Reviews of Books Written Before Year 2000.
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Lions and Lace is perhaps one of my favorite historical romance books of all time. Yes, I said it. ALL TIME! Heck, I carted this thing from the Philippines to the US the very first time I moved here, which was waaaay back in 2005. My copy is also pretty well loved that the front cover actually came off! I also remember purchasing my very first copy of this book from a used bookstore which explains why it was super battered. Don’t worry, I actually bought another copy now. Thank you, Amazon!
Lions and Lace is also the very first Gilded Age book I read that isn’t a Western. In fact, I don’t remember reading another book set in this time period until I read The Knickerbocker Club series by Joanna Shupe. This makes me want to read more books in this genre!
I have also read Lions and Lace multiple times already, it’s not even funny (hence, the battered book). Despite reading it multiple times, I still feel absolutely enchanted every time!
Lions and Lace is about Alana Van Alen, one of the Four Hundred, the high society families in New York who is forced into a marriage of convenience with the Irish self-made man, Trevor Sheridan. Trevor actually blackmails Alana to help him gain entree to the exclusive society and have his sister, Mara, marry and be accepted by the elite.
Thinking that Alana is one of them, he tries not to fall for her until a secret is revealed that convinces Trevor that Alana is exactly who he is meant to love.
Lions and Lace involves a disfigured alpha hero and the perfect (but emotionally scarred) heroine.
There are two other romances in this book, Mara’s and Eagan’s (Trevor’s younger brother), but it doesn’t overwhelm the central romance that is, Alana and Trevor’s.
This reread is actually an audiobook. I was pleasantly surprised (I was jumping up and down like CRAZY) when I saw the two books in this series (Fair is the Rose is book number 2) available at the library! The audiobook is read by Lisa Flanagan and she does the book justice!
If you haven’t read this book yet, this is definitely a MUST read. This book was written in 1992 BUT it is comparable to the historical romances written today.
Books like Lions and Lace
- Baron by Joanna Shupe – The heroine is a con artist and pretends to be a medium and the hero is a rich and successful businessman. Baron is also set in New York during the Gilded Age!
- Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas – This is another marriage of convenience where the heroine has no choice but to marry the rich self-made hero. This is also another one of my favorite books, and is the first book in the Wallflower series!
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Have you ever read a book multiple times that you actually damaged it? If so, did you ever buy a new copy?
Whaaaaaaaaat, favorite book of all time? And I’ve not even heard of it? Wow! I would have passed it straight, based on the cover. It’s an older cover and a tad bit on the boring side – but I shouldn’t be judging books by their covers anyway. 😀 I’ll have to look up this one since it’s a huge favorite of yours! Great review, Zeee!
Have a fantastic day. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Alyssa Susanna (The Eater of Books!) recently posted…Swoon Thursday (#208): Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
YES, Alyssa! The cover is a total dud but the step back is actually pretty! I should look for the step backs for these old books moving forward! 🙂
Oh, this is also available as an ebook and audio too!
I just read it this week, and it’s one of those very few romances that really stuck with me. I like that it’s a different historical romance because what I see all the time are about the peerage and pirates (lol). I loved Trevor Sheridan and Alana Van Alen so much. But I felt that the last pages were rushed. It was unsatisfying. The note by Trevor was not enough. I also thought that Eagan’s story about his insta romance with a serving girl stole some pivotal moments between Alana and Trevor. It cut the momentum. It’s also quite unfair that we got Eagan’s perspective yet we didn’t get Trevor’s. McKinney should have written a separate book for Eagan. hehe.