5 stars I have a tendency to gush when I read one of Tracy Sumner’s books. I am truly in awe of her ability to weave words together to create images and feelings. She conveys the emotions of the characters and describes the scenes in vivid detail, immersing me in the worlds and with the people that she creates. Sometimes it’s hard to remember it’s fictional. Sometimes the words claw their way inside of me and I just have to put them on paper (so to speak) to relieve myself of the burden of carrying them alone because they are so poetic and need to be shared. I sound like a fangirl. Guilty. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Piper Scott, and with Julian Alexander as seen through her eyes. This is the first book in the League of Lords series, focused on individuals with supernatural powers. Julian can see through the eyes of the person who last touched an item while Piper can see auras and can heal people, particularly those who struggle with their “gifts.” Theirs is a case of love at first sight, but Julian feels compelled to push aside those feelings because he feels a greater need to protect her than anything else. Plus, her grandfather, as he lay dying, told Julian that Piper was not the one for him. Like a fool, he believes he owes it to her dead grandfather to deny his love for her. As you can imagine, that doesn’t work out so well. Meanwhile, the League is forming, its headquarters at Harbingdon, a property purchased by Julian, the home staffed only by those who have “gifts,” few of whom have ever been trained for the positions they hold, which leads to some interesting problems. Julian is convinced that only having those with “gifts” as a part of this enclave will help to protect them from prying eyes. Unfortunately, one villain in particular, Sidonie, is quickly closing in on their location via a connection through Finn’s dreams. When Piper inevitably meets Sidonie, she is horrified to discover she has no aura. “Only skin, bone, and madness.” Further, she sees Sidonie’s hair “snarled, a black demon hanging down her back,” a very apt and foreboding observation/metaphor. I unknowingly read The Rake Is Taken prior to reading this book, which is fine in terms of understanding, but it gave me what is probably a different take on Finn. I couldn’t help but notice the frequent descriptions of him: “...a born trickster, able to bend the truth seven ways to tomorrow and come out clean.” At one point, Piper observes, “If a crowd hadn’t surrounded Finn as he lounged against a marble column, a careless sprawl calling to the cats in the room like a putrid plate of tuna,” she would have requested his assistance. The descriptions of Finn paint a picture of a man I’d be intrigued to know (if I hadn’t already read the sequel), with phrases like: “carefully crafted facade,” “unruffled mein,” “the height of elegance and ease on his worst days,” “he pushed off the cart with an agile kick and a jaunty wave,” and “strolled as if he owned the space.” “The handsome face, the immaculate dress, the intelligence Finn stored in a portmanteau, and placed at his side during most encounters made people overlook him.” “Finn, who’d slipped into the role of bastard son like he slipped on his drawers, one easy, elegant leg at a time.” Truly, I could go on about Finn as he is a complex and riveting character, but he’s really only a small part of this story. My focus should be on Piper and Julian. Julian, seemingly always in control, is “unmanned” by Piper. Early on, we have a window into his mind as he regards Marianne (his mistress), with “eyes the color of fresh cow dung.” Later, as he tries to restrain himself when it comes to Piper, he presses “his hands to the desk to keep them from following commands his mind issued at rapid speed.” “He didn’t know if he could fight her when two infinitesimal letters—no—were all separating them.” When he eventually submits, he admits to her, “...you are the only treasure my gift has given me.” When near Julian, Piper “...felt as diaphanous as the smoke surrounding her, dissolving in his arms.” Her connection/distance from him is metaphorically portrayed like this: “The scent of him drifted to her, subtle, woodsy, close to the ground but not rooted.” Unable to reason with him, she remembers she has another option: “As he’d told her on more than one occasion, she would make an excellent thief. So, she’d steal his heart if he would not readily give it to her.” Their interactions are always intense, passionate (“Her power rose as his attraction raced across the space like a bullet discharged from a pistol.”), even out of control, yet also fun. “She was an angel in his arms and a determined, independent fury out of them.” She makes him laugh like no one else can, and she burrows into his soul, finding places he hides even from himself. “She had punctured a hole in his life and let blissful contentment flood in. Let joy and fun flood in.” They banter, as she tries to downplay her feelings for him with lies (directed at him) and he tries to hide his love with denial (directed at himself). “...she whispered, the denial as fragile as one spun with gossamer thread. She could hear the lie ringing between them like the village’s church bell...He laughed, razor-sharp, an uncharitable retort.” Another time, Julian questions Piper’s stitching skills as she strives to sew his wound closed, she responds, “Are you expecting daisies on your arm?” Julian laments, “You’re not helping.” Piper responds, “Our goals differ.” Later, he confides in her: “My desires sit at the opposite ends of the galaxy. I want to shield you from danger while I spread you like butter over my body. And I cannot find a way to combine those two with any judiciousness.” I think the reason I love Piper is because, like so many of Tracy Sumner’s heroines, she knows herself, she knows what she wants, and she’s unwilling to settle for what society tells her she can have. In the words (thoughts) of Piper, “Men were encouraged to obtain what they wanted, confess desire, yearning, attraction, while women were left to ache and burn, forced to hide their feelings where no one could see them.” This is another masterpiece worth reading. December 22, 2020
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September 2022
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