Tuesday, August 30, 2011

No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper

England, 1888. The trees are green, the birds are singing, and no one has any idea that in a few hundred years, demons will destroy it all. Joan plans to keep it that way. All she has to do is take out the dark magician responsible-before he summons the demons in the first place. But as a rough-around-the-edges assassin from that bleak future, she'll have to learn how to fit into polite Victorian society to get close to her target.
Simon Grenville has his own reasons for wanting to destroy Alex Reynell. The man used to be his best friend-until his practice of the dark arts almost killed Simon's sister. The beautiful half-naked stranger Simon meets in the woods may be the perfect instrument for his revenge. It will just take a little time to teach her the necessary etiquette and assemble a proper wardrobe. But as each day passes, Simon is less sure he wants Joan anywhere near Reynell. Because no spell in the world will save his future if she isn't in it.
First let me say I am not a big fan of time travel books so this review is a little hard for me to write. Joan has to go back in time to save her world from the dark forces. She ends up on Simon's property and Simon is not sure what to think of this warrior women. As Joan saves him from some bad demons Simon starts to believe that Joan is much more that what she appears to be. After Joan explains to Simon why she is here he says that he will help her. All I can say is Joan is lucky she landed where she did and that Simon knows about the Dark forces and is willing to help her.
I liked Simon and his sister Eleanor teaching Joan how she should act in polite society. She does have a hard time adjusting to this because her world is so dark and different. Joan can't believe what a difference this world is to hers. Her world is dark and not safe, this world has green grass, blue sky's and the air is clean. Joan is more determinded then before to make sure that she can save this world and make her world a better place.
I did like Simon, I liked that he protected his sister from Alex who was his childhood friend until he went to the dark forces, I liked how he really didn't want to kill Alex, to try to save him and that he should be the one kill him not Joan. Joan is one tough lady and it was fun seeing her adjust to her new world. And I liked seeing Eleanor coming out of her shell after what happened to her.
Overall it was not a bad story, I am just not a fan of time travel books. The one thing that really bothered me was the other characters were always refereed to by there last names. It was hard to tell if they were man or woman. It was nice to know that Joan was able to save her world but sad to see that no one would remember her or know what challenges she went throught to save her world. I would pick up another book by this debut author because she does write a good story.
I got this book as a ARC from my romance group.

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