The Indiscretion by Judith Ivory

This was an unusual book with unusual characters but turned out to be a very good read. It was divided into two parts, Part One: The English Moor, and Part Two: The Negotiation.

In Part One we meet the H/H who are from completely different worlds. Lydia Bedford-Browne is the pampered, overly-protected daughter of a viscount. Sam Cody is an American from Texas complete with a Stetson and cowboy boots. The book is set in the turn of the 19th century England where Lydia decides to set off alone across the boggy flatlands of Dartmoor by coach in the first real adventure of her life. The only other passenger of the coach is Sam who is drunk and battered, having missed his own wedding when he stopped to rescue a woman from muggers and got a beating from the thieves.

I'm a huge JI fan but for some reason I had a hard time getting into this book. The characters didn't grab me and I just couldn't care about them. Ivory writes very lush descriptions and at first I found myself skimming through the first 2 chapters. But when their inebriated driver loses control of the coach crashing them into the marsh, the book finally captures my attention. There is a very funny scene when Sam climbs out of the window of the wildly careening coach to get the driver's attention only to discover the driver has fallen off!

Sam and Lydia are stranded and lost in the moorlands for several days and their developing relationship along with the sexual tension was marvelous. The dialogue was good and seemed exactly right so that I started to love these characters. OT: On a side note... I really don't get the making love in the heather scenes I read in some books. It's supposed to be soft and downy comfortable, but the heather in the PacNW is prickly and, man, there is no way I'd lie down in it and make love. OUCH! Must be a different species in England. Anyway, it pulled me out of the story every time making love on a bed of heather was mentioned (and they did it a lot!). I suppose I should google 'heather'.

The second part of the book comes after they are rescued and Liddy returns to her world. She must come to terms with what is expected of her by her parents, family, friends and society and what she wants and feels. Sam knows what he wants and pursues her vigorously suffering many rejections by Liddy. Here's where I shed a few tears in sympathy for Sam. But I never blamed Liddy either having been raised in a straight laced Victorian society, and realizing that breaking away from that upbringing was difficult. But she learns and grows and finally understands her own power and goes after what she wants. The last chapter was so good, I may want to read it again.

Several other reviewers liked the first part more than the second part but I found myself liking the second part more. Sam and Liddy are very good characters, the dialogue is excellent, and the sensuality is hot. Not quite a keeper but very good.

My grade: B+

Next up: Review of The Outlaw by Nicole Jordan. I'm having a tough time with the review because there were so many elements that I should have hated about it, but I ended up loving it! Now I'm trying to figure out why :)