Mary Jo Putney
Auteur de The Rake
A propos de l'auteur
Romance writer Mary Jo Putney was born in New York and graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in English literature and Industrial design. She served as the art editor of The New Internationalist magazine in London and worked as a designer in California before settling in Baltimore, afficher plus Maryland in 1980 to run her own freelance graphic design business Her first novel was a traditional Regency romance, which sold in one week. Signet liked the novel so much that it offered Putney a three-book contract. In 1987 that first novel, The Diabolical Baron, was published. Since then, she has published more than twenty-nine books. Her books have been ranked on the national bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. Most of her books have been historical romance. She has also begun writing fantasy romance and romantic fantasy. Putney has won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award twice, for Dancing on the Wind and The Rake and the Reformer and has been a RITA finalist nine times. She is on the Romance Writers of America Honor Roll for bestselling authors, and has been awarded two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards and four Golden Leaf Awards. Her titles include: Dark Mirror, Dark Passage, No Longer a Gentleman, Never Less than a Lady, and Nowhere Near Respectable. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins
Notice de désambiguation :
(eng) Mary Jo Putney has also published fantasy romance novels as M.J. Putney.
Crédit image: Franco
Séries
Œuvres de Mary Jo Putney
Bewitched, Bothered, and BeVampyred (20-in-1) (2005) — Directeur de publication; Contributeur — 127 exemplaires
A Regency Christmas II [1990: Playing House/ Three Kings/ Sunshine for Christmas/ Last Wish/ Christmas Star] (1990) — Contributeur — 106 exemplaires
A Regency Christmas III [1991: Mistletoe and Folly/ Christmas Cuckoo/ Best Christmas Ever/ Home for Christmas/ Dark… (1991) — Contributeur — 93 exemplaires
A Regency Christmas IV [1992: Porcelain Madonna/ Christmas Rose/ Seasonal Stratagem/ Best Gift of All/ Christmas Tart] (1992) — Contributeur — 91 exemplaires
Bride by Arrangement (Wedding of the Century / Mismatched Hearts / My Darling Echo) (2000) 64 exemplaires
Promised Brides (The Wedding of the Century / Jesse's Wife / The Handfast) (1994) — Contributeur — 58 exemplaires
The Wedding of the Century & Other Stories (The Wedding of the Century / Jesse's Wife / Seduced by Starlight) (2011) 51 exemplaires
Christmas Candles (The Best Husband Money Can Buy / Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know) (2015) 7 exemplaires
Amar Um Homem Perdido 3 exemplaires
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know 2 exemplaires
A Dozen Rakes, Renegades and Rogues, Oh, My! 2 exemplaires
The Demon Dancer 2 exemplaires
Il demone danzante 2 exemplaires
O NOUA VIATA 1 exemplaire
Shining On 1 exemplaire
Eine Lady verschenkt man nicht 1 exemplaire
Die Reise nach Neapel 1 exemplaire
Magie indepartata 1 exemplaire
UMBRELE TRECUTULUI 1 exemplaire
O IUBIRE IMPOSIBILA VOL 2 1 exemplaire
MIREASA DIN CHINA 1 exemplaire
O IUBIRE IMPOSIBILA 1 exemplaire
Wedding of the Century (Bride by Arrangement anth) 1 exemplaire
Irresistible Forces (The Alchemical Marriage) 1 exemplaire
Lost Girls 1 exemplaire
Die starken Fesseln der Sehnsucht: Roman (Historische Liebesromane. Bastei Lübbe Taschenbücher) (German Edition) 1 exemplaire
A Christmas Fling (The Circle of Friends #3.5) 1 exemplaire
Promesse 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
Songs of Love and Death: All Original Tales of Star Crossed Love (2010) — Contributeur — 736 exemplaires
Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance (1992) — Contributeur — 218 exemplaires
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Autres noms
- Putney, M. J.
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- USA
- Lieu de naissance
- New York, USA
- Lieux de résidence
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Études
- Syracuse University (English Literature, Industrial Design)
- Relations
- Word Wenches (writers collective)
- Prix et distinctions
- Romance Writers of America (Honor Roll)
Romantic Times Career Achievement Award
AAR Annual Reader Poll (Favorite New Discovery, 1997)
AAR Annual Reader Poll (Author Most Glommed, 1997) - Notice de désambigüisation
- Mary Jo Putney has also published fantasy romance novels as M.J. Putney.
Membres
Discussions
Found: YA Novel with Timetravel à Name that Book (Septembre 2021)
Critiques
Listes
Favourite Books (1)
Useful Spy Books (1)
Prix et récompenses
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 110
- Aussi par
- 15
- Membres
- 13,961
- Popularité
- #1,648
- Évaluation
- 3.7
- Critiques
- 473
- ISBN
- 602
- Langues
- 12
- Favoris
- 22
Although inseparable when they were young, Dominic and Kyle’s estrangement began when they were sent to different schools as boys. They began to grow apart with Dominic harboring some feelings of resentment for being relegated to second son status simply for being born ten minutes later, and for Kyle trying to tell Dominic how to run his life. They’ve barely seen each other for the past decade when Kyle comes to Dominic promising to give him a valuable estate in exchange for his help courting Meriel. As someone who’s always loved the land and wanted an estate of his own to run instead of his small monthly allowance, it’s too good of an offer to pass up. However, from the moment he meets Meriel, he sees something in her that others don’t. He recognizes her genius in the flowers and plants she tends in the garden and her kindness and compassion in the animals who’ve become loyal companions to her. As he patiently pursues her, he comes to realize that despite her lack of speech, she’s far from the madwoman others seem to believe she is. She also has a seductive side that is hard for him to resist, but he tries for the sake of his deal with Kyle. Eventually, though, Dominic realizes he’s fallen madly in love with Meriel, and tells her the truth of his identity, which doesn’t surprise her, as she’d surmised as much. But when the uncle who supports her marrying falls ill and the other one who wants to have her committed hears of the scheme, it places both Meriel and their love in danger.
Dominic is a beta-leaning, cinnamon-roll hero who is nothing but sweet to Meriel. I loved how he saw the best in her and not the worst like most other people. He appreciates her unconventional floral arrangements and connects to her love for animals. He sees all the things about her that everyone else, even the people who support her the most, miss. He was gentle and compassionate with her, just the right person to gain her trust and help her reconnect with the outside world. Dominic may have met Meriel under unusual and less than honest circumstances, but he came clean with her at exactly the right time. He’s also smart enough to realize that things aren’t going to be easy just because they love each other. He knows that as a younger son with no real money or property of his own that he’ll likely be viewed as a fortune hunter who took advantage of Meriel, but he doesn’t let it stop him from protecting her the best he can. Dominic is also very understanding of Meriel’s desire for independence and gives her assurances that he won’t step on her toes if she marries him.
After being traumatized by her childhood experience in India, Meriel hasn’t spoken a word. Her paternal uncle would’ve liked to see her locked up, while her maternal uncle believed that she would do better if she was allowed to live a more normal life. Luckily the latter’s opinion prevailed, so Meriel, who as the only daughter of her parents, is a very wealthy heiress, lives on her mother’s estate with two elderly widowed cousins who treat her kindly and an Indian bodyguard who came with her to England as a child and is her trusted friend. Warfield has become her sanctuary, and she spends her days there tending the gardens and befriending and caring for the animals. Now that her supportive uncle is aging, he wants to make sure Meriel is properly cared for if anything should happen to him, so he invoked a previous marriage contract with Kyle, wanting him to wed her quickly while her other uncle is out of the country. Meriel had met Kyle when he’d previously made a brief visit and hadn’t been impressed with her betrothed. But when a man looking like him returns, she finds herself almost immediately attracted to him. She can read people’s auras and senses something different about him. This man actually sees the real her and understands her like no one else does, which only solidifies their bond. Meriel has seen animals mating and is curious about what it would be like for humans, but she’s never felt a real desire for that kind of connection until she meets Dominic. She sets about trying to seduce him, but he surprisingly clings to his gentlemanly side for much longer than she would have expected. However, even after he tells her his true identity, she’s reluctant to marry him for fear of losing her independence, but she may not have a choice when her uncle tries to commit her.
Meriel is easily one of the most unique and unusual romance heroines I’ve read. Because she’s had no real contact with the outside world and because her cousins mostly leave her be, she harbors an interesting combination of traits. She can play the genteel lady with impeccable manners when she must, but it’s exhausting for her. Conversely she doesn’t feel at all constricted by the dictates of society, so she runs around barefoot all day, wants to remain an independent woman, and has no moral hang-ups about sex. Dominic shakes up her carefully ordered world, in both good ways and bad. He provides a deep human connection like she’s never experienced before and truly understands her. But his presence is, in part, responsible for her being sent to the asylum and having to make difficult choices about whether to risk her independence to marry him for the protection his name can provide. Meriel is just a delightful mixture of sweetness and light combined with strength and resolve that was very endearing.
The third main player in this story is Kyle who has several of his own POV scenes as we follow him on his journey to take care of the matter that is keeping him from courting Meriel and that he won’t reveal to Dominic. It would be easy to dislike him if one’s view was based simply on his opening scene where he asks for Dominic’s help. He has a rather imperious attitude, it appears that he can’t even be bothered to get to know his own bride-to-be, and he seems somewhat set on remaining estranged from his brother even though Dominic agrees to help. However, as Kyle’s part of the story progresses, we see a man who is deeply in love and at loose ends over the impending death of someone very close to him. We get to see him in the throes of grief and just how tender and loving he can be toward another human being. While I think that his decision to marry Meriel despite not loving her was a bad one and not at all fair to her, I was still much more sympathetic toward Kyle by the end of the story than I thought I’d be, which is good since he’s the hero of the next book, The China Bride.
The Mary Jo Putney books I’ve read so far have been a mixture of ones I thought were merely good and others that I loved, and I’m happy to say that The Wild Child fell into the latter category. Meriel captivated me from her opening scenes and continued to impress me the further I read. She’s such an interesting and unique character who grows a great deal throughout the story. Dominic equally enchanted me with his down-to-earth demeanor. Aside from his gentlemanliness when Meriel is trying to seduce him, which I appreciated, he’s never stuffy and isn’t afraid to get dirty in the garden with her. I just love how he treated her like a whole person right from the start, and as a result, she blossomed under his attentions. Dominic and Meriel were absolutely perfect for one another and I love how they fought for a future together free of society’s prejudices. Kyle’s part in the story was equally well done, leaving me very interested in reading his book. In some books she has that were passed down through the women in her family, we’re also told about Meriel’s ancestor who has the same name and that earlier Meriel is the heroine of the book, Uncommon Vows, which is considered by some to be a prequel to this series. As a whole, the characterizations were superb, showcasing all the different facets of the characters and showing them developing well throughout. The story itself was very rare and distinctive to the genre, so that alone kept me engaged and reading. I was even rather morbidly fascinated with the peek inside the horrors of an asylum of the era that the author gives her readers. All the elements simply came together to create a fantastic read that I thoroughly enjoyed.… (plus d'informations)