Se hace llamar Peregrine y, como el halcón, era un hombre salvaje y libre, extremadamente atractivo, fabulosamente rico y deslumbrantemente seductor que, procedente de Oriente Medio se había abierto paso en la sociedad victoriana con decisión. Pero su único deseo era vengarse de Charles Weldon, un desalmado propietario de burdeles que tiempo atrás se había convertido en su enemigo.
Y el plan de Peregrine no puede ser más diabólico: primero seducirá a Sarah, la prometida de Weldon y después acabará con él....Antes de lo que cree tendrá que elegir entre regir su vida por los principios de la venganza o del amor.

I like an angsty romance, more than a bit actually, but found this one to be a little over-wrought. I think that adding the villain's p.o.v. made the story incredibly unsubtle. I like Peregrine's emotional transformation but thought it came a little late in the story. ( )

The hero is a prince from Kafiristan (a very suspect name), a small country in the Himalayas. Mikhal Kaunari has vowed revenge on Charles Weldon, an English aristocrat who did something terrible to him 25 years ago. With the help of Lord Ross Carlisle, whose life Mikhal once saved, Mikhal enters society as Prince Peregrine of Kafiristan. His first task is to break the betrothal between Ross's cousin, Lady Sara St James, and the evil Charles Weldon.

Lady Sara is good; Mikhal is ruthless; Weldon is ludicrously evil. Mikhal's vengeance puts his friends and colleagues at risk of their lives, and has the potential to destroy the livelihoods of many others. I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to Sara and Mikhal, but there was such a lot I didn't like. There are brothels where syphilitic aristocrats deflower virgins in the hope of a cure, whippings, slavery, a branding, the raping of children. Although these things happen mainly off-screen, they're unspeakably sordid.

I cannot recommend this tasteless book. ( )

Well, hello, definitely lust at first sight by Sara when she meets Peregrine. By the way for some weird reason the name Peregrine is keeping me out of the story somewhat.
So sad when Peregrine meets Jenny Miller in the virgins brothel and she describes what life choices she really has. Just depressing knowing women's lives were really like this and still like this is some parts of the world. Oh man I just kept thinking please, please Peregrine save her. This line made my eyes water: "If he chose, he could help this girl, but what was the point of saving one little whore? It would make no difference to that vast, endless, tragic horde of broken children.
But as Jenny stared at him with great stark eyes, he knew that it would make a difference to her."
For some reason I didn't really feel into the story until the dramatic library scene where Peregrine and Sara are found making out on the sofa. Her fiancée Charles loses his shit and I could almost feel Peregrines satisfaction at delivering a blow to his enemy. I was anxious to read on because I felt like now some stuff was going to go down not only between Peregrine and Charles but Peregrine and Sara.
Even though they had such a small part in the story Jenny and Slade kind of stole the show for me at times. The tough vulnerability of Jenny was written wonderfully, like this line: "But she had never known that a man could want a woman and not take her because he did care. There was something very fragile and precious in the idea, though she didn't really understand it. Maybe someday she would."
I really did enjoy how Peregrine healed Sara's inner scars over her limp. Peregrine made Sara into a woman and it was commendable writing by Putney for the beautiful way she wrote this.
After Peregrines past is revealed (I thought this should have been done earlier) and Sara finally finds out the extent of Peregrines revenge on Charles, she decides to leave him. I thought how fast Sara left Peregrine and the way it was done was very immature. Sara should have stayed around to talk to Peregrine longer. Writing him a note and giving back her wedding ring seemed liked a very hasty decision.
This was quite a tale, but it did not hit a cord with me like so many have before. There are definitely some dark issues Putney deals with in this book and she does a great job. I can see how some people describe this book as beautiful and poignant, but it just didn't reach that level for me. I was never completely immersed into the story. I know a lot of people think the world of this book but for me it was just an "eh" book.

C ( )

‘Silk and Shadows’ by Mary Jo Putney is an entrancing romance between Lady Sara St. James, a woman of English nobility, and Prince Peregrine or Mikhail, an exotic and handsome prince from an Asiatic country, now known as Afghanistan. Sara is betrothed to Charles Weldon, an extremely evil and corrupt man who is Mikhail’s adversary. Weldon is the owner of numerous brothels throughout Victorian England, and he even employs young virginal girls to satisfy a client’s needs. Introduced to English aristocracy through Sara’s cousin, Mikhail is on a mission to destroy and kill Weldon and to secure revenge for years of his own personal abuse. As the romance between Mikhail and Sara develops, Mikhail needs to determine his love for Sara and to decide if he can forego with the hatred that consumes him, as he plans for Weldon’s demise.
I awarded four stars to this book because it was fast-paced and intriguing. In addition, the characters were at times slightly flawed, rather than strikingly perfect, making them more humanistic. Sara is high-spirited and virtuous, but she is slightly disfigured from a previous horse riding accident. Mikhail bears the disfigurement of numerous beatings and whippings on his back.
‘Silk and Shadows’ is certainly an enthralling romance which is entertaining, as well as poignant for the reader. ( )