We also FINALLY learn about the black
sheep of the Knight family: Lord John Farraday, aka Captain "Black
Jack," a rich privateer with no heart, soul, or compassion...at
least that's what he wants everyone to think.
I was blown away by this novel. Not only will Jack, the soul wounded
pirate, always have a special place in my heart, but the setting
and adventure of the novel were thrilling. Foley takes us from the
heart of the jungle and a South America rebel upraising to a high
sea adventure to the ballrooms of Regency London. Each picture she
paints is more stunning than the last and left me yearning to marry
a pirate too!
Eden and Jack are perfect for one another. Who else could manage
a man who set himself up to be the villain of his family and fostered
that mystique even though it's nothing like his true self, than
a woman who had to create a life for herself in a jungle with no
female companionship and a father who thinks of nothing but himself
and his work? I loved how Eden was a tough, no nonsense girl, but
still soft and dreamy enough to want love. She can stowaway on a
ship and not get caught for two months, handle a gun and a machete
as if she was born with one in each hand. But all she really wants
is a husband and children to love, whereas Jack is a man who has
shunned love because he thinks he doesn't deserve it. He is just
as tough, and no-nonsense as Eden, but his true self is all soft
and gushy on the inside.
Best of all though, Foley introduces a new spin off series, The
Spice series, so that we don't have to leave the Knight family behind.
This made my heart light. When I first picked up this novel it was
with the same bittersweet feeling of anticipation and dread that
I had with Beverley's last Malloren novel. No one likes to say goodbye
to a series like this one, but now we can all look forward to new
adventures, new friends, and a visit or two from old ones.
Bottom Line: Whether you are a Foley fan or not don't miss this
book.
She doesn’t get much contact
with other people and her lonely heart aches for all her unfulfilled
dreams. She wants to travel to London, to have beaus and to be part
of all the gossip and flirtation that she reads about in her magazines.
The mystery man, Lord Jack Knight, may just prove to be the only
way she can get out of the jungle. However, when she prettily asks
for safe harbor back to London, he refuses. Now Eden is left up
to her own devices, and she’s not about to be refused. Though
it will hurt her father, she needs to get away from South America
and the solitary life she has been leading.
Lord Jack Knight is startled to see the beautiful Eden Farraday
sitting in a tree. She’s definitely not the ordinary London
miss he is familiar with, but then, South America is definitely
not London. However, he knows there’s no way he can help her
get to London, so he refuses her request. Jack has other things
on his mind, namely how many mercenaries he will be able to transport
back to Venezuela to help in the fight against the Spanish. Jack
is a wealthy merchant who has cut himself off from all things having
to do with London. His solitude is forced and he has no plans to
end it. But then, he discovers a stowaway aboard his fine ship.
Eden Farraday has snuck aboard and suddenly, the woman he can’t
get out of his mind is at his mercy and his fingertips. What will
this roguish man do with the beauty? You’ll have to read HIS
WICKED KISS to find out!
HIS WICKED KISS is the long-awaited story of Lord Jack Knight, the
black sheep of the Knight family. Finally, Gaelen Foley explores
what makes Jack tick, why he feels compelled to exile himself from
his family, and what the secret longings of his heart are. Jack
is a complex man but his secret desires are heartfelt. He’s
not the rogue he’s been made out to be. There’s definitely
a heart of gold underneath his tough exterior. Thankfully, the woman
to melt his heart proves to be a tough and exceptional character.
Eden Farraday thinks London will be the answer to all her hopes
and dreams, but in reality, she will find that it is only Jack who
can keep her centered. I liked the differing facets of Eden. She’s
sweet and shy one minute, but very brazen and determined, and all
of this is wrapped-up in intelligence and humor. Their sparring
is definitely one of the highlights of this story! HIS WICKED KISS
goes from the jungle, to the sea, to London and many places in between
as Jack and Eden laugh, love, and argue. Compelling, absorbing and
a delicious smorgasbord of different settings and characters, HIS
WICKED KISS is another nimble writing adventure from Gaelen Foley.
Eden longs for a London
season and is ready to return home to England and family when her
father’s benefactor dies and the funding for his research
is suddenly pulled. Dr Farraday has been in the jungle a long time;
he is so interested in finding cures so that others will not die
as Eden’s mother did that he cannot see the forest for the
trees. Needing to escape both the jungle and Connor, who thinks
she belongs to him, she gets a glimmer of an idea for how to get
back to England when she first sees Lord Jack Knight and realizes
who he is.
Lord Jack Knight, bastard by birth though he carries his stepfather’s
name, is a loner by choice. While he cares for his crew and young
cabin boy, he makes it a rule not to let anyone too close. In South
America to help the rebels who are trying to free themselves from
Spain’s dominion, he is entranced when he first sees Eden
sitting high up in a tree. He realizes right away who she is when
he hears her name because he knew Victor back in England. When Eden
tries to sway him into taking her with him to England, he flatly
refuses, though he is strongly attracted to her.
Everything changes when Eden stows away on Jack’s ship. She
is discovered not long after and Jack at first thinks to make her
pay on her back. However, she is more than even he bargained for
and in the end, he cannot do it. It is not long before they each
begin to have strong feelings for the other and Jack starts to entertain
the idea of taking Eden for his wife. It is only when he nearly
loses her to the ocean during a storm that he makes up his mind.
However, they still have a rocky road to forge because Jack has
a plan and it is one that does not include Eden. It is only when
his enemies begin their move against him that he finally accepts
the reality of Eden.
I loved this book! Interesting and historically accurate down to
the last button, it is a rollicking read. The characters’
behaviors and personalities fit the time and were incredibly realistic
and easy to relate to. Following along as Eden continues to trump
Jack’s cards made for very enjoyable reading. His confusion
about how to deal with his “wild jungle flower” was
amusing to say the least. The romance is hot and sensual, as well
as believable, which is important for this reader when it comes
to historical romance. I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy
regency romance!
In the jungles of South America, medical researcher's daughter Eden
Farraday meets adventurer/mercenary Lord Jack Knight and sets off
on the wildest adventure of her life. Longing for life in England,
with its balls and beautiful gowns, and tired of poisonous snakes
and bugs, Eden sees the rugged mercenary as a knight in shining
armor.
Jack is running guns for revolutionary Simon Bolivar. He can't be
distracted by Eden's plea to escort her to London. But she stows
away on his ship, and he's stuck with the rebellious beauty, who
charms his crew and disarms his mercenary heart.
Foley sweeps you off into a wildly rousing and arousing adventure
that swiftly moves across the sea with raging storms (the most realistic
sea story since Marsha Canham's The Wind and the Sea) and explosive
passions. When Eden and Jack get to London, they're caught in a
jealous man's schemes and political intrigue that has them racing
against time to see Jack's mission completed and a villain captured.
This is adventure romance at its best, a mix of Indiana Jones and
Pirates of the Caribbean that stirs you and leaves you sighing with
satisfaction. SENSUAL.
This Regency romance begins in the jungles of Venezuela,
where British native Eden Farraday lives with her father, Dr. Victor
Farraday, as he looks for medicinal plants—but she pines for
London, the company of "normal people" and the chance
to find a husband. When her father reneges on his promise to return
to England, Eden finds her own way out of the jungle. Rakish Lord
Jack Knight—the black sheep of the Knight family—is
boating down the river, after a meeting with Bolivar's rebels, when
he encounters Eden. He refuses to take her aboard his London-bound
ship, but undaunted, Eden rows down the river after him and stows
away. When Jack discovers Eden, he installs her in his cabin for
his own amusement; contrary to his intention, he becomes infatuated,
and their relationship begins to break down Jack's hardened facade.
Foley maintains the delicious tension between Jack and Eden throughout;
that, along with the mystery of Jack's past, propels the novel (following
One Night of Sin) to an exciting conclusion." (May)
Not much
has been known about Jack Knight in Gaelen Foley's Knight Miscellany
series. The author over the years has kept her character Jack elusive
with brief mentioning here and there. There was an air of speculation
about his character and finally the speculation is ended. Jack is
a character that will weave his way into your heart. His charm and
sensuality is very empowering while he struggled with his perceived
sins of his past and broken love. Eden was just the character to
bring Jack out of shell and re-enter back into London Society and
reunited with his family. She was an amazing character and I bonded
with her in the opening chapters of the novel. She was refreshing
in every sense of the word and brought about many smirks and chuckles
as I was reading away.
His Wicked Kiss is a delightful novel; I was swept away with the
passion, the setting, and the characters. It's a richly rewarding
novel for any Gaelen Foley fan that like me sat and waited patiently
for this day to come."
In 1818 deep in the Venezuelan jungles, British native Eden Farraday
lives with her scientist father, Dr. Victor Farraday. While she
wants to have a season in London with "normal people"
maybe even find a husband, he obsesses over elixirs ever since his
wife died and says she can marry his assistant Connor O'Keefe.
When Victor breaks his promise to escort Eden to England, she decides
she must find her own way. Opportunity arises when Lord Jack Knight
and his devilish crew sail nearby following a meeting with Bolivar's
rebels in which he offers them retired British veterans to fight
alongside their peasants and farmers. Eden asks Black Jack to take
her to London, but he refuses. An independent, Eden sneaks onto
his vessel where Jack finds his pretty feisty stowaway when it is
too late to turn back. Figuring her payment would be her, he places
her in his cabin, but soon the rogue and the eccentric fall in love.
The keys to this superb regency romance are the relationship between
the lead couple that Gaelen Foley deftly maneuvers and the need
to know what turned Jack from an aristocrat to a scoundrel (with
a conscience). The fast-paced story line is character driven as
Jack begins to change due to his falling in love (though in fairness
his "goodness" is part of him as he supports the rebel
cause in South America for more than just silver). Sub-genre fans
will want to read this fine tale for to not would be fool's folly.
Info not available at this time.
To be included in future updates.
Simon Bolivar has often been called the “George Washington
of South America.” In similar fashion to how George Washington
led America to become independent of the English Crown in the 1770’s,
Bolivar, during the Regency period, was leading the colonies of
South America to throw off the rule of Spain.
Born to wealthy Creole planters in Caracas, Venezuela on July 24,
1783, Simon Bolivar was orphaned as a child, only to suffer another
tragic loss as a young newlywed; his bride perished of an illness
barely a year after their marriage. These losses are thought to
have plunged Bolivar into such despair that he emerged from them
a changed man, taking up the cause of liberty for his homeland as
his one remaining reason to live. He joined forces with likeminded
revolutionaries in 1810, and the fight to free South America from
Spain began in earnest.
Freedom cannot be quickly accomplished, however, and as the battles
between the colonies and the Spanish Crown raged, there were at
least four separate occasions on which the entire cause of liberty
looked totally and completely lost. At times, it seemed as though
even God Himself was against the rebels. After a string of victories,
Bolivar managed to establish the first republic of Venezuela in
1812, but then a massive earthquake struck Caracas, and the royalist
Church wasted no time in using the pulpit to warn the populace that
this was the wrath of the Almighty, proving the divine right of
the Bourbon King Ferdinand as the rightful ruler of South America.
After the earthquake, the Spanish army saw the Venezuelans becoming
demoralized by their ordeal, attacked the devastated city, and recaptured
it back with ease. Bolivar and his close advisers had to flee to
neighboring Jamaica with Spanish assassins at their heels. But no
matter what setbacks befell him, Bolivar never gave up. In fact,
the final, decisive battle ending Spain’s power in South America
was not won until 1824. By the time this was accomplished, not just
Venezuela was free, but also Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia,
which of course was named after “the Liberator.”
In the midst of this struggle and strife, what is less well known
is that thousands of troops were brought over from the British Isles
to help even the odds against Spain. The colonial population was
very small compared to the established countries of the Old World
like Spain, and Bolivar’s army faced a critical shortage of
men. With its rich natural resources, however, South America had
no lack of silver, so Bolivar was able to pay mercenaries to come
and fight alongside his rebel army.
As luck would have it, Bolivar’s need for additional fighters
coincided with the end of the massive war against Napoleon. As Jack
points out in Chapter One of HIS WICKED KISS, many thousands of
British soldiers were returning home to England, Scotland, and Ireland
after the great victory at Waterloo only to find the economy in
shambles, and not enough jobs to go around.
History tells us that Bolivar sent secret agents to London in an
effort to entice as many of these battle-hardened veterans into
coming to fight for him in South America. He offered real army commissions
and excellent pay. But as more and more British officers agreed
to take the mission, the government grew alarmed.
What was the King of Spain going to think about all these Englishmen
going over to take up arms with the rebels who were proving to be
such a thorn in his side? Nobody in Parliament was up for another
war now that Napoleon had finally been defeated and locked away
on the island of St. Helena. Concerned about causing tensions with
Spain,
Parliament issued a decree forbidding any British soldiers from
going to fight in Bolivar’s army.
Due to the lousy economy and the need to feed their families, it
was an order that thousands of English, Scottish, and Irish soldiers
were willing to ignore. The suspense/intrigue subplot of His Wicked
Kiss follows Lord Jack Knight’s secret mission to recruit
a battalion of mercenaries for Bolivar—without getting himself
arrested.
To learn more about the British fighters in South America, read
FOREIGN LEGIONARIES IN THE LIBERATION OF SPANISH SOUTH AMERICA by
Alfred Hasbrouck, Octagon Books, 1969.
To be included in future updates.
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