Review: The Seduction of Elliot McBride by Jennifer Ashley

Click here to buy the book on Amazon
Click here to buy the paperback at The Book Depository
In truth, I haven't forgotten about the MacKenzies and the McBrides, but I needed to put down the series a few months ago so that I could read other authors. I have to say I missed them very much, and I'm glad to return to Jennifer Ashley's series and to read about Elliot McBride.

The story begins with Juliana jilted at the altar by her long-time fiance, and Elliot McBride stepping in to save her from further embarrassment. We discover that Elliot and Juliana have harboured secret feelings for each other for quite a while -- this, in itself, makes for an interesting and exciting romance, but Jennifer Ashley adds various shades of complications: Elliot suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after his year of imprisonment in India. When the darkness strikes him, it is debilitating, and Juliana needs to figure out how to help her husband.

There really isn't much focus on the falling-in-love aspect, because there was no question of it between Juliana and Elliot -- theirs is a story of returning to your first love, and discovering it was true love -- but, this is also a story about how love can overcome darkness. PTSD has been tackled in many ways in many different romance novels, and with good reason: it's an elusive, undefinable condition that manifests itself differently with each person. There's no pegging it down, and there's no cure-all. I thought Jennifer Ashley handled Elliot's situation in a sympathetic and tactful way -- which makes one in awe of Elliot's bravery in the face of his madness. All the characters in this story all display courage, compassion and understanding: Jennifer Ashley honors Elliot's caregivers: Mahindar and his family, whom Elliot rescued, and who are now "saving" him daily from his "madness", and there's Juliana, who had no idea what she was getting into, but isn't one to run away from a difficult situation.

Elliot's body was as solid as the foundations of this house. And yet, she sensed his fragility. He could crumble at the right touch to the right place, just like some of the walls in this old place. Juliana had to make sure that the touch never came.
- Chapter 10

The second complication is Archibald Stacy, Elliot's friend from India, who everyone believes is died (and some believe Elliot is responsible for his death). There are two threats to Elliot and Juliana: the first being the investigation launched by Mr. and Mrs. Dalrymple to show that Elliot was responsible for Stacy's death in India, and, second, that Archibald Stacy being alive, and stalking Elliot and Juliana. It's a tug-of-war between Elliot's past, and present -- and both fighting to shape his future. One will lead to Elliot's death (if found guilty of Stacy's death), and one to Elliot's salvation.

I can imagine how confused Juliana must have when she entered Elliot's life -- with the mix of Scottish and Indian cultures, then Elliot's condition, and then the problem Archibald Stacy's presence/absence posed to their lives. It's an experience similar to Alice's adventure through Wonderland, except Juliana's wasn't temporary and this one was real life. While the story focuses on Elliot and his journey towards recovery, Juliana also undergoes a subtle transformation: from someone who had set a conventional target for herself, she becomes a woman who stepped out of her comfort zone and into undiscovered frontier --

She'd been so secure in her engagement, rather smug that she was in no danger of being left on the shelf. Not only that, she'd wanted the stability of a normal life, something she'd fought for all her life.
- Chapter 1

The problem with Archibald Stacy is how complicated this complication presented. It's partly because Elliot refused to talk about India, and we only caught glimpses of it through the vague stories from Mahindar and Elliot. The clearest story came from Mr. and Mrs. Dalrymple, but they were presented as being of questionable morals and manners, so we weren't certain how much of their story to believe. Eventually, when the full story of Stacy's predicament is disclosed, it's part head-scratcher, part lightbulb moment. I appreciate how it serves as an impetus for Elliot and breaking free from the chains of the past -- but, I wish it were something better explained in the story.

Overall, this was a really, really good read, and, once again, I have fallen in love with the MacKenzies and McBrides. (I went online to check out the next few books in the series, and it was really, really hard to resist buying them.)

The Seduction of Elliot McBride is Book 5 in Jennifer Ashley's MacKenzies/McBrides series. To find out more about Jennifer Ashley and her books, click below:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

Review: The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley

Click here to buy the book on Amazon
Click here to buy the paperback at The Book Depository
The impression I've gotten of Hart as I read about him through his younger brothers' stories, is, honestly, not a very good one. I saw a man who was driven and passionate, but whose intensity and energy were focused on two things: becoming Prime Minister and managing his brothers' lives. What was curious, though, is that, despite Hart's very controlling ways, his brothers all still have a deep respect and love for him -- even Eleanor Ramsay, "the one that got away," is very kind when she talks about Hart. I had to wonder what it was they saw in Hart. I had to wonder what it was they loved about Hart.

Hart Mackenzie is on the brink of achieving his goal of becoming Prime Minister, but the last step is also the one fraught with the most dangers. When Eleanor Ramsay suddenly reappears in his life and reveals that someone has been sending her photographs of Hart -- naked photographs of Hart, taken when he was a much younger man by his much older (and now dead) mistress. Despite their "estrangement," Eleanor knows what being prime minister means to Hart and so she takes it upon herself to discover who is sending the photos.

While it is a race to secure Hart's future, it is also a journey back to Hart's past, and it all seems to be tied to the house at High Holborn, to Hart's mistress, Mrs. Palmer, and to the reason why Eleanor left Hart in the first place. It's a place and time that Hart is unwilling to return to, but he must, if he has to have any chance of winning back Eleanor.

Hart's hand clenched around his glass. "El, you are not going to that house."

...

"But it's just a house," she said. "Nothing wrong with it now, and it might hold a vital clue."

"You know good and well that it's not just a house." The anger climbed. "And stop giving me that innocent look. You're not innocent at all. I know you."

"Yes, I am afraid you know me a bit too well. Makes talking to you dashed difficult sometimes."

Eleanor had a little smile on her face, making a joke of it, and Hart couldn't breathe. She always did this, walked into a room and took the air out of it.
- Chapter 3

I loved, loved, loved Eleanor Ramsay. She's an impoverished Scottish earl's daughter, about the marry the wealthy heir to a powerful title, and she had the courage and integrity to walk away from it all -- and then have the same courage to return and help Hart. She's just so, so amazing -- unaffected by Hart's control and importance, but affected by him at his most vulnerable and helpless. She is a woman you can count on to stand by your side at your most darkest and most despairing. I love her.

But the Hart she faced today was a different man from the one she'd been engaged to, and that worried her. The Hart who'd laughed so readily, who'd been animated and excited by life -- was gone. In his place was a man even harder and more driven than before. He'd seen too much tragedy, too much death, too much loss. Gossip and newspapers had put it about that Hart had been relieved to be rid of Lady Sarah, his wife, but Eleanor knew differently. The bleak light now in Hart's eyes came from grief.
- Chapter 2

One realises that Hart isn't perfect and he isn't as infallible as the world thinks him to be -- at the heart of Hart is a man who is still reacting to his father's abuse and who believes he is responsible for holding the world together. Hart and Eleanor's courtship story doesn't read like a typical courtship -- but, then, Hart and Eleanor aren't your typical hero and heroine either. A lot of their story is a revisiting of their history -- it's painful, but necessary. Hart, especially, needed to reveal that part of himself that he'd been hiding from Eleanor. It's also a story about their present circumstance: Eleanor and Hart are very different people now, and have suffered through many heartbreaks (Hart, in particular).

He should have refused to let her go, should have run off with her that very afternoon, bound her to him forever. He'd made mistake after mistake with her. But he'd been young, angry, proud, and ... embarrassed. The lofty Hart Mackenzie, certain he could do whatever he pleased, had learned differently with Eleanor. He let his voice soften. "Tell me how you are, El."
- Chapter 1

I get the sense that Jennifer Ashley is "ending" the four Mackenzie brothers' stories, and she provides such a wonderful and heartfelt closure to their story. Hart, Ian, Cam and Mac all come together and reveal (to the readers) what has kept their family together through the ups and downs. It's amazing how the author was able to portray this family with all its flaws and dysfunction, but not letting them wallow in it. Instead, the Mackenzies have always looked up and moved forward.

Eleanor may be known as "the one that got away," but she also holds the distinction of being "the one that came back" -- not in regret or remorse over things that she had lost and what could've been, but in hope of the promise of what would be. A intrepid and dauntless heroine, a noble and devoted hero (I think Hart would rankle at this description ^_^) -- this story is a "win" in my book. ^_^

The Duke's Perfect Wife is Book 4 in Jennifer Ashley's Highland Pleasures (The Mackenzies/McBrides) series. To find out more about Jennifer Ashley and her books, click below:
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter

Review: The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley

Click here to buy the book on Amazon
Click here to buy the paperback at The Book Depository
When a series is about siblings, the challenge is to make each one stand out and have a unique story -- in the Mackenzie's case, Hart, the eldest brother and the Duke of Kilmorgan, is the head of the family, and I think there's no denying that Ian is the heart and soul. Cameron is the second eldest and the "spare" -- he loves horses with a passion and has an ugly scar on his face. There are hushed speculations about his rocky marriage and his crazy late wife, and louder discussions about his many mistresses. Stuck in the middle, Cameron and his story are suffering from an identity crisis as evidenced by the multiple storylines:

1. There's Cameron and Ainsley and the blackmail plot
2. There's Cameron and Ainsley and Cameron's previous marriage
3. There's Cameron and Ainsley and Daniel
4. There's Cameron and Ainsley and Jasmine, the horse (and Jasmine's cruel owner, Pierson)

Granted that Cameron and Ainsley deal with all these difficulties together, but I didn't see them grow together through their experiences -- Cameron seemed to have his own agenda and so did Ainsley. I couldn't help but be disappointed because there was so much wealth in Cameron's character. Where is the man who collected books with naughty pictures in them (and smuggled them to Ian at the asylum)? Where is the man who bravely defended his younger brothers against their father?

Cameron in his own story seemed like a muted version of himself: he gave me the impression of a man too tired to fight, so he just avoided the world altogether and stayed with his horses. That is one side of Cameron. The other side, the Cameron with horses shows a man I can't help but admire. Considering everything that has happened to him, Cameron has retained this much gentleness and compassion and love (just not for people). In that Cameron is a strange mix of broken and hopeful, wary and optimistic -- he saw Jasmine's potential and sacrificed his own pride for the sake of the horse.

"What should I be doing? Demanding more jewels? Breaking plates and screeching if I don't get them? Threatening to leave you for a man who will buy me more?"

"It's what they all do." His voice was hollow.
- Chapter 23

Ainsley's change was better explained, and this was, I think, what redeems this story. I thought Jennifer Ashley did a good job showing how the decisions one makes can drastically alter the path one's life takes -- and the beauty of Ainsley is that she made the best of her situation. While she presented a very subdued front, there was still fire and pluck to her. She gets things done in very cunning ways. ^_^ I also enjoyed the introduction of Ainsley's family, the McBrides, and I look forward to reading about them soon. (The Seduction of Elliot McBride is book 5.)

Ainsley was a glorified errand-runer, trusted by the queen to solve domestic dilemmas, asked by her highborn friends to help with their social events.

Dependent on others for her living.

Exotic men like Lord Cameron Mackenzie were not for Ainsley. That dream was dust.
- Chapter 8

With so much happening, the author really wasn't able to develop the romance between Cameron and Ainsley. The attraction was present from their very first meeting and there were definitely sparks there -- but, when they finally got together, I didn't see much chemistry between them. I didn't think they really had time to explore their relationship, because they had their hands full handling so many different crises.

The Mackenzies are, without a doubt, a complex mix of bad boy/fierce protector/wounded soul -- I'm about to start reading Hart's story, and, three books in, I have to say that Ian's story is still my favourite, but I'm also excited to read how the rest of them gain their happy endings. ^_^

"Do be careful, Ainsley. They entice you, these Mackenzies, first with their wickedness and then with all that is heartbreaking."
- Chapter 18

The Many Sins of Lord Cameron is Book 3 in Jennifer Ashley's Highland Pleasures (The Mackenzies/McBrides) series. To find out more about Jennifer Ashley and her books, click below:
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter

Review: Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley

Click here to buy the book on Amazon
Click here to buy the paperback at The Book Depository
To call their courtship and marriage a whirlwind romance is an understatement, because Isabella met and married Mac on her first night as a debutante. It caused quite a scandal, but nothing like the scandal they caused in their married life. Mac Mackenzie is an artist and embraces the very bohemian life of an artist, and Isabella, fresh out of finishing school, was an eager participant in the hedonistic offerings of Mac's life. But love grows, and the people ought to grow alongside it, but Mac stays firmly fixed in time and space: drinking his family's whiskey and painting up a frenzy. It takes a terrible tragedy for them to realise that the love they feel and their expectation of each other are world's apart, and Isabella makes the painful decision to leave Mac behind.

Mac had never understood Isabella's liking for so many damned people in the house, but he had to admit that he'd never really tried to understand her likes and dislikes. He'd simply drunk her in like fine wine, not questioning, letting her fill and inspire him. He never thought to ask how the wine felt.
- Chapter 5

If Ian's story was about discovering and creating a new relationship, Isabella's story is about revisiting and repairing an old one. If the little tidbits shared at the beginning of each chapter is to be believed, in their three-year separation, Mac and Isabella still managed to live close to each other: when he moved to the continent, so did she. When she returned to England, so did he. They can't live together, but they can't live apart --

Two images came to mind as I read about Isabella and Mac dancing around each other: magnetic poles flipped on the same side and, therefore, repel each other. And the other are the columns that Kahlil Gibran describes in The Prophet:

...
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
...
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
- The Prophet excerpt copied from here

In a sense, Isabella and Mac's story serves as a cautionary tale for anyone who dares to fall in love with a Mackenzie: they love with such intensity and brightness, but it is a love that threatens to consume. It is a test of mettle and metal: will you crumble under the intensity or be shaped and strengthened by it? If you look at Mac and Isabella, they seem like a truly unlikely pairing: Mac is wild and free spirited and Isabella is the product of very strict and rigid upbringing, but something drew them to one another and that something continues to draw them to one another.

Memories flooded back to Mac as he gathered her against him. Don't remember. Don't let it hurt. But memories were merciless things.
- Chapter 14

What amazed me about Isabella is that she is so young -- 18 when she married, and 21 now as she tries to figure out how to rebuild her relationship with Mac. She has overcome the heartbreak of their loss, but it was an event that drove Isabella nearly on the brink of giving up. It was her love for Mac prevented her from walking away completely.

Love is not enough, but love is the answer. It's a strange truism that applies to our hero and heroine. I loved their defiance of society's norms: separated/estranged couples aren't supposed to stay in love with each other; they aren't supposed to stay faithful to each other ... It's unconventional, and out of the ordinary, but then, what do you expect of Mackenzies?

Like Ian and Beth's story, Ashley frames Isabella and Mac's story with a mystery: someone is pretending to be Mac and selling artwork in Mac's name. It takes a sinister turn when the person surfaces and tries to claim Mac's life ... and Mac's wife.


***Minor Spoiler Alert***
***Minor Spoiler Alert***
***Minor Spoiler Alert***
***Minor Spoiler Alert***
***Minor Spoiler Alert***




Now, this part of the story felt a bit stretched: a man exists who looks similar to Mac, and possesses a similar talent to Mac -- and this doppelgänger is English (like Mac), but they aren't related? The odds are so, so unlikely -- but I was willing to suspend disbelief because I understand that the author was trying to present parallels. Mac's life and upbringing wasn't all that idyllic and he suffered his father's abuses, but, for another man, Mac's life is the dream to aspire for.




***End of Spoiler***
***End of Spoiler***
***End of Spoiler***
***End of Spoiler***
***End of Spoiler***

As the mystery unfolds, Mac and Isabella muddle through their relationship: they're together, but Isabella hasn't reversed their separation yet; they love and make love, but, somehow feel that isn't enough to sustain a marriage ... ultimately, Jennifer Ashley ends her story the way marriages begin: with a question and an answer. We see love as an abstract, but, as we have seen, thus far, in Ian's story and Isabella and Mac's story, love is an action and it begins with the decision to take the first step.

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage is book 2 in Jennifer Ashley's Highland Pleasures (The Mackenzies/McBrides) series. To find out more about Jennifer Ashley and her books, click below:
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter

Review: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

Click here to buy the book on Amazon
Click here to buy the paperback at The Book Depository
You know you're reading a good book when you fall asleep reading it, and wake up wanting to pick up where you left off. And, in between, you skip the chance to take a nap, because you just want to keep reading it.

And, at the end of it, there's a sense of happiness, satisfaction and pleasure in having read a really good book, but I also felt a tiny bit of regret at not having read this book sooner (so that I could've loved it longer. ^_^) Nevertheless, I am so, so pleased to have discovered another family to love, and, while I'm working on this review, I've already finished reading the second book in the series, Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage and about to start on The Many Sins of Lord Cameron.

I'm a bit stuck writing this review, because I really, really admired Ian and want to do his character justice. He is incredibly intelligent and very good with facts -- and he recognises that he can't read emotions very well. The world thinks he's mad, but I saw him as the most balanced, most self-aware character I have met so far. He knows his limitations, but he also knows not to be hindered by those limitations.

Ian's upbringing was already complicated by a rage-filled father and a delicate mother, and it was further complicated by his "madness" and subsequent stay at the asylum -- but the amazing thing about Ian is that he still retains an incredible amount of faith in humanity, despite what has been done to him. Ian can't be kind or compassionate because his "madness" prevents him from understanding emotions, but his mind can rationalise the need to repay the courtesy extended to him. In that I became fascinated with how there are logical counterparts to emotional concepts: kindness = service; compassion = goodwill, etc ... I think it's this exchange that allows Ian to deal with his brothers, but, there is one emotion that Ian hasn't quite grasped yet -- love. The closest logical approximation to it is "attachment", but it really isn't the same and Ian knows this and is very curious.

This is what I loved about his story, as Ian delves into the concept of love, we all realise (the characters in the story as well) how much/little we know about love and how difficult it is to explain what love is -- and it challenges all of us to deconstruct this abstract concept and make it tangible, and explainable to Ian (and to ourselves).

"I told you I can't fall in love," he said. "But you have."

Her heart thumped. "Have I?"

"With your husband."

So many people wanted to talk about Thomas Ackerley. "I did. I loved him very much."

"What was it like?" His words were so low she barely caught them. "Explain to me what loving feels like, Beth. I want to understand."

He waited, his golden eyes burning, for her to explain the mysteries of the world. "It is the most divine thing imaginable," she tried.

"I don't want to hear about divinity. I want to hear about flesh and bone. Is love like desire?"

"Some people think so."

"But you don't."

Sweat trickled down Beth's back, despite the clouds cutting the sun's heat. The trouble with Ian Mackenzie's questions was that he asked the unanswerable. And yet she should know how to answer -- everyone should. But they couldn't, because everyone simply knew. Everyone except Ian.
- Chapter 9 - Chapter 10

It falls unto Beth to show Ian what love is. When we think complementary, the idea of yin-yang immediately comes to mind -- not in terms of strong/weak, but in other ways. Beth is heart where Ian is the mind. She is the lightness to his gravity ... and vice versa. In that, they fit -- truly, like yin and yang.

Jennifer Ashley strikes a wonderful balance between the courtship and the mystery of Ian's past, the presence of Inspector Lloyd Fellows (and the case of the murdered prostitutes). The author poses such formidable questions and challenges for our hero and heroine to overcome -- casting doubts on Ian's sanity and innocence. It's truly a test of discernment (logical) and faith (emotional) for Beth (and us): Given the facts, what does she believe? Given what she sees of Ian, what does she believe?

As first books (of a series) go, this one also did a fantastic job of introducing the rest of the Mackenzies. She paints a compelling picture of a family so full of tragedy, imperfection and emotional hang-ups, but also so full of story and heart. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I've already finished reading Lady Isabella and Lord Mac's story and will be reading Cam's story after this. They're irresistible!

Mac sighed, cutting through the memory. "We're Mackenzies. We don't get happy endings."
- Chapter 9

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie is book 1 in Jennifer Ashley's Highland Pleasures (The Mackenzies/McBrides) series. To find out more about Jennifer Ashley and her books, click below:
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter