The Heiress
by Lynsay Sands
After reading the first book in Lynsay Sands' new historical series, I was looking forward to Daniel and Suzette's story. Unfortunately, The Heiress turned out to be a rehash of what I had already read. Almost two-thirds of the book was the same story told from a different point of view, and I was bored with it. I felt like Daniel and Suzette's story was complete up to the point when the previous book ended. I was expecting their story to move forward. I wanted Suzette to lead Daniel on a merry chase for lying to her. I wanted major groveling from Daniel, instead I got no groveling. Then I wanted to find out where the attempts on Daniel's life were coming from and why. The Heiress did not have the same charm or humor as the first book which was a huge disappointment for me, as I've come to expect that from Lynsay Sands' books.
Since the majority of the book was redundant, Ms. Sands had to put a lot of action in that final third of the book, and it suffered. It read like an old silent movie: fast-forwarded action, lots of drama and an overly obvious villain, who shows up out of the blue. Ms. Sands put in a lot of over the top actions and thoughts in The Heiress that I really couldn't take any of it seriously. I had to suspend a huge amount of my disbeliefs in order to accept any of the original portion of the story, and that just doesn't work for me in a historical romance.
Suzette had read this banned book wherein the heroine's first time was filled with “streams of blood and so much pain she fainted from it”. Suzette took this as gospel and I found her reliance on this fictional work as fact to be just plain silly. To take the silliness further, Suzette constantly referred to Daniel's penis as “his maypole,” and I snorted and rolled my eyes, every single time it cropped up. If Suzette hadn't acted so brazenly throughout the book, I might have found it humorous but, her actions and her internal thoughts just didn't match up.
Since Daniel lied to Suzette throughout the entire book and they never really talked, I couldn't believe that they had fallen in love. They only had one meaningful conversation that consisted of a few paragraphs, otherwise all they did was have lots of near sex, and lots and lots of lusty thoughts. I couldn't equate all that lust with love so I couldn't believe in their HEA.
Either read The Heiress, or The Countess but, really, there is no need to read both.
Reviewed by: Valarie Pelissero
“Mostly a retelling of the first story.”
March 2011, 384 pages
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 0061963097
Suzette is not like other heiresses; she wants a poor husband, a gentleman who will be so grateful for her dowry that he will allow her access to it so that she can pay off her father's gambling debts. When this alluring beauty encounters Daniel Woodrow -- handsome, titled, single...and even more impoverished than she could have hoped for -- it seems Suzette's wildest dreams have come true.
But Daniel has not been truthful. Tired of being accosted by an endless stream of vapid coquettes and their fortune-hunting mothers, Daniel has decided to plead poverty to stop them in their tracks. Yet here is a most refreshing and delectable lady, who claims to be thrilled by his penury. Now all Daniel has to do to find true happiness is to keep a little white lie alive...while avoiding a villain who's determined to prevent this union by any means necessary.
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