Lady in Red by Máire Claremont

We all know that I love sunshine and lollypop kind of books, you know the sappy ones. The sappier the better. However, you will not find that in Máire Claremont's Lady in Red. No, this story has a darker sinister feel. Every now again I do enjoy a darker book. I guess my darker side needs to be unleashed. Máire's tend to be fantastic stories that are amazingly written and captive readers. In Lady in Red, we follow the harrowing adventure of Lady Mary Darrel.

If you remember from the The Dark Lady you would recall Eva and Mary escaping from the asylum with the help of Ian. However, they were being chase by the guards and Mary decided to jump out of moving carriage to save her friend Eva. Fortunately, Mary was never capture and we find her in London at the beginning of Lady in Red.

Poor Mary, she needs a lot of help. She first turns to her mother's old friend, Yvonne. Which Yvonne hands Mary over to Edward Barrons, Duke of Fairleigh, for protection. In turn Edward calls upon his acquaintance Viscount Powers for help. So, Lady Mary has all these allies to help her take down her father.

At the start of Lady in Red, we see Mary doesn't see much worth in herself. With the help of Edward and Powers, Mary starts to develop confidence in herself and she realizes that she's worthy to have someones love. However, the one she wants to love her has a couple of demons to conquer. Edward has many demons and feels that he doesn't have the power to love anyone. In the story Edward believes one of the ways of exorcising these demons is to help Mary take out vengeance on her father.

As the story develops, Edward realizes that vengeance isn't the answer and tries to discourage Mary from taking out her father. However, Mary sees this as a way to control her, so she turns to Powers for help. At first Powers wanted to seduce Mary away from Edward, but he starts to develop some feelings towards Mary. Mary and Powers actually share a lot in common, so it would be natural for Mary to turn her affection to Powers. As we read the story, we see a possible love triangle. Both men are different as night and day. However, one has the thing that Mary so desperately needs.

One of my favorite quote from the story:

I suppose a book is a good if it can pull you into its world, so our world disappears. That the characters become as real as you or I.

The best way to sum up Lady in Red is from that quote. Máire has the ability to drag you into her world with her stories. It is truly a captivating story that will suck you in from the first page. Some of you might be like me and love stories that are sunshine and lollypop kind of reads, but if you are willing to take a chance with Máire story you find yourself wanting see how Mary and Edward conquers the demons they have. Even as a darker read, this an unbelievable story that will take you on a harrowing adventure and eventually find happiness in the end. So, if you are looking a Victorian romance that borders on the darker side, you might enjoy the Lady in Red.

Copy provided by author

Rating:
1/2