The action of this book opens in India with our heroine, Georgiana Knight, rushing in where angels fear to tread in order to save an Indian friend from a bride-burning. She is rescued by English diplomat Ian Prescott, the Marguess of Griffith. The absurdity continues from there into a weak and unbelievable plot that includes Georgiana arriving on the back of an elephant to visit an Indian king, the murder of an Indian prince, a triumphant return to England, and the kidnapping of the Marquess' son. The point of the plot? I'm really not quite sure. It's complicated, convuluted, and honestly not terribly interesting. The love story also is incredibly weak. Georgiana is a completely unbelievable character (she would fit in better in NOW than in the 19th century) and Ian is the dime-a-dozen cardbord cutout tortured romantic hero with a dark past. We are not shown the love story, we are told that it happens - as unbelievable that it might be that Ian is attracted to this supremely annoying girl. There is no emotional involvement with the characters (at least not for me), the characters speak as if it took place in 20th century America, and even that is stilted and forced. Oh yeah, and I don't have a clue where the title came from. Huh? Don't waste your time. ( )

The action of this book opens in India with our heroine, Georgiana Knight, rushing in where angels fear to tread in order to save an Indian friend from a bride-burning. She is rescued by English diplomat Ian Prescott, the Marguess of Griffith. The absurdity continues from there into a weak and unbelievable plot that includes Georgiana arriving on the back of an elephant to visit an Indian king, the murder of an Indian prince, a triumphant return to England, and the kidnapping of the Marquess' son. The point of the plot? I'm really not quite sure. It's complicated, convuluted, and honestly not terribly interesting.

The love story also is incredibly weak. Georgiana is a completely unbelievable character (she would fit in better in NOW than in the 19th century) and Ian is the dime-a-dozen cardbord cutout tortured romantic hero with a dark past. We are not shown the love story, we are told that it happens - as unbelievable that it might be that Ian is attracted to this supremely annoying girl. There is no emotional involvement with the characters (at least not for me), the characters speak as if it took place in 20th century America, and even that is stilted and forced.

Oh yeah, and I don't have a clue where the title came from. Huh?

Don't waste your time. ( )

This is the first book in the Spice Trilogy. We have met Ian Prescott, Marquess of Griffith in the Knight Miscellany series. Ian has been friends with Knight brothers for most of his life. Ian is also a diplomat. He is called to India to broker a treaty that will prevent a war. When he arrives in Bombay he is taken off guard by a young woman riding hell bent for a funeral. He goes to her rescue and finds Georgiana “Georgie” Knight. He is smitten with the hellion. Georgie leads him on a merry chase and he is lost. I liked Ian very much. He is a gentleman but he isn't afraid to let out the barbarian when the time comes to protect his son and Georgie. Ian has a terrible secret however and it might just ruin his relationship with Georgie.

Georgie has been raised in India and has adopted some of the beliefs of the people there. She does yoga to control her asthma and she eats no meat. She is more comfortable in a sari but she is dead set against the inequality of women. She does all she can to make life better for the woman of that country. Georgie is a wild child, left on her own too much of the time. Her brothers Gabriel and Derek are soldiers in the English army and are gone most of the time. Her father is retired from the East India Company and spends his time sailing the seas so he is also gone most of the time. Despite all of this Georgie is a well-balanced young lady. She finds a great deal of joy in life and she helps Ian find that same joy. She also helps Ian become to better father to Matthew.

There is a dark undercurrent to this story. A misunderstanding leads to Ian, Derek, Gabriel and Georgie to flee India in haste and that misunderstanding put them all in danger. The story ends happily but there are some tense moments throughout the story. It will be interesting to read Gabriel and Derek’s story. This story also moves along every quickly. You are always trying to find out what will happen next. It is also a little shorter than some novels, which is not a bad thing though. Ms. Foley is a wonderful storyteller and this book shows that. Her writing improves with every book she writes. I look forward to each new story. ( )

For a while, Gaelen Foley was my number one favorite romance novelist. The first book of hers that I read was Prince Charming and I immediately fell in love with it. I believe I’ve read it about 8 times now, which might just be my record. It’s a comfort read at this point, but when I read it the first time it was new and exciting and I felt for the characters in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Lady Daniela Chiaramonte was a heroine unlike most of the ones I had read about and the plot and the romance were both very exciting. I can still see some of the scenes from the book in my head. I’m not sure if I’d feel this way if I read it again - it’s been several years now - but Gaelen Foley has never matched that level for me again. She doesn’t do it with Her Only Desire, either, but it’s easily as good as many of the historical romances out there.

Miss Georgiana Knight, raised in India, is wary of men. She has spent too much time reading her aunt’s little book on men and marriage. Her aunt, however, was the Hawkscliffe Harlot, the most infamous member of the Hawkscliffe family, giving birth to a number of illegitimate children; so it’s difficult to imagine that her views on matrimony should be trusted. Georgiana thinks they are, until she meets Ian Prescott, the marquess of Griffith, who despite being anti-marriage himself, convinces her to give romance a try.

I enjoyed this book, but I would say it’s about average for a romance. The characters are spunky, but at least Georgiana is anachronistic and has very modern viewpoints. It’s very hard to imagine that a girl raised in India, surrounded by Islamic best friends, does not understand how these Muslim girls feel about their religion. Perhaps she does not approve of their decisions, but the way she behaves is unrealistic. She is an engaging girl, but I don’t see her as fitting in with the period. Nor does the language fit in, though, as she constantly calls Ian a “bad boy” and every so often the prose would slip and I’d be jolted out of the story. I liked Ian a bit better, as he at least fits in with his time period and is properly ashamed of unorthodox behavior.

I didn’t really believe in the love story, but as so often in these books, it happens too fast for me to believe it’s anything but lust. The couple goes through a lot together, but I didn’t see a compelling reason that I should root for them to remain together.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book, because I did. I found the plot moderately interesting and I liked the appearance of characters I recognized from the rest of the Knight Miscellany books. I never wanted to put the book down. I do feel, however, that there is a reason people say the Spice Trilogy (of which this is the first book) is not as good as Foley’s previous efforts, because this is not. If you’re looking for a good place to start, go with the Ascension Trilogy or The Duke, both of which I really enjoyed.

http://chikune.com/blog/?p=305 ( )

The action of this book opens in India with our heroine, Georgiana Knight, rushing in where angels fear to tread in order to save an Indian friend from a bride-burning. She is rescued by English diplomat Ian Prescott, the Marguess of Griffith. The absurdity continues from there into a weak and unbelievable plot that includes Georgiana arriving on the back of an elephant to visit an Indian king, the murder of an Indian prince, a triumphant return to England, and the kidnapping of the Marquess' son. The point of the plot? I'm really not quite sure. It's complicated, convuluted, and honestly not terribly interesting.

The love story also is incredibly weak. Georgiana is a completely unbelievable character (she would fit in better in NOW than in the 19th century) and Ian is the dime-a-dozen cardbord cutout tortured romantic hero with a dark past. We are not shown the love story, we are told that it happens - as unbelievable that it might be that Ian is attracted to this supremely annoying girl. There is no emotional involvement with the characters (at least not for me), the characters speak as if it took place in 20th century America, and even that is stilted and forced.

Oh yeah, and I don't have a clue where the title came from. Huh?

Don't waste your time. ( )