Historical Romance Book Club discussion

Discussion thread for the third BOTM for January 2025. Please remember to use the spoiler tags when necessary! (Please see 'some html is ok' for instructions.)

Join us in reading this HR that fits the theme:Age Difference. Happy reading!


The Indiscretion by Judith Ivory

Synopsis:

Daring To Love

Lady Lydia Bedford-Browne's small rebellion becomes the adventure of her life, when her coach crashes and leaves her stranded on the treacherous Dartmoor with the only other passenger: a rugged, disarmingly attractive Texan named Sam Cody. Sam's slow, melodic drawl and dark, hypnotic eyes tempt Lydia in ways she never thought possible. But dare the lord's daughter loosen her proper English restraints any further?

Foul luck has caused the dashing American millionaire to miss his own wedding to an unforgiving bride...for the second time!Worse still,he's stuck in the middle of nowhere with a straight-laced noble beauty. But there is an unmistakable spark of courage, sensuality, and wild passion beneath Liddy's prim exterior, daring Sam to pursue even further what his heart and his soul now desperately desire -- even though both the Texan's and the lady's vastly different worlds will be rocked if thay dare surrender to...The Indiscretion

I checked this one out of the library today.

Im in for this...

I'm looking forward to reading this book too

I’m in as well.

I read this earlier this year - it was very good!!

Just starting Chapter 4. Writing is holding my interest and the plot is being laid out with a bit of backstory given.

Part 2 Chapter 14. (view spoiler)[ I tend to prefer a romance with more action in the plotting. 3 days when you are a virgin and having sex with a stranger in the Victorian era...just doesn't seem plausible. But then it is a romance so anything can happen (hide spoiler)]

It's the Dartmoor, Merry. Everything is possible there! ;)

My heart broke when they were found and saved. 😢

lol Irina, the area does sound enchanting

In romance and on moors everything is possible :).
I just reread this book and like Merry said I found the Moor part slow BUT I was hooked for the second half. Ivory unashamedly deals with snobbery and money in society. It's a perfect juxtaposition with the equality of moors.

Chapter 19. (view spoiler)[ I read a book last week written by Ivory and was luke warm on the plot. I am afraid this author is not for me. There is too much description and too little action. The antagonism towards Sam from Liddy I find mind blowing. Liddy made the decision to break out of her Victorian set boundaries. Now we have anger towards Sam from her for being part of it. The meanness is it snobbishness?> (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 20 (view spoiler)[ some pretty big hints that Libby was going to be pregnant. Her maid is mad at her... I wonder how the rest of the family is going to take it. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 21 (view spoiler)[ I love it! He called her out. Yes this is a blow by blow on my thoughts as I read it lol (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 24 (view spoiler)[ I understand the use of a lot of Oscar Wilde quotes now. I question if an upper crust family would really be as accepting of having an unmarried pregnant daughter and a gay son. I had a friend who was born in the 1940's who found out his sister was really his mother. But on the other hand, this is a romance book. (hide spoiler)]

Just starting this now, and I've already learned a new word--catawampus! I have a feeling I'll be using that one all week:)

Merry wrote: "Part 2 Chapter 14. [spoilers removed]"

I've finished Chapter 11, and I'm anticipating not liking how things are going to go once they leave the moor . . . I have a feeling it's going to be sad:(

Re your spoiler: (view spoiler)[ The beginning was quite an adrenaline rush with the carriage careening off course, the bog, etc. But then when they started building fires, chatting, and spinning in the mist, I thought, Merry is going to be bo-ored, ha, ha!

I didn't mind the pace myself though. I imagine it's pretty difficult as a writer to keep things ticking along for eleven chapters with only two characters, so my hat's off to Ms Ivory on that count.

Now, regarding the plausibility: I don't see the problem;) She's a super horny Victorian lady, Merry! Have you seen the 2011 movie Hysteria—all about how the medical management of hysteria led to the invention of the vibrator? Those Victorian women were lining up for their doctor-prescribed genital massages! :) (hide spoiler)]

Oliva lol You were so right about the campfire and chatting and me. That is so funny about the medical interventions.

Petra wrote: "In romance and on moors everything is possible :).
I just reread this book and like Merry said I found the Moor part slow BUT I was hooked for the second half. Ivory unashamedly deals with snobber..."

I just finished the book, and yes, you’re right, Petra: the second half of the book worked well juxtaposed (as you put it so nicely) with “the equality of the moors”.

Putting Liddy and Sam out on the moors lifted them out of place and time, out of their own social contexts and constrictions, so that they could simply be seen as themselves. The second half felt kind of dirty and not in a good way;) All the talk of money and class and negotiating terms—historically accurate, but ugh! Kept me turning the pages though, and overall, it worked to give us a cohesive and balanced story.

Olivia wrote: "Petra wrote: "In romance and on moors everything is possible :).
I just reread this book and like Merry said I found the Moor part slow BUT I was hooked for the second half. Ivory unashamedly deal..."
Yes, like you've said, it was dirty yet realistic. Ivory's writing is often messy and she likes to look at the dirty stuff in our society. However she often somehow makes heroes the rich guys (even the guy from Proposition at the end).
What bothers me in romance sometimes is that 95% of the time MMC is rich and that fact it is used as character trait and also as a catnip for us readers and the FMC while at the same time the author is pretending it is true love. How many stories would not have happened if the hero was arrogant, domineering and poor :)

Petra wrote: "What bothers me in romance sometimes is that 95% of the time MMC is rich and that fact it is used as character trait and also as a catnip for us readers and the FMC while at the same time the author is pretending it is true love. How many stories would not have happened if the hero was arrogant, domineering and poor :) .."

Okay, on the one hand, these romances are a bit of fantasy as well, and on that level, a rich MMC is going to be more appealing than a poor one. On the other hand, you really made me laugh because you are so right about these arrogant, domineering, alphahole types--it only works if they're rich!:)

I’ll take a rich man anytime in romance and in real life :)

Oh that reminds me “For Real” by Alexis Hall does have a poor 20 year old, shorter man being a dom to an older, well to do sub. It’s a gay BDSM book so maybe it works in that setting

Petra wrote: "Oh that reminds me “For Real” by Alexis Hall does have a poor 20 year old, shorter man being a dom to an older, well to do sub. It’s a gay BDSM book so maybe it works in that setting."

I can see how that could work! The exception is always more interesting than the rule:)

For some reason I never really thought the MMC was poor. With the way he was written, I kept thinking he was just being humble or nonchalant about his money.

I enjoyed the book, guys. This was my second JI books and while it is no Beast, it was still a different read to most HRs , specially the current crop. I enjoyed the more real?to the point?honest? way the characters think about themselves and their lives.

Sam felt younger then what his age is supposed to be but that didnt really take away my enjoyment of the book.

Hi Xee thanks for sharing your thoughts. You’ve reminded me that the theme of the month is age difference but it didn’t play a role here. As you said, the hero feels younger. The whole time I thought he was only about 28.

Petra wrote: "Hi Xee thanks for sharing your thoughts. You’ve reminded me that the theme of the month is age difference but it didn’t play a role here. As you said, the hero feels younger. The whole time I thoug..."

Right?? I kept thinking I had it wrong with the age gap thing, coz that didnot read like a late 30's hero, even though she certainly read like a 25 year old.

The first half was def the more enjoyable bit. The banter had me giggling at times.

Yeah first half was basically all banter and it still carried the book really well.

Enjoy reading other thoughts on the book. The age difference didn't come into play much as the hero seemed much younger as Petra mentioned. I didn't realize the h was 25.

Xee wrote: "Right?? I kept thinking I had it wrong with the age gap thing, coz that did not read like a late 30's hero, even though she certainly read like a 25 year old."

I didn't even realize this was supposed to be age-gap themed! Still a great read though.

Xee wrote: "The first half was def the more enjoyable bit. The banter had me giggling at times."
I second that. I loved the first part. And I loved Sam. Lydia were hard to love in the second part, though. Her snobbishness, even if realistic, was really not too likeable.

It took me a lot longer than normal to finish this one. I ended up rating it 3 stars. The story had a lot of promise, but I think it was too drawn out for me. I really enjoyed Sam's character, his background was interesting and I enjoyed his quirky personality. I am on the fence about Liddy, I found her a bit tedious for the most part. The age difference was very difficult to spot, so maybe not as suitable for this theme.

Clarissa wrote: "It took me a lot longer than normal to finish this one. I ended up rating it 3 stars. The story had a lot of promise, but I think it was too drawn out for me. I really enjoyed Sam's character, his ..."
I also ended up giving the book 3*. Matching the theme of the month is sometimes hard to do until you read the book. I have recommended a book or two that missed the mark when I read it. Even the Goodreads listing is sometimes way off. There was an age difference it just didn't matter to the plot.

This book was perfect loved every second!!!!

GTK Kass. I have started this one today, and enjoyed Chapter 1 so far. I've tried to read this one before but didn't finish it, but I'm determined this time! SFSG anyway :)

I'm part way through Chapter 4 now.

Chapter 1 - Lydia’s opening words to Rose are humorous and attention-getting. (view spoiler)[ ‘Penis.’ Perhaps not the kind of thing you would expect to read in a HR first published in 2001? Although no doubt some women privately talked like this in the 1890s. It does introduce Lydia in an interesting way, and starts to tell us a bit about her character. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 2 - The conversation between Lydia and Sam is funny and cleverly written. (view spoiler)[ Sam has been drunkenly dreaming/remembering his fiancee and a saucy moment with her when she referred to (and touched!) his ‘manhood’. Then when Lydia starts talking about his ‘manhood’ in another context, it’s quite a funny scene, with Lydia innocently having no idea of Sam’s thoughts. [Lydia] ’How long is it, do you think?’ [Sam] ‘How long is what?’ Sam felt a tingle of panic. What the hell kind of conversation was this? LOL. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 3 (view spoiler)[ I like that Sam clearly realises Lydia is lying about her name and herself. Both he and the reader are unaware yet of exactly why she is travelling alone across the moor. The scene where Sam realises their driver is gone (eeek!) and clambers across to grab the reins, is quite dramatic, almost in the style of Indiana Jones, or perhaps of the Wild West show Lydia enjoyed so much. (hide spoiler)]

Jan, I did enjoy Chapter 3. Olivia is right I do like action in my books.

Olivia wrote: "Just starting this now, and I've already learned a new word--catawampus! I have a feeling I'll be using that one all week:)"

Ha ha yes. I had to google that one.

Jan wrote: "Olivia wrote: "Just starting this now, and I've already learned a new word--catawampus! I have a feeling I'll be using that one all week:)"

Ha ha yes. I had to google that one."

Keep reading, Jan. There's also "wangdoodle". For some reason, I'm less a fan of that particular word, ha, ha!

I loved the first conversation between Lydia and Sam. And also the banter when entering the coach! "I live to save ungrateful women."

Olivia wrote: "Keep reading, Jan. There's also "wangdoodle". For some reason, I'm less a fan of that particular word, ha, ha!"

LOL.

I'm 3/4 through the book now, and still liking it.

End of Part 1 (view spoiler)[The ending of their Dartmoor idyll was so sudden, and they didn't get time to properly say good bye or think about what was happening. Quite angsty for the reader. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 14 (view spoiler)[ I like that Sam has been revealed as a bit of a mover-and-shaker with his diplomatic credentials, just as readers have been led to suspect. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17(view spoiler)[The archery contest was fun, and shows how well-matched they are in so many ways. Now Liddy just has to readjust her thinking to Sam being more of a social equal than she thought. (hide spoiler)]

I finished this book last night. I liked it but not too sure about my star rating. 3.5 to 4 stars, I think.

I too found the period on Dartmoor a little slow. Merry, I agree with your Chapter 14 spoiler (message #8). (view spoiler)[ It felt a bit much for a virgin's first sexual experiences. A bit OTT. But you just have to go with the flow, I suppose. (hide spoiler)]

I think I liked the second part of the book better. I did get a bit frustrated at times with the anger between various characters, but you knew Sam and Liddy were going to have their HEA so I hung in there.

Merry, I agree with your Chapter 24 spoiler (message 15). I questioned that too. (view spoiler)[Liddy's parents seemed to mellow as time went on, and the letter she sent to her husband pointed to a renewal of their relationship. Perhaps they were learning to be more tolerant. (hide spoiler)]

Xee I agree with your comments about Ivory's writing (message #24). Her characters are always interesting and feel much more honest and real than so many other run-of-the-mill HRs.

I agree that although there was an age gap, it didn't feel like a big factor in the book. Oh well, not to worry. I still enjoyed the read.

I have enjoyed reading over all of the comments and spoilers. I agree with many of them. Thank you everyone for the great discussion on this book.

Jan enjoyed your thoughts. I really like an active group read as the different perspectives add a lot and give me a fresh take on the plot.

Jan wrote: " Thank you everyone for the great discussion on this book.."

Yes, thank you--it was fun!