. In book 6, we found his very surprising friendship with
Asa Makepeace. Then again, so little has been known about Asa throughout
the series that I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was friends
with Apollo. What surprised me more was the fact that Asa was also the
owner of the popular Harte’s Folly, a pleasure garden come theater.
Sadly, it burned down to ashes at the end of book 6. Apollo met up with
Asa for help as he needed to stay down until he could clear his name
from the murder charges, whenever that was possible. At that point, Asa
was rather desperate to revive Harte’s Folly in any way possible and
Apollo made the perfect partner. Since then, he’s been living there in
disguise of the head gardener. Not that Apollo has been living idly.
He’s also been working his butt off since now Harte’s Folly partly
belongs to him. Apollo has grand plans for the vast ruined gardens,
visions to make it more beautiful than ever before. And though this work
keeps him occupied, Apollo knows he’s never safe. The moment the law
enforcement learns of his whereabouts, he’d be trussed up and thrown
back in the place where he never wants to return ever again. So he knows
he must clear his name no matter what.
Lily, the h of our story,
was not really mentioned in any other installments unless by her stage
name, Robin Goodfellow. She is, or was before the fire, a very popular
comic actress. Because of that, I didn’t recognize her at first. IMO
she’s a new character to the storyline. Since the fire at Harte’s Folly,
Lily has lost her job, struggling hard to get by. She lives with her
7yrs. old son, Indio and her elderly nursemaid, who in turn became
Indio’s when he arrived. What no one knows is the long buried secret of
Indio’s birth and how Lily is connected to it. He’s a lovely, energetic
and ever curious boy like any of his age and Lily loves him to bits.
She’s currently living in what used to be a part of a dressing room of
Harte’s Folly that somehow survived the fire. Mr. Harte, as Asa goes by
to the people who doesn’t know him beyond his pleasure garden, has given
Lily the permission to live here. Due to rivalry and Harte’s Folly’s
absolute popularity, the rivals wouldn’t give her any acting job as she
has been an exclusive to this place. Yet, used to living a good life
beforehand, Lily is desperate to get back on track, for which she’s been
writing small plays here and there that her half-brother Edward would
sell under his name. So far, she’s been able to get by somewhat but that
can’t be all. Lily is worried about her future; more so because she has
Indio to think of.
One day, Indio comes running at their shabby
rooms talking about ‘monsters’ in the garden. Lily promptly laughed it
off as a kid’s wild imagination. The garden, as it is now, is a charred
mess and no one but a few garden crews that Mr. Harte appointed are
working to restore it. Where would the monster be in it? Then one day
while looking for Indio, she has the pleasure to meet the ‘monster’
herself. Turns out it’s a huge man with shaggy clothing, hair and beard,
whom a child just might imagine a monster. And he doesn’t talk when
Lily tries to communicate. She decides the guy is dumb and mute, so she
lets go. Unfortunately, said monster has completely absorbed Indio’s
attention and the curious boy would go after him, spying while the man
worked. At least he tries his best, until his silly dog would give them
away.
Apollo had a very good idea about the boy. Then, a pretty
woman loitering about his garden had stunned him at first. It’s because
Asa has neglected to mention him the fact that ‘Robin Goodfellow’ is
living there. Even though Apollo is annoyed that this might hamper his
restoration work, he’s nonetheless completely taken with Lily and her
red haired beauty. Especially her assumption that not only he’s mute but
dumb as a rock which made him smile in many years, albeit inwardly,
since nothing is far from the truth. It’s been a long time since he’d
had the opportunity to even view a decent looking woman, let alone
someone of her looks. Try as he might, Apollo can’t deny her or the
little boy who has named him ‘Caliban’ after a short trip to the nearby
creek. Had it not for Apollo’s help, his silly dog would drown. It also
gained him apparent access to their home accompanying
dinner invitations. Living alone for so long Apollo can’t deny that he
craves the human connection just for the sake of it. Artemis visits his
rundown shack somewhere in the garden from time to time, but that’s not
enough for a man who once lived his life to the fullest.
Apollo takes his case to Asa but he can’t just kick his famous actress out. After knowing Lily’s plight, even Apollo couldn’t want that. Besides, he already liked having them around. At that time, the Duke of Montgomery stops by with a proposition. Now this guy, he’s... weird but I don’t mean in a creepy way. He’s extremely good-looking with an angelic face and blonde locks. A veritable fop if I may say so. But the proverb ‘looks can be deceiving’ was probably invented by him. There’s not an angelic bone in his body. Not only he’s a clever one as he twists his partnership with Asa (yep, another partner to Harte’s Folly) in a way that both Apollo and Asa are knotted in it. Montgomery has a way about him that no one can deny. He gets what he wants, likes having people under his thumb so that he can manipulate them later for his own gain. Right now, he wants Apollo’s name cleared so that they can get on with the business of getting Harte’s Folly up and running within a year. He’d help them by gaining access to Apollo’s uncle’s house since he’s the prime suspect according to Apollo. He would’ve gained more if Apollo was out of the way. But how the Duke came by Apollo’s identity, when they’ve worked so hard to keep it a secret, is a matter that astound both Asa and Apollo. But then, knowing the guy, anything is possible. He probably has ears at every corner of England, probably in foreign countries as well since it’s rumored that he has a ‘past’. He used to live out of the country and no one really knows what said past consists of. Now, it does make Montgomery sound like a selfish a$$hole but trust me, that’s not the case. He likes keeping a façade no doubt but he’s not that bad. And there’s something dark about him that he definitely likes to hide. I can’t wait to know more about him (EH hinted that he’s also going to get his book. :D)
With Indio’s
insistence and approval, Apollo becomes a ‘family
friend’ of Lily’s little gang. And with that, their attraction grew;
though for obvious reasons, Apollo kept his identity a secret, making
himself a humble garden designing crew. At one point, Lily understood
her faux pas about Apollo’s intelligence. They start communicating with
Apollo writing down his thoughts to make it easier for her. And the more
she learned, the more she found that Apollo is someone she likes to be
with, maybe for the rest of her life. TBH, Apollo is far from what the
origin of his name would lead one to believe. He’s a veritable behemoth
(according to Lily) but he doesn’t have a handsome face. Even he knows
that he’s not good-looking, and so, he didn’t think someone like Lily
would care for him. Lily, on the other hand, would beg to differ. He’s
such a gentle giant, something that came to me regarding Apollo, that
Lily can’t help fall for him a bit each day. I’d say, they both did,
only Apollo knew that when she learns of his very recent past, Lily
would probably run the other way, leaving him dejected.
In the meantime, we get to see some of the old characters such as Hero, Maximus’ sister, also Artemis, his Duchess and Phoebe, his younger sister. Now, I never thought Phoebe would be the heroine material, though I fervently wished she’d have her HEA. We knew Phoebe was gradually going blind from a disease from the moment we met her in book 2. She was one of the characters I love because she’s so lovely, lively and doesn’t let her physical shortcomings hamper her good spirit. No one would dare pity her, and it’s not because she has a Duke for a brother. But right now, she’s pissed that her annoying brother has provided her with a very unwanted escort; Trevillion, another character I didn’t think was hero material but I wanted him to be. Trevillion was injured in the previous book as I mentioned before. He also saved Maximus’ life, which is why today he’s still employment, even if he knows his ‘charge’ doesn’t care for him hanging over her shoulder all that much. But that’s the order of his boss, and Tevillion knows how to carry on one more than anyone else. So no matter what Phoebe feels, and no matter that he now has a very bad leg, thanks to said injury, he’s always there whenever she goes out. Maximus now can rest easy that his sister is in good hands. Phoebe is such a witty girl, her comments about Tervillion conveying exasperation were a hoot! All I can say that I am psyched about their book which will be out next.
Trevillion was aware that the Duchess (Artemis) would go out, alone, in the middle of the day, something that worried him. He had no idea if he should provide her with some protection, secretly of course. He did that nonetheless and one day, stumbles across her ‘secret’. Trevillion was also aware of Apollo’s so-called escape, so he follows him and tries to take him in because he, like everyone else, still believed him to be the murderer. But incidents following proved – and Trevillion is a smart man who can rely on his instincts – that Apollo is truly innocent. From then on Apollo gained an ally in Trevillion who agrees to investigate on his account because he felt guilty of having a hand in Apollo’s plight.
I must say, the whole story went so smoothly, for me,
it seemed way too little (if that even makes any sense). I loved every
moment and didn’t want it to end. Unfortunately, all the good things must come to an end eventually. For me, Darling Beast was
more of a comfort read, not having the kind of darker aspects that this
series began with. Not that I’m complaining! I love a comfort read as
much as a dark story by an excellent author, which Ms. Hoyt certainly
is. 4 stars, eagerly anticipating Dearest Rogue.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
◈Thank you for visiting :)◈