I read the 4th book in the Essex sisters quartet first and I wasn’t a big fan. (Pleasure For Pleasure) I wrote a review for it stating that I should probably go back and read them in order. I’m glad I did.
The story of Tess Essex and Lucius Felton was very satisfying. The development of their relationship was interesting and I wanted to follow it through to the end. But what I liked the best about this book was the relationship between Tess and her three sisters. The realistic way they interact with each other helped to give the book depth. Too often in romance novels, the heroine and the hero are the main characters and everyone else is in the background. Portraying Tess against the backdrop of her relationship with her sisters helped to make this story seem truthful.
Tess and her three sisters are left impoverished when their racehorse mad father dies and leaves them in the care of Rafe, Duke of Holbrook. Their father leaves them each a racehorse as a dowry and Tess needs to get married quickly so she can support her sisters in their Seasons of husband hunting. Initially she’s engaged to the Earl of Mayne but doesn’t really want to go through with it. Luckily Lucius “rescues” her by asking Mayne to step aside.
An interesting note: there is a poem by Catullus that is quoted by Lucius and Tess called “How Many Kisses: For Lesbia”. I had never read Catullus but I will now be adding his works to my reading list.
Overall a good book and a great start to a series that I plan on completing!
Rent: “Much Ado About You” by Eloisa Jones at Bookswim

This was my first experience with W. Somerset Maugham and I can definitely say I will add more of his books to my rental pool. I was enthralled with “The Painted Veil” from the moment I picked it up. I chose it because I was interested in seeing the 2006 movie of the same name and I really like to read the book before seeing the movie. (Or Boovie as Steve Leveen, CEO of Levenger likes to call them.)

The preface was especially insightful as it opened your eyes to what was going on in Maugham’s head as he developed this story. We learn that the inspiration for “The Painted Veil” came from a line of Dante. The preface also gave an interesting history of the serialized magazine publication for the novel.
The story centers around Kitty Fane and her husband Walter. Walter is a biologist in the Foreign Service for Great Britain pre-WW2. Kitty has followed Walter to Hong Kong and has embarked on an adulterous affair to assuage her boredom. Kitty married Walter in a fit of rage when her younger sister became engaged. She has led a very shallow life up until this point of which the main goal was to marry up and achieve a higher social status.
When Walter discovered her affair, he reacts very unpredictably. He brings (forces) Kitty along on an expedition into Central China to study a cholera epidemic. Kitty’s despair at being dragged away from her love affair combined with a healthy fear of cholera begin her rising self-awareness regarding her marriage and the value of her life up until this point.
This story is essentially about Kitty’s awakening and her true growth into adulthood. Maugham’s tense language and short chapters lead you quickly through the story. But no matter how quickly you can read the story, you should slow down and actually listen to the story. In “The Painted Veil”, sometimes it’s what isn’t written but what’s left unwritten that has the most impact.

Rent “The Painted Veil” at BookSwim

I can honestly say that I was disappointed…I like Jude Deveraux but this book was sickly sweet and didn’t make a lot of sense. It (the plot) wandered and didn’t actually feel like something that had any potential of happening in the real world. I don’t like when authors are vague about characters. For instance, Jason is simply a cold, megawealthy control freak – so what??? That’s every man in modern romance. How about explaining what he does, giving him motivation… And Amy – ok so she’s white trash – poor, uneducated, etc. So what??? Give us some more reasons why Jason would be attracted to her. It doesn’t really make any sense…the whole book…I kept waiting for it to make sense again but it just felt empty. And Max’s transition from 6 month old to two and a half year old felt false as well. No two and a half year old acts the way she portrayed him. Ridiculous!