October 2023 Reread: upgrading from 4 stars to 5 because I feel squishy in my heart about Emma and how much I love her.

As of 2023, this is the last book Judith Ivory wrote (Angel in a Red Dress, released in 2006, was a rerelease of her first book Starlit Surrender, released in 1988).

As can be expected from reading a Judith Ivory book, the prose was amazing. The characters were beautifully complex and every new revelation felt like a special secret shared (minus the harem stuff, coz yikes.) ( )

This is like a 3.8, but is it a 3.8 because I've read Bliss & dance? I don't know. I think, maybe, so it's kinda a 5er considering that and have I mentioned how star ratings feel stupid bc as I'm demonstrating now I'm a capricious reader and I don't have, like, a system, except I would probably read this again so it's most definitely a 4, and I'd reread it again bc Judith Ivory, but also I keep thinking about Nardi and his dirty pictures of Hannah...

Hope you've all enjoyed the ride in my thoughts. I want to see this book as a movie. Because chair sex. Do I need another reason? Because it would be a fun one. That's my other reason. I don't need any more. It's my review. And I'm done now. ( )

I’d heard a lot about this one by Ivory, but for me it was just a “meh” story. Loved that the heroine was a con-artist, but I wasn’t all that thrilled with the hero. To me, it seemed like he was missing something… as was the ending. But maybe that’s just me ( )

I love the plucky heroine, with her audacious past and unique skill-set. I love the hero, with his unexpected weaknesses and deliberate speach. A favorite quote:


"A bit odd, are you?" She was being sarcastic, trying to taunt him into a sense of guilt. While perhaps bursting any bubble in herself of misguided, soft-hearted concern for a man with sad eyes and complicated wealth.

Though his sexual inclinations were perhaps not the wisest of barbs to do either. he looked down at her, speculative. "Difficult to say." He actually answered the question seriously. "Legally? Decidedly. But then British laws on the subject are so guilt-ridden I'm surprised we've propagated as a race." He made a small, grim smile. "How delightful we're having this conversation. And what is it you like?" ( )

Great, great, great! I read it in one day, fantastic chemistry between hero and heroine.

http://ktleyed.blogspot.com/2012/04/untie-my-heart-by-judith-ivory.html ( )