Official Review: Where the Viscount Met His Match
Posted: 07 Jan 2018, 10:48
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Where the Viscount Met His Match" by Tabetha Waite.]
4 out of 4 stars
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On the servants' staircase at Eversleigh Hall is Where the Viscount Met His Match on Christmas season of 1811. Mara Miller cringed when the heavy breakfast tray she is carrying towards the kitchen crashes on the floor in a noisy cacophony when Roarke Garrott, the heir of Lord Eversleigh stumbled upon her. Her life changes in the blink of an eye, right after the chaste peck. Together, they would sneak away to the estate, talk about the future and their dreams. Such stolen moments had been the best times of their lives - the most naive. With one twist of ugly fate, she got no choice but tread on one of the worst possible places imaginable - the workhouse. An opportunity came for her to save poor Bentley - one of the African slaves on a slave ship bound to Brazil. Under a new identity - Anna Smith, a haberdashery owner - she tries to keep the secrets of her shady past and build strong walls around herself.
Roarke Garrott, Viscount Eversleigh had been in his own personal hell for the past seven years mourning for the death of Mara Miller, the golden-haired, green-eyed girl he met at Eversleigh Hall. From the first moment he’d laid eyes on her until long after he’d thought her gone and buried, she’d haunted his heart and soul. He fled to India, to escape from his mother's matchmaking and the strictures placed upon him and his title. He strongly believes that marrying for money and social standing is ridiculous. Just when he is ready to move on, he went back to London only to find Mara Miller alive. The tangled web of lies she is weaving and the high walls she has built around herself vanished, the moment Roarke moves heaven and earth to keep her by his side.
Where the Viscount Met His Match by Tabetha Waite is a historical romance fiction with underlying themes of love, sacrifice, struggle, fear, secrets, lies, death, second chance and survival. It is published by Etopia Press. First Etopia Press electronic publication was in June 2017 with 328 standard pages, 250 words per page.
The story depicts a master-slave relationship which is not only frowned upon and gossiped during this era but also entails a higher possibility of being an outcast or disowned by kindred, and worst, condemned by the society. I admire Roarke for fighting for his love towards Mara the same way I appreciate Mara for being so strong despite the struggles she had faced when she was alone. I felt sorry for Roarke's sister, Lyra, who suffered maltreatment from his husband. Here are some highlights on 18th century: "It is prevalent under English law that a husband had the right to do whatever he wanted to his wife, even if he felt it involved ill-treatment." Married women are also deprived of any property and wealth from their husbands. Higher education was a privilege for some girls of the middle and higher social levels. Deprived of education, Mara's friend Celeste got no choice but swim in the dirt of prostitution. It's in the late nineteenth century when women's right and prohibition on slavery and servitude emerged in England. I can't help feeling pity for women during these times.
I like the flow of the story. It seems a chronicle of real people's experiences, though the author posted the disclaimer stating these are all fiction. I hail the author for the steamy love scenes with frenzied climax evenly peppered in the content. She describes them in a way reader's could feel like they are watching the erotic scenes in various stunts - live. Generally, from the book's cover to the contents, I could say that the book is professionally edited. However, I have noticed minor downsides worth mentioning. There are lots of supporting characters involve in the story apart from those names that are just mentioned. What made it confusing, is when the characters are called by their formal names and their nick names in a cocktail. A few sentences have wrong punctuation. “Surely it can wait for another time?" It should be a period (.) not a question mark (?) or it could have been "Can it surely wait for another time?" "Roarke thought the dish would go far to tempt Mara’s pallet." Palate is misspelled as pallet. I used to count words that are not necessarily repeated. The adverb "overmuch" is used 5 times while the verb "daresay" is used 4 times in this book. The presence of a few Spanish and French words could make the readers visit Mr. Google and the Thesaurus family. Those minor drawbacks I mentioned above did not degrade my rating for this book. Where the Viscount Met His Match by Tabetha Waite gains a 4 out of 4 star rating from me. Not only did I laugh and cry like a fool while reading the story but also feel thrilled. There are scenes not suitable for very young audiences. I recommend this book to all 18 years of old and above fans of historical romance genre who are open-minded to sensual elucidations.
******
Where the Viscount Met His Match
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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4 out of 4 stars
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On the servants' staircase at Eversleigh Hall is Where the Viscount Met His Match on Christmas season of 1811. Mara Miller cringed when the heavy breakfast tray she is carrying towards the kitchen crashes on the floor in a noisy cacophony when Roarke Garrott, the heir of Lord Eversleigh stumbled upon her. Her life changes in the blink of an eye, right after the chaste peck. Together, they would sneak away to the estate, talk about the future and their dreams. Such stolen moments had been the best times of their lives - the most naive. With one twist of ugly fate, she got no choice but tread on one of the worst possible places imaginable - the workhouse. An opportunity came for her to save poor Bentley - one of the African slaves on a slave ship bound to Brazil. Under a new identity - Anna Smith, a haberdashery owner - she tries to keep the secrets of her shady past and build strong walls around herself.
Roarke Garrott, Viscount Eversleigh had been in his own personal hell for the past seven years mourning for the death of Mara Miller, the golden-haired, green-eyed girl he met at Eversleigh Hall. From the first moment he’d laid eyes on her until long after he’d thought her gone and buried, she’d haunted his heart and soul. He fled to India, to escape from his mother's matchmaking and the strictures placed upon him and his title. He strongly believes that marrying for money and social standing is ridiculous. Just when he is ready to move on, he went back to London only to find Mara Miller alive. The tangled web of lies she is weaving and the high walls she has built around herself vanished, the moment Roarke moves heaven and earth to keep her by his side.
Where the Viscount Met His Match by Tabetha Waite is a historical romance fiction with underlying themes of love, sacrifice, struggle, fear, secrets, lies, death, second chance and survival. It is published by Etopia Press. First Etopia Press electronic publication was in June 2017 with 328 standard pages, 250 words per page.
The story depicts a master-slave relationship which is not only frowned upon and gossiped during this era but also entails a higher possibility of being an outcast or disowned by kindred, and worst, condemned by the society. I admire Roarke for fighting for his love towards Mara the same way I appreciate Mara for being so strong despite the struggles she had faced when she was alone. I felt sorry for Roarke's sister, Lyra, who suffered maltreatment from his husband. Here are some highlights on 18th century: "It is prevalent under English law that a husband had the right to do whatever he wanted to his wife, even if he felt it involved ill-treatment." Married women are also deprived of any property and wealth from their husbands. Higher education was a privilege for some girls of the middle and higher social levels. Deprived of education, Mara's friend Celeste got no choice but swim in the dirt of prostitution. It's in the late nineteenth century when women's right and prohibition on slavery and servitude emerged in England. I can't help feeling pity for women during these times.
I like the flow of the story. It seems a chronicle of real people's experiences, though the author posted the disclaimer stating these are all fiction. I hail the author for the steamy love scenes with frenzied climax evenly peppered in the content. She describes them in a way reader's could feel like they are watching the erotic scenes in various stunts - live. Generally, from the book's cover to the contents, I could say that the book is professionally edited. However, I have noticed minor downsides worth mentioning. There are lots of supporting characters involve in the story apart from those names that are just mentioned. What made it confusing, is when the characters are called by their formal names and their nick names in a cocktail. A few sentences have wrong punctuation. “Surely it can wait for another time?" It should be a period (.) not a question mark (?) or it could have been "Can it surely wait for another time?" "Roarke thought the dish would go far to tempt Mara’s pallet." Palate is misspelled as pallet. I used to count words that are not necessarily repeated. The adverb "overmuch" is used 5 times while the verb "daresay" is used 4 times in this book. The presence of a few Spanish and French words could make the readers visit Mr. Google and the Thesaurus family. Those minor drawbacks I mentioned above did not degrade my rating for this book. Where the Viscount Met His Match by Tabetha Waite gains a 4 out of 4 star rating from me. Not only did I laugh and cry like a fool while reading the story but also feel thrilled. There are scenes not suitable for very young audiences. I recommend this book to all 18 years of old and above fans of historical romance genre who are open-minded to sensual elucidations.
******
Where the Viscount Met His Match
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Dolor's review? Post a comment saying so!
