Darling Beast (Maiden Lane, 7)

Another amazing book, I’m obsessed with this author. Currently on a little binge of her work. The realness and essence of each character is perfect, the stories are never dull, and the love and humor are the cherry on top. *chefs kiss*

Fans of Hoyt's Maiden Lane series will remember their first meeting with Apollo Greaves, the lord who is residing in Bedlam after being accused of murder. He finally escapes thanks to the help of his sister, Artemis, and her soon-to-be husband, the Duke of Wakefield in Duke of Midnight. Book seven in the Maiden Lane series, Darling Beast, tells the story of Apollo's attempt to clear his name and avoid being captured by soldiers once again. Things get even more complicated when he comes across Lily Stump, an out of work actress, and sparks fly.I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Hoyt and her ability to make any type of character a romantic hero or heroine. Apollo is described as huge and comely while also being unable to speak due to an almost deadly beating in Bedlam. Despite this, he quickly becomes a very swoon-worthy hero with his determination to clear his name, his genuine fondness for Lily and her son, and his dry sense of humor.For her part, I found Lily to be a very admirable heroine. Her acting career changed forever when the pleasure garden burned and now she barely squeaks out a living through her play writing while the garden is rebuilt. But, she never mopes around about her situation. She just keeps working and providing for her son and nursemaid. I also respected her for her ingenuity when it comes to certain plot points later in the book.The romance of Apollo and Lily was a wonderful combination of sweet and sexy. Hoyt is known for her steamy love scenes and tantalizing chemistry which she shows off here. But, these two also have much more going for them than just lust. They spend time together at the pleasure garden while Apollo is working and start a friendship before jumping into bed. I especially enjoyed the way they laughed together.In terms of side characters, I was pretty happy with them as well. Lily's son, Indio, was sweet and smart without moving into cliche. Maude, his nursemaid, wasn't extremely developed, but I liked her from the beginning. It was also nice to see more of Lady Phoebe Batten and her bodyguard, Captain Trevillian, since they will be the focus of the next Maiden Lane book. And I am crossing my fingers that we don't have to wait too long to get the Duke of Montgomery's story. He stole every scene he was in and I have to know what is really going on in that diabolical head right now!While I loved the characters and the romance, I had a bit of trouble with the pacing of the plot especially towards the end. My favorite parts were when Lily and Apollo were getting to know each other and hung out together in the garden. For me, things got a little boring in the latter third of the book. I appreciated that Apollo had to figure out who the real murderer was, but I thought it was resolved too quickly. The house party was fun and provided plenty of drama...it just felt off to me.But, despite the pacing problem, I still really liked Darling Beast and continue to be a huge fan of Elizabeth Hoyt. She just has such a different way of looking at historical romance that always has me coming back for more. Now, I have to find a way to be patient about waiting for the release of Dearest Rogue(Phoebe and Trevillian's story) and hopefully Montgomery's book.

A man wrongly imprisoned, in hiding and keeping secrets to save his life. A woman, desperate to keep her ragtag family together and also keeping secrets. The ruins of a pleasure garden. DARLING BEAST is the story of a rebirth for all of them.THE STORY: Apollo Greaves,Viscount Kilbourne has escaped from Bedlam where he was imprisoned for four years for the murder of three of his friends. Apollo is lucky that he was not hanged for his "crimes" but rather was committed as criminally insane because of the intervention of the Earl of Brightmore. Apollo suffered greatly during his captivity suffering starvation and beatings and inhumane conditions. He almost died in Bedlam due to a severe beating that robbed Apollo of his ability to speak. Having escaped with the help of his twin sister Artemis and her husband, the Duke of Wakefield, Apollo has been in hiding at the ruins of the pleasure garden known as Harte's Folly. Before his imprisonment, Apollo had invested the little money he had in Harte's Folly. Soon after his escape, Harte's Folly burned to the ground and now Apollo works as a gardener (but few know that he is actually the landscape architect) to rebuild the garden.Apollo meets Lily Stump who is also living in the ruins with her son, Indio, and a maid servant. Lily is a famed actress Robin Goodfellow and also a secret playwright. She is living in the gardens because the fire also destroyed the theater and she cannot get work until the theater and gardens are restored. When her son sees Apollo, he fears and is fascinated with the "monster" in the garden. The immediate reaction of Lily and Apollo to one another is simple -- each wants the other gone from their sanctuary.Of course, the two keep being pushed together but before they can have any peace, they must discover the secret of who framed Apollo, save him from Bedlam and also uncover the secret that Lily is harboring.OPINION: Hoyt has an incredible ability to create deeply emotional stories with bold, unique characters. Usually her books contain a great amount of angst and pain so the romance in this book is almost sweet in comparison. The reason for that is that Lily is the light that bring Apollo out of the half-life he has been living since he was framed for murder. Lily is bright and talented and dedicated to her little family even though she has seen much pain and heartache in her life. That lightness of spirit attracts Apollo who, is clear, values family and meaning and a quiet peaceful life after the horrible years he spent chained.Despite his past and his painful experiences, Apollo is not really a dark character. He is a gentle giant of a man who is filled with kindness and compassion rather than anger and hate. I loved his character and his deep desire for peace. Once he fixes his attention on Lily, Apollo doesn't worry about the incongruence of a viscount and future earl marrying an actress. In fact, Apollo frets about his plain appearance in comparison to Lily's gamine looks.Lily is a strong, independent woman who takes care of herself and others. One of the great things about Hoyt's Maiden Lane series is that she crosses all types of social classes. Her books about about dukes and pirates and orphanage managers and actresses and governesses and heiresses. Because of this, her books have a great sense of place and time.I also appreciated that Lily's son Indio is such an important character in the book. Readers get a real chance to see that Apollo will make a great adoptive father for Indio. Sometimes existing children are only infrequently seen. Here, readers get a chance to see the relationship develop between Indio and Apollo at the same time it develops between Lily and Apollo. By the end of the book, I was convinced that they will make a nice little family together.The sex between these two was also really hot. Both are experienced and so there is no virginal trepidation to overcome. Both know who and what they want. At the same time, while the scenes are strong and bold and explicit, there isn't anything gratuitous about the scenes - just really hot scenes between two grown experienced adults.Finally, I really enjoyed seeing some of my favorite characters again including Wakefield and Artemis, Hero and Phoebe. We get to learn more about Captain Trevillion in preparation for his and Phoebe's book DARLING ROGUE which is next up in the series. Readers also get a good look at the Duke of Montgomery who has a very mysterious past and present and is up to something. Readers should not be fooled by his foppish appearance because Hoyt has made such characters very dangerous (see THE SERPENT PRINCE). I'm looking forward to learning more about him and his motives.WORTH MENTIONING: I loved that Apollo refers to Maximus, the Duke of Wakefield, as "His Grace the Ass" because while I loved Artemis and Maximus's book, he is kind of an ass!FINAL DECISION: I love this book. I would read it again (and I've already read it twice). I also look forward to the unveiling of the mysteries that this book sets up regarding the motives of the Duke of Montgomery.CONNECTED BOOKS: DARLING BEAST is the seventh book in the Maiden Lane series. It can be read independently of the other books in the series, but I recommend that a reader at least read DUKE OF MIDNIGHT because it introduces Apollo and provides the setup for DARLING BEAST.STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

Um dos melhores livros da autora. Achei a história leve e nada clichê. A história tem reviravoltas interessantes e já sei que vou sentir falta dos personagens no meu dia a dia!

I bought this book in the series because I wanted to know how Lord Kilbourne was going to go on with his life while in hiding after his escape from Bedlam. Very interesting how that was all played out. Loved Indio and Daffodil.

Ich weiß dass die Rezensionen für dieses Buch sehr unterschiedlich ausfallen. Und eine zeitlang habe ich mich mit dem Kauf zurück gehalten, um einen weitere Fehlkauf zu vermeiden.Aber irgendwas drängte mich dann doch dazu, und ich bin wirklich froh darum.Ich komme einfach immer wieder zu den Büchern von Elizabeth Hoyt zurück. Es gibt kaum andere Autorinnen, nicht nur in diesem Genre, die ich überhaupt noch ertragen kann zu lesen.Hoyt schreibt einfach mit einem ganz subtilen Charme... und subtilem Witz, den ich sehr zu schätzen weiß. Der einfach alles so unheimlich sympathisch macht.Oft ist es sehr fein beschriebene Situationskomik, was nicht sonderlich leicht ist.Und in diesem Buch ist davon mehr als in ihren anderen enthalten. Es erinnerte mich stark an ihren Debutroman (Ravenprince), mein bisher liebster von allen.Allerdings wird das noch getoppt. Dazube trägt der Hund, der in einem Buch von ihr nicht fehlen darf, in diesem Fall 'the silliest dog in the world'- Daffodil, Asa Makepeace und das Trio um ihn, den Helden Apollo (oder Appollo? Ich kann mit nicht erinnern) und den Duke of .... weiß ich auch nicht mehr, jedenfalls ist er ein Teilhaber an Hartes Folley, dem abgebrannten Lustgraten/Theater, das Apollo gehört und das er aufbauen hilft.Die Storyline ist nichts Besonderes, den sexuellen Aspekt finde ich, wie bei allen ihren Büchern, viel, viel, viel zu ausgeprägt. Nichts desto trotz habe ich die Geschichte sehr genossen. Sie ist emotional, ohne kitschig zu werden und nicht so künstlich aufgeblasen durch abgedroschene Romanzentropes.Ich empfand das Buch deswegen als recht stiefmütterlich bewertet. Selbstverständlich ist es kein Romanz der Extraklasse. Aber deswegen lesen die meisten ja auch diese Bücher nicht. Ich für meinen Teil, suche immer nach einer Geschichte mit glaubhaften, sympathisch und emotional nachvollziehbaren Charakteren, die wirklich gut geschrieben ist.Bei Elizabeth Hoyt habe ich das bisher immer gefunden, viel mehr als bei anderen 'Erfolgs'autoren des Genres.Natürlich werden neue Charaktere vorgestellt. Aber mir gefällt das sehr. Denn dann sind die Charaktere, wenn ich ein neues Buch von ihr kaufen möchte, mir schon bekannt. Natürlich ist es auch eine Verkaufsstrategie. Aber es ist eine Gute. Und wenn man die Bücher nicht lesen möchte, dann soll man sie nicht kaufen.Ich finde es ist etwas anderes, wenn eine tolle, spannende Geschichte, in viele kleine Teile aufgesplittet wird um mehr verkaufen zu können.Aber bei diesen Büchern handelt es sich ja immer um in sich geschlossene Geschichten, die alle autonom gelesen werden können.Ich genieße es immer sehr, wenn neben dem Hauptplot ein Nebenplot eingeführt wird. Es ist einfach eine kleine Ablekung, die das Lesevergnügen noch leichter macht.Also, wenn man Gefallen an den meisten von Hoyts Büchern gefunden hat, dann wird man auch dieses mögen. Mir für meinen Teil, hat es sogar viel besser gefallen, als so manch anderes aus der Reihe, weil irgendwie alles ein wenig leichter und subtil witziger war, ohne zu einer nicht ernstzunehmenden Komödie zu werden.Meine einzigen Kritikpunkte sind der explizite Sex (allerdings gefällt mir auch, dass der emotionale Faktor dabei immer groß gehandelt wird! ) und dass Apollos Trauma nicht ein wenig mehr ausgeführt wurde. Aber ich kann nachvollziehen, dass dafür das Format einfach nicht genug Rahmen gibt. Und man merkt immerhin dennoch, dass fpr Hoyt die Charaktere mehr sind als das, was sie letztendlich aufs Papier bringt.Alles in einem allerdings ein Buch, dass mir sehr gut gefallen hat. Und ich bin da äußerst wählerisch. Diese Rezension habe ich geschrieben, weil mich der Mangel an guten Rezensionen beinahe vom Kauf abgehalten hat. Das sollte nicht so sein.

Dopo aver letto Duke of Midnight speravo di poter leggere la storia di Apollo, ingiustamente rinchiuso per un orrendo crimine che non aveva commesso. In Darling Beast ci viene finalmente raccontata la storia di questo giovane e sfortunato nobiluomo che dopo anni di sofferenze riesce finalmente a riscattarsi. Una storia d'amore bella, che come continua una serie ancora più bella che continua a riservare piacevoli sorprese.

I was so looking forward to this book but was utterly disappointed..It's just not like Elizabeth Hoyt. It is is boring and I think the Maiden Lane series has hit a dead end and in this book it a scraping of the bottom of the barrel to characters. I hope the next one will be a good read though from the except I read points it to being another disappointment. Come of Elizabeth it's time to come up with another series....