House of Night (8,5) - Lenobia's Vow by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Lenobia's - and Travis' story begins... in the 18th century! Lenobia's Vow (in German: Lenobias Versprechen, in French Le serment de Lenobia). I heard it as a German audio book. Originally published 2012.
Cécile's death is a tragedy – and her bastard sister's way to a new life, of happiness and freedom. Lenobia Whitehall is sent in her half-sister's stead to New Orleans in order to marry, the fact that no one has seen the real Cécile before is supposed to help. There are only two little difficulties: Her love for another man she couldn't even have if she wasn't engaged, and the one person who does know her for whom she is – and is more than ready to use this information against her.
Really cute – and romantic. I like Martin, he and Lenobia are a beautiful couple. I also like her mother, Elizabeth – this English vs. French blood again, so typical! Even though I wonder how the duke's wife could bear to see his former mistress everywhere, because she had to... And that's quite the insult.
I like the idea behind the villain, he was well done. But, again, I wonder where the hell this magick comes from and why it wasn't mentioned before or after this part.
The story is tense and, all in all, really nice. But, as always... there are mistakes!
- It's said that all the girls on their way to the New world are beautiful. But it's also said that they are sent there, because their families can't find them a good match and need the money. I don't think that this correlates. Sure, the parents of the boys have their say in the marriage, but all the girls have titles and extended families – which means allies – the only thing they lack is money. So, if they have good families and are beautiful, why is it so difficult to get them husbands? Sooner or later someone should fall in love with them and marry them against their own family's wishes, right?
- The crew can not use the sails in a real storm. They'd rip. And the climbing of the masts in that weather would be a certain death sentence. So the journey actually would have to take longer – and I doubt that the storm would have blown them exactly where they wanted to be, either. Oh, and the crew has to be on deck the entire time, no matter what. Just like the police or the doctors have to be always ready to save lives. Someone has to make sure the winds are just right and the ship takes no damage.
- What age has Cimmonette? 13 or 15? It's said that she's both.
- I wonder how a person can walk peacefully why (s)he's burning to death. First of all, it hurts like hell. And second: The oldest part of the brain, the one for all the fears that we humans have in order to survive, would react – to fire as well as to death. So, even if you have given up, the brain won't do you the favour to filter the signals it gets from your nerves, no, it lets you feel all the pain and adds an unhealthy dose of down-right panic. So, you can't be peaceful when you're on fire and dying – it can be something else when you already have experience, but not like this.
- Spoiler:
Why the hell didn't the vampyre mark Lenobia first thing, but waited instead half an hour, until they bumped into each other again? This doesn't make sense. Oh, and why can't Lenobia go to the House of Night in New Orleans, but has to take another ship?
So... a star for the romance, which is really cute, minus a star for the mistakes. The rest was not prominent enough for a star