Obtain The Lady Julia Grey Bundle (Lady Julia Grey, #1-3) Developed By Deanna Raybourn Issued As Version

are fairly Gothic, with all their portents, foreshadowing, and dire directives from the heroine's narration their dark and brooding hero whom, we are assured, is really quite entranced with the heroine yet deals with her rather nastily for a large proportion of the novels oh but it's really the most romantic! because he actually has loved her from the very minute he saw her! and he simply suffers from a tragic past and debilitating headaches because he refuses his gift of the "sight"! so it's all okay! and the rather transparent mysteries which could be guessed less than a third of the way in, yet somehow the heroine bumbled about discombobulatedly for the rest of the books.
They're also, despite their status as a historical mystery series, rather disconcertingly modern in some respects descriptions of clothing aside the modernity is more in some of the interactions/speech/thoughts, more than things like syphilitic characters and homosexuality as some other reviewers cited.


I'm sure a rebuttal could be made that I'm simply too stodgy and unimaginative to appreciate these books and the glowing reviews and high star rating here suggests perhaps that's true but I couldn't help but be annoyed by these books, and impatient.
Gothic plot devices such as the heroine loving the hero who is broody and enigmatic and remote and rather unpleasant to her and has secrets deeper than the Mariana Trench I can't help but mentally groan and think "I'm so tired of this.
Why doesn't she just leave him and get on with her life and let him go to hell in a handbasket if that's what he wants And why don't people just talk and communicate!"

So.
. . I guess these just aren't my cup of tea, and that assessment reflects my personality more than the quality of the books.
Categories
Women Sleuths Mystery amp Detective Fiction, Historical Romance, Romance Collections amp Anthologies, Victorian Historical Fiction
Miniseries
A Lady Julia Grey Mystery I left stories one and three unread due to unfathomable boredom.
The first book takes forever to get anywhere, and the third quickly loses its interesting atmospheric almost Gothic vibe to continue to bore me.
But the real problem with this book is Brisbane, Always rude, always condescending, always unpalatable, always disagreeable, Brisbane has no real redeeming qualities and always manages to ruin what I like about Julia and the plot.
He is such an utterly loathsome man who wallows in his issues, pushes Julia away only to pull her close and push her away again, and his arrogance is intolerable.
He is everything I hate some romance novel heroes, humiliates her, and despite being an investigator, it doesn't feel like he serves any other purpose than assholeloveinteresttheheroineissupposedtogettoloveherbecauseshe'sspecialorsomething.
All in all, ridiculous books with no entertainment value, unless you can handle irredeemable love interests and English moors, Good value and fun stories very much enjoying this series,

HowEVER, I did just discover after reading therd book that I'd been HOODWINKED, These books are published by HARLEQUIN, the ROMANCE NOVEL PEOPLE THAT I'VE MOCKED MY ENTIRE ADULT LIFE, Good grief. I can only take this to mean that they have upgraded the quality of their writers and stories, as the characters in this series are enjoyable and the plot lines interesting and fun.
Huh. Who knew. I liked these. Good mystery although the actual dead body in the third one didn't turn up until WAY into the book, i thought I had started reading the wrong series, But I just finished a Thursday Next book, so that's going to happen for a while,
I will probably read more of these, right up until Lady Julia becomes as irritating as Lady Emily has lately, Then I'll go to something else,
Apparently there's a new Flavia De Luce novel coming in January, so there's that,

But, if this is the kind of book you enjoy, you'll probably enjoy all three of these, Full of dysfunctional family fun, but a little too much descriptive fluff for my liking, Can't wait for number book five as long as she leaves out the mummy babies, I received this bundle for a very low price on my kindle, I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did, Historical Mystery is not always my thing, I read them straight through and immediately got the next few, Here is a review of each book as I read it:

SILENT IN THE GRAVE
,stars. I couldn't give it, but it is more than,.

Im not really sure how I feel about this yet, I definitely liked it enough to keep reading the series, But I am a little torn, It wasnt what I expected at all, Not in a good or bad way, Just unexpected.

There was quite a bit of what I call “filler” info, Maybe that is on par with other Victorian mystery novels, but there was a lot of information that wasnt necessary, Tiny little details that you really dont need to hear about, Though, I suppose for a mystery, that makes sense, It is all in the details when one is trying to weed out a murderer,

As a character, Julia becomes more likable as the story unfolds, In the beginning she is not vapid, but she is not particularly interesting, Only after the death of her husband and encouragement from her sister to be bold does she allow herself to open up and try to enjoy her life.
Julias family are not backwards thinkers, quite the opposite, but some things are shocking no matter what,

Several times during the story, I wanted to be shocked, I kept thinking, meh, I need something juicy, Maybe it is my modern way of thinking, I certainly do not live under Victorian Era standards, but I wanted SOMETHING, I got more than I bargained for in the end, Eek.

Nicholas Brisbane is appealing as hell, Kind of a jerk, the kind of bad boy that we all love to hate and love to love at the same time.
But he isnt a complete ass, He has redeemable qualities. He isnt perfect, despite what some people say in their reviews, I think he is very flawed, Yes, he plays instruments, he speaks languages, There is a reason for that, and it all unfolds very slowly,
So, I guess I liked it, I want more.


SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY
,Stars

I do love how well researched these books are, And the language is on par with the time period, I have often read Victorian novels or novels set in other times that do not correctly reflect the mannerisms or speech of the people of the time.
It is really off putting and makes it difficult for me to read, Thankfully, that is not the case in the Julia Grey Novels,

I love Julia amp Brisbane's constant bickering and back and forth, It creates a tension which is altogether delicious, Though it make you want something to happen and become frustrated when it doesn't, Sometimes though, the anticipation can be better than the act itself, I'm hoping that isn't the case, but I am enjoying the ride nonetheless,

I like how ridiculous Julia's family is as well, The fact that they accept one another, despite their abundance of flaws is, for lack of a better word, awesome, And quite entertaining. They all have quirks and mannerisms that can be annoying but the author manages to portray them with a sense of humor through Julia's eyes.


I have grown to like Julia's voice a good deal more as well, She isn't a meek little mouse, and we all know that I love that, less

SILENT ON THE MOOR
Julia Grey does not disappoint in her adventures,

This installment of the Julia Grey series was a bit more morbid than the previousbooks, There is much truth about the age in which it was set, but not necessarily something that you want to think about.
Or read about. It did not deter me from soldiering on and plowing through it, though, I am a sucker for romance, and we finally get a little bit of it in the end,

I have read that many people aren't fond of Brisbane, They believe he is too perfect, too wellread, too intelligent, I disgree. He is completly flawed. Sure, he is wellversed in many ways, but that is becuase he had to be, In order to achieve the life he wanted, he had to learn these things, It is an admirable trait, though the reasons behind doing what he did are not

entirely admirable, I think he is a perfect match for Julia, Their flaws are what make them so wellsuited for each other,

Silent on the Moor brings us further into Brisbane's history, We get a lot more information about his past, Something that Julia has been salivating for, It is presented in typical Deanna Raybourn fashion a mystery of course, One filled with quite a few unexpected twists and turns, I did not really expect any of it, which is what makes a great book, Sometimes mysteries can be predictable, and sometimes a piece of a plot just seems obvious, but I don't think that was the case here.

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