{"id":11157,"date":"2018-10-14T18:04:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-14T22:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11157"},"modified":"2020-01-25T19:01:03","modified_gmt":"2020-01-26T00:01:03","slug":"dnf-an-indecent-invitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11157","title":{"rendered":"DNF: An Indecent Invitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Indecent Invitation<\/em> () Laura Trentham<\/p>\n

Lily Drummond’s father is missing. Her brother returned from the war damaged, and she is navigating her first season.<\/p>\n

Gray Masterson is a spy for the crown. His childhood best friend is a broken man, and in an attempt to draw him out, the wagered on a saber duel, as to who would escort Lily during her season. Gray lost.<\/p>\n

By all rights I should really enjoy this book. It’s historical. It’s got a mystery. It’s got spies. What’s not to like?!<\/p>\n

What’s not to like is that what little I read was full of inconsistencies and time jumps and confusion.<\/p>\n

Lily to Gray:<\/p>\n

\u201cBlast, I think Lord Penhaven spotted me. Hide me. He\u2019s been by the townhouse almost every day. He\u2019s been very kind, but I\u2019d rather not dance with him.\u201d <\/p>\n

Penhaven had always struck Gray as lonely and harmless.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The very next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cLord Penhaven.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like that little toad. He wants something.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her eye roll was slightly insulting. \u201cHe\u2019s old and lonely but quite amusing. What he wants is a friend. Anyway, he\u2019s a neighbor. I have to receive him if he calls.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Um… who dislikes Penhaven and who thinks he’s a harmless?<\/p>\n

That already annoyed me, but the I reached a bit I had to re-read three times before I realized that we’d suddenly and abruptly moved forward in time and place.<\/p>\n

Lily and her aunt \/ chaperone are sitting in the drawing room of the towmhouse.<\/p>\n

Lily stopped short and turned to face her aunt. \u201cAre you suggesting that I take our carriage to his rooms?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d Aunt Edie shrugged before picking through the rest of treats on the tea tray. <\/p>\n

Was there a school for chaperones? If so, her aunt had slept through pertinent instruction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Suddenly, there are brigands holding up the carriage.<\/p>\n

But there was nothing adolescent about the feelings he engendered in the here and now. The feel of his body against hers in Napier\u2019s garden had been a revelation, and the desire to kiss him nearly uncontrollable. Did he feel the same urges or was she still a nuisance? <\/p>\n

A shout brought her back to the rocking coach with a start. A gruff, common voice rang out to her left. \u201cStand and deliver!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When did they get in a carriage? Did the chapter end and I missed it? I thought she was in the drawing room whining?<\/p>\n

It did actually say that they were in a carriage a couple paragraphs before, but it was completely abrupt, and the formatting was such that as I was skimming (since I was already irritated) it took me three times through to note that they were abruptly in a carriage.<\/p>\n

I gave up after this section.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter, Bertie, it\u2019s good to be back again so soon.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cuthbertson visibly relaxed and smiled. \u201cIndeed. You\u2019re looking well, sir.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know where my father and Rafe have gotten off to?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYour father is in his suite resting, and Master Rafe is out riding. He\u2019ll certainly return before dinner. Shall I send up refreshments, my lady?\u201d <\/p>\n

She nodded, and Cuthbertson bowed himself out of the room, moving faster than she thought possible. Penny wasn\u2019t nearly so accommodating. In his surliest manner, he examined Gray head to toe. Draping his coat over the back of an armchair, Gray seemed more amused than intimidated. <\/p>\n

Still facing off with him, Penny asked, \u201cShould I stay, my lady? Or get Mrs. Winslow?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no need for either. This is Gray Masterson. He\u2019s\u2026 practically a brother. You go finish pruning the roses.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

First, the butler recognized Gray as an old family friend. <\/p>\n

Second, I had to go through that several times to figure out who was asking for whose father. Why would Gray’s father have a suite at Lily and Rafe’s house? If Penny (her bodyguard) has been keeping a close eye on her, then IF the father in question is Gray’s, then why is the bodyguard acting as if Gray is a threat if he’s already met Gray’s father?<\/p>\n

I decided life was too short to keep trying to figure out what was going on and moved onto something else.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Indecent Invitation () Laura Trentham Lily Drummond’s father is missing. Her brother returned from the war damaged, and she is navigating her first season. Gray Masterson is a spy for the crown. His childhood best friend is a broken man, and in an attempt to draw him out, the wagered on a saber duel, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,15,33,26],"tags":[155],"class_list":["post-11157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-disliked-or-abandoned","category-historical","category-romance","tag-dnf"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2TX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11031,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11031","url_meta":{"origin":11157,"position":0},"title":"Six Impossible Things: DNF","author":"Michelle","date":"August 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Six Impossible Things (2017) Elizabeth Boyle I get a LOT of sale books for the kindle, so in self-preservation I'm learning to give up on books I'm not enjoying. This was one of those books I should have loved, since it's a mystery AND romance. \u201cGirls cannot join the Foreign\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11657,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11657","url_meta":{"origin":11157,"position":1},"title":"DNF: The Curse of Lord Stanstead","author":"Michelle","date":"February 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Curse of Lord Stanstead (2015) Mia Marlowe Set in London in 1819. With his pretenatural ability to influence the thoughts of others, Garrett Sterling is sent to gather Cassandra for the Order of the M.U.SE. He's entirely unprepared for his immediate attraction to the comely little firestarter. But it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/The-Curse-of-Lord-Stanstead.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10859,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10859","url_meta":{"origin":11157,"position":2},"title":"DNF: Lost to a Spy","author":"Michelle","date":"May 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Lost to a Spy (2018) Sharon Cullen Set in Scotland in 1567 I picked this up when I saw it on sale because I thought the premise was interesting. Ladies in waiting can\u2019t help noticing more than they let on. After so many years at the court of Mary, Queen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10902,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10902","url_meta":{"origin":11157,"position":3},"title":"DNF: A Lady in the Smoke","author":"Michelle","date":"June 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A Lady in the Smoke (2016) Karen Odden Set in England in 1874. I actually got 80% through this book, but I was tired and wanted to go to sleep, so I skipped to the end, and then had no desire to go back and discover the details of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/A-Lady-in-the-Smoke.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24142,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24142","url_meta":{"origin":11157,"position":4},"title":"Silence in the Library, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"December 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Silence in the Library, Audiobook (2020) Katharine Schellman narrated by Henrietta Meire (Lily Adler Mystery #2) Set in London in 1815 \u201cHow horrid!\u201d Lily said, gazing at them with rapt\u2014and encouraging\u2014attention. \u201cHe\u2019s not like other boys,\u201d the maid said at last. \u201cHe never has been. 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