Lust in the Tudor Court #2
Elizabeth Moss
Erotic Historical Romance
Published in 2015
H/h - Hugh Beaufort/Susannah Tyrell
Setting: England, 1536.
Read in January, 2016.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
Mmmm, I’m fast becoming a fan of Elizabeth Moss’s writing as well as her Lust in the Tudor Court series. I love how history is melded in this series with a healthy dose of naughtiness thrown in it. I also enjoyed the day to day activities of Tudor-era England. Ohhh and the covers of this series (by Sourcebooks Casablanca) are gorgeous!!
I really enjoyed book 1, Wolf Bride. When Eloise Tyrell, lady-in-waiting of then Queen Anne Boleyn meets her future husband, Lord Wolf, she wasn’t expecting anything but a life of misery where she has to bear the expected heirs, then be cast off by her husband in favor of some more sophisticated court beauties. Either way, Wolf wasn’t a man of many words and he was more often than not curt and distant and his words could often be wrongly interpreted. Eloise was sure that she was going to spend the rest of her life managing her husband’s country estate as Wolf takes mistresses as he reside in court. Even though she herself was enamored of a young buck herself, soon Eloise realizes that love comes in many forms. Her uninhibited lust for Wolf catches Eloise off guard as she was a virgin prior to their marriage. Wolf’s aloof mannerism would dissolve in bed and Eloise would be left to hunger for more. That hunger soon formed into something unique and true; Eloise fell in love. But what of Wolf, her aloof husband?
Wolf was simply confused. Being a hardened soldier,
emotions don’t play any part in his life. But Eloise seemed to have
totally turned it upside down. He saw her, wanted her, and asked for her
hand to her autocratic father John. He was granted the favor because of
his title, fortune, also because he’s a close companion of King Henry
the VIII and has the “King’s ear” or so to speak. He knew he could bed
the enchanting Eloise, get her with child that he badly wants, but not
once, did he think of love. Then why does he feel so jealous when he
spies her with any man? Even knowing she would never betray him? Wolf
has a past with another court beauty. A young passionate affair that
didn’t end well. It showed Wolf was capable of falling in love, though
that taught him a lesson. He vowed never to fall again. But with Eloise,
he can’t seem to keep that vow straight. It took many
misunderstandings, words exchanges and hot sex ;) to prove both Eloise
and Wolf that all they needed was to talk and let each-other into their
hearts.
In book 1, we see some great historical figures as
secondary characters like Stinky Henry aka Henry the VI and Anne Boleyn,
as well as, some other notable figures were also included as a part of
the storytelling. We’re also introduced to Eloise’s younger sister
Susannah and Wolf’s good friend, the King’s clerk, a young man named
Hugh.
Now, Rebel Bride is narrated almost simultaneously with Wolf Bride
as some incidents occur in both books to connect them together.
Eloise’s power hungry father John made the match with Wolf for money.
Though, for her, the match turned out to be the one to last, Susannah
wasn’t so lucky. In book 1, she ran away from home to save herself from
an unwanted marriage to one of his father’s friend, who is as old as, if
not more, her father! She met Hugh at Eloise-Wolf’s wedding and been
attracted to him ever since. There was something very obvious between
them and Hugh was the one to come forward to go rescue her, then bring
her back to court, which he does. It was told that between both sisters,
Susannah was the most beautiful. She was, apparently, also the most
stubborn, as she proves over and over again which, to me, seemed like on
the verge of being TSTL. I had no idea just how much of a PITA she was
going to be but boy she tried my patience in her own book!
First,
about our hero Hugh. Being one of the lesser sons of a Lord, Hugh
neither had money nor a title to keep Susannah in style. So he, and the
rest of them, knew that John Tyrell will never accept his offer for
Susannah. But tell that to his body! It’s crazy about Susannah no matter
what he does. Susannah has already made her interest known, as we learn
from the part that weren’t told in book 1 is told here; from Susannah
and Hugh’s POVs. Hugh firmly denies her what she wanted, knowing how big
of a mess they’re going to be if they sleep together. It hurts
Susannah, though she should’ve known herself that Hugh wouldn’t wanna
dally with the SIL of a close confidante of the King. Besides, John
Tyrell can always make trouble for Hugh. Yet after her rescue, Hugh and
Susannah are thrown together in court more often than not, and there was
no way they could just not deny the clamoring of their bodies,
especially when Susanna was simply shameless in her pursuit in becoming
Hugh’s mistress......... Er, wait a min!
Yah, you heard that
right, she didn’t want marriage. She wanted to be one of those “free”
women who got to do whatever they wanted and not be a chattel to a man’s
whims. Susannah was sick of her father’s tyranny. But it went up a
notch the moment she finds that he’s been sleeping with their elderly
nursemaid ever since their mother died some 15 yrs. ago. He doesn’t even
treat Morag right, who, it was very apparent, loved her lord. He has
simply been taking what he deemed his to use. Yet he talks about all
sorts of righteous things with pompous arrogance and expects everyone to
obey him without a word. Otherwise, his anger would take over and he’d
simply forcefully extract what he wanted. Such a manly man! Susannah has
gotten so fed up that she thought running away was her only option. Now
if she can just become Hugh’s mistress, her father can’t force her to
marry anywhere as she’d be considered ‘damaged goods’. On one hand,
knowing it all I couldn’t blame her entirely. John Tyrell was
disgusting. On the other hand, being sheltered she had no idea what kind
of a dangerous place court can be for women who has no protection of
any kind, or worse yet, women who are tagged as “sluts” and “whores”,
doesn’t matter the truth or the untruth.
We see the detailed
attempt of Susannah’s rescue that wasn’t in book 1. We also find that
Hugh finally gave into the temptation and took her virginity, which is
what Susannah wanted all along. It worries Hugh what might happen if
words got out. He keeps blaming himself for not strongly controlling
himself, but trust me, Susannah was more than willing. She was, in fact,
the instigator.
After she’s brought to court, Susannah is at
first awestruck by the splendor of it. She’d always envied Eloise for,
what she deemed, was her sister’s good fortune. Eloise could “see” the
sophisticated world that Susannah always craved. Now she’s ever
determined to stay here, and spend time seducing one Hugh Beaufort if
she can. But Eloise knew the real face of court under
all that glitz and glamour, so she tries her best to protect Susannah,
as does Wolf and Hugh. Yet she’d find herself in one scrap or the other
while trying to assuage her insatiable curiosity, more often than not,
nosing where she shouldn’t have been. For all her rebellious nature and
stubborn streak, she was an inexperienced girl who’d simply be devoured
in the blink of an eye by the more experienced and debauched
sophisticates of the court. Her openness and subtle flirtation with Hugh
and a few other men was already catching unwanted attentions. Plus the
tale of her rescue and a brief captivity under a vile lord had already
spread. She begins hearing equally vile whispers about her reputation.
It didn’t help that, knowing it all, Susannah continues to get herself
in trouble.
But Susannah’s main target was Hugh, even though he
was very conflicted about the whole matter of making her his mistress.
As I mentioned before, he understood the severity of the ramifications
way more than she did. Susannah was rash and had the temper tantrum of a
teenager. She kept throwing herself at Hugh at every turn, whenever
they’d get some privacy. I would say both wanted each-other so it kept
happening more often than not. I don’t entirely blame her but the way
she wanted the whole thing to happen (to make point to her father I’d
say) was not remotely mature. After a few trysts when he began worrying
about a child, Hugh naturally proposed marriage. And this ticked
Susannah off totally. She.Won’t.Marry... like ever! Her reasons were
childish at best, but there were some truths in it too. I could see her
vulnerabilities and distrust in men where marriage was concerned and
exactly why.
Funny thing was, try as she might, Susannah couldn’t
make herself feel interested in any other men, and more than a few were
interested in her for a tryst or two, thanks to the gossipmongers.
Susannah wanted Hugh, and Hugh only. Her body would sing for him, and
not for anyone else. So how as she going to make herself an independent
woman in the court? What was her plan? She kept throwing out Hugh’s
marriage proposal, then does her best to make him jealous by flirting
with other men though she had no interest in them. Denying one such
lecherous a$$hole brought both her and Hugh trouble later in the story.
Well,
simply put, she had no plan but just a stubborn streak that could’ve
been her asset if she used it correctly. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the
case. The only 2 places she used that streak of her was 1. Getting
herself in trouble and, 2. In continuing to refuse Hugh’s marriage
proposal. WOW my head hurt! It was rather a cycle; Susannah would do
things to rile Hugh up, to make him jealous. Get in trouble, from where
Hugh would rescue her. Then they’d end up in bed, or wherever they
were... Then Hugh would propose again, she’d vehemently deny. She’d tell
Hugh that she doesn’t want marriage, while on the inside she wanted
more than that. After some weeks into their affair, she wanted to be
Mrs. Beaufort, but the only problem was Hugh never said the words she
wanted to hear.
Rinse and repeat for the rest of the story.
I
know I may sound like a broken record but I lost count of how many
times Susannah said “no” to Hugh’s proposal. And Hugh was nothing but
chivalrous to her. He cared, there was no doubt about it. Always coming
to her rescue until the end when she got herself in another scrape. This
is what happens... After Susannah is sent home, Hugh goes to see her.
John Tyrell found out and went on a tirade, humiliating Hugh with bitter
words, especially when Susannah declares her non-virgin state. I could
tell she did it just to rile her father up. Thumbing it on his face.
Then she tells Hugh without any qualms that “it’s over” between them,
all because he didn’t say “I Love You” first. And all this after the man
once again sought her hands and got humiliated for all his troubles.
Seriously?! Did you tell him you loved him, hmm Susannah? Ugh! I don’t
even know why Hugh was still after her... oh wait, he was in love with
her already but after so many rejections, the poor guy was pretty sure
Susannah didn’t return the feelings. *SMH*
After Hugh leaves,
John beats Susannah and locks her up. But she finds a way to run away...
again (which was apparently her only solution when she got herself in
trouble). This time, while lying in a cave in the woods, she understood
what she’d done by rejecting Hugh. That, with Hugh, she could’ve been
safe from her father, AND she could have had him in bed whenever she
wanted to. Whatever realization came to her, I couldn’t help thinking
that it was all because she was in trouble again, and Hugh had always
been her savior, not because she loved him even if that’s what she
claimed later. All I knew that Susannah had no idea of what ‘love’
meant. Nope. If she was indeed in love, she would’ve expressed her
feelings to him first. If he denied and hurt her, I’d give that she
tried. But Susannah wouldn’t budge until Hugh said the words. She didn’t
till the end. Real love doesn’t work that way m’dear!
Anyhoo,
Hugh is an idiot so he rides up again the next day only to hear that
Susannah has ran away... again. He saves her... again. They ride to
court... again. But this time, Hugh is indeed in trouble thanks to John
Tyrell who accuses him of kidnapping Susannah and worse, defiling her.
Poor guy hasn’t had a hint of peace since Susannah came into his life.
Someone with more brains would’ve stayed away from that girl, but I
guess when you’re in love, you just can’t help being an idiot. We all do
idiotic things for the sake of the ones we love, don’t we? *sigh*
Some
good things do happen apart from Savannah’s continuous “brush with
trouble”. Eloise has her baby, strengthening her happiness with Wolf.
They were some couple and it takes Susannah a long time to actually
understand that her sister is extremely happy and in love with her
brother in law, who returns the feelings. Since the moment she convinced
herself she is indeed in love with Hugh, who was at that time
languishing in Tower of London under her own father’s accusations,
Susannah realized how much of an idiot she was. And that told me she was
finally getting a grip of her callous behavior and that maybe, there’s
some hope for her yet. Personally, I do hope she’d learned her lesson
and would cherish Hugh for the rest of her life for all the trouble
she’d put him through. :/
But don’t let my review put you off of.
And please start with book 1 to get the most of the series. You may
enjoy the story more than me (I blame Susannah for it) because the sex
scenes were hot. I wish there were more of those between Wolf and
Eloise. Mmmm. ;)
Throughout the story we see some very interesting developments about book 3, Rose Bride.
That one’s going to be about Margery, Wolf’s first love, who returned
to court suddenly and had been of tremendous help to Wolf. I won’t say
how, so you gotta read to find out. I can only say that so far she’d
seemed like a gracious, if a bit troubled, woman and I’d like to know
more about what happened that put Wolf off so much. And what kinda sexy
scrapes she gets herself into with the King’s physician. ;) For Rebel Bride, 3.5 stars.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
◈Thank you for visiting :)◈