I admit to a certain bias: I claim the Duke of Roxton as my forevermore book boyfriend. Of course, I mean the man who existed directly before the start of this series, who hadn’t yet fallen in love with his Mignonne, because after that, frankly, he is useless to me (or any other woman). And if there was ever a woman with whom I have no wish to compete, it is Antonia.
Roxton is hard to get to know, both by his author’s design and his own. He is not a simple hero with a pure love for an angelic heroine. He is hardened and arrogant and callous, a jaded courtier who wields his power with as much force and precision as his rapier. One cannot tell, in the earliest stages of the book if we are meeting hero or villain. (I contend the character himself isn’t quite certain.)
By contrast, for all the book is named for him, Antonia immediately takes center stage as the heroine around whom his world will eventually turn. She is a bright light that shines on every page, exactly the kind of heroine I love: smart, spirited, fearless, genuine, with no love for rules or social constraints. When she sets herself on a course, she will not stop until the race is run… rather like her hero, though sweeter and kinder when confronting an obstacle.
There is a significant age difference between the young and sprightly Antonia and the aging roué, though not so much as to frame him as lecherous, and by the way he is written, there is no doubt of his appeal to her, to a wide variety of beauties in the French Court, and to any woman with a pulse who has a penchant for rakish dukes. He is old enough to sleep alone when it suits him, and young, handsome, rich, and virile enough to never need to. She is young enough to romanticize him, but wise enough, after some time in the decadent and permissive French court, to know what she will find in his bedchamber when she goes looking.
Both hero and heroine are charming and intriguing, for exactly opposite reasons. He because he is enigmatic; she because she is forthright. He because he tries so hard to follow the rules (where she is concerned); she because she tries so hard to ignore the fact rules exist. He because he thinks himself unworthy; she because she never doubts his worth, and never loses sight of her own. She is the only person for whom he will change any detail of his life, and she never once asks him to.
Because I am a sucker for a good villain, it must be said that along with wonderful secondary characters, Brant brings us three villains, all working at mutual or cross purposes at different points in the book. Between them, Brant covers nearly all of the seven deadly sins (and more): le comte de Salvan is a villian by greed and lust; le viscomte d’Ambert by cowardice and sloth; and the Countess Strathsay by carelessness and envy. And none of these have such weak teeth that they can be overcome by a show of ducal force. They attack and fall back in turn, nipping at the heels of the hero and heroine even to the bitter end of the book.
Set in the lush locale of Louis XV’s Versailles and the England of George II and III, Brant brings us into the 18th century by grasping our senses—the smell of the streets of Paris, the sound of carriage wheels in the courtyard of a noble hôtel, the taste of brandy choked down to deaden pain, and of course, rich descriptions of the rooms, the clothes, the sumptuous life lived in (arguably) the historical cradle of Western hedonism. With an equally deft hand, we are placed in the center of tense political intrigues endemic to royal courts through history, with players particularly suited to survive that cutthroat world.
Throughout the Roxton series, Lucinda, again and again, shows the highest levels to which historical romance can be taken. These are not “pulp” books, but smart literature in the vein of earlier generations of female novelists, who no one would now call “romance writers,” because they are studied in the canon, but who offered the same fictional escape to her female readers in the Georgian era as Brant does now.
Lucinda Brant’s books exemplify the historical romance genre for me. As a writer, I hope to emulate her excellent prose, as a reader, I just want her to write more books, so I can move on from reading these again and again.
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From the Publisher
More than a Big Dress
What does it take to make cover art that depicts the actual characters, fashions, locations, and even the jewellery described in the story? Find out in Lucinda Brant’s Noble Satyr Cover Reveal blog post. See Antonia and Renard come to life in the Behind-The-Scenes covershoot video at the LucindaBrantAuthor YouTube channel. Details in the book.
Love History?
Explore the real people, places, and objects in Noble Satyr on Lucinda Brant’s dedicated Pinterest board. Details inside the book.
About the author
Intrigue, Deceit, and Romance (sigh)
This is actually the first book in the series, labeled a prequel. I love this story and it’s a perfect foundation for the rest of the books. The love story is one for the ages and the characters are well-developed. It’s set in the Georgian Era of England and simultaneously in the France of Louis XV. The vivid portrayals of the excesses of French nobility are a wonderful backdrop for that period’s lavish lifestyle of the rich. Gossip was akin to an Olympic sport and backbiting a common theme. The Roxtons are a powerful family on both sides of the channel and I can’t say enough about the beautiful love story. I highly recommend this book and series. I both read it and listened on Audible, which was equally delicious.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2012
- Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2015
Top reviews from other countries
- Booklover130Reviewed in Australia on February 28, 2017
Confused Georgian romance in style of Heyer but lacking her lightness of touch and charm
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Non Solo RomanceReviewed in Italy on July 20, 2014
Noble Satyr -Serie Roxton, libro 1
