Mr. Ridley

by Delilah Marvelle
Book 1 of The Whipping Society

This book is definitely a breath of fresh air in comparison to the historical romances I'm used to reading.  In truth, it's not the best written book in the world and could benefit from a bit more editing, but you soon forget that there are any quibbles and flaws in the face of how much fun it is to follow the interactions between Jemdanee and Mr. Ridley.  This couple is brilliant together, and even as some of the dialogue can be a bit incredible and tacky, the banter is to die for!

While I love that Jemdanee is a gem of a heroine--sunny disposition even in the face of everything that's happened to her, and a smart tongue that makes you smile--I honestly feel like it's Mr. Ridley that stood out for me more.  I'm so used to the broody, mysterious alpha heroes.  And in a way, that's what Mr. Ridley is, except that he's so much more.  To be honest, his fatalism got a little frustrating at times, but his blunt, straight-forward actions and mannerisms just made him a bit more refreshing than the typical historical hero.

Don't get me wrong--I loved Jemdanee as well.  She's basically everything I love about strong heroines with a level head on her shoulders, a heart of gold, with appropriate flaws, as well as some girlishly adorable quirks.  She's young, but sometimes you forget how young she is because of how mature and worldly she acts.

Meanwhile, I wish there had been a bit more about the murder mystery, and I wish we could have seen more of Jemdanee using her botanical savant skills for the investigation.  But it's quite apparent that this book was more about the slow developing lust and romance between our main couple.  There was also a heavy emphasis on the BDSM proclivities of our hero, but the theme is fairly underplayed compared to other romances I've read (and I honestly haven't read many) with this theme.

And to be fair, I'm not as interested in BDSM as much as others may be, so the honest truth is, I probably wouldn't have picked up this book anytime soon based on the summary, if not for some of the high praise, and lots of interesting quotes, I saw from a trusted reviewer I follow (a quick shout out to Whiskey and her Romancies for 2018, which is where I made the decision to read this book!).  Even if this book really does come off more BDSM-lite.

I'm quite glad this book caught my attention in this fashion, though, because in the end, it's the interactions between Jemdanee and Mr. Ridley that really made me fall for it.

This is my first favorite read of 2019, with hopefully more to come, and a good outlook for the rest of the year!

I did a Buddy Read for this one, for more comments and quotes - The Devil is French Buddy Read

It is no secret that I loved the heck out Mr. Ridley, the first in this series that follows Mr. Ridley, an inspector with a dark past and Jemdanee, a skilled medicinal Indian woman. The first was their meeting, sparking, and emotional whirlwind. In this second addition, they are reunited after three years apart.

“If we don’t trust each other, Jemdanee, we’ll fail each other.”

I would suggest reading this right after the first or at least brushing up as I felt some of the characterization of Ridley felt off in the beginning as I remembered aspects of his persona that soften more at the very end of the first. I thought the beginning was a little annoying with every male finding Jemdanee the bees knees, we even have a super obsessed man, Bradley, in what felt like a little bit of easy danger and tension plot. I did enjoy the author's continued "make you think" comments, this time questioning motivations and actions of Christian and British works towards India and it's people.

When the book got about 35% in is when I finally felt like Ridley and Jemdanee started to click for me, they started to get their rhythm. I do think there were times that it felt like Ridley was imposing his thoughts and will on Jemdanee (I thought in the first she pushed back more), which gave their relationship a different tone. 

I hate to say it but a lot of this book felt like filler to me. The whole middle part felt like Ridley constantly preparing Jemdanee for their sexual relationship and it felt like a lot of stalling. More often than not, stretched out one couple relationship series like this don't jive with me, so there could be some personal likes/dislikes happening here as this book was a very slowed down and focused but what felt like lack of trajectory. 

At the end we finally get a direction with the author circling back to Ridley's father's murder and an arc for the third book. At the end, we do get a bedroom scene payoff but when it finally did come, I felt a bit disappointed. For all the talk and build up, there was a strange lack of emotion and heat for me. There were bald dirty words and actions but for how hot these two were out of the bedroom, the emotion was pretty stark in it. 

Overall, I felt like the trajectory was off and most of this came off feeling like filler; nothing really resolved or accomplished but it is a middle book in a three part series. I'm still excited for the third in the series (I really do think Ridley's ex-wife should get a novella at the very least and ideally her own full length book/duology) to come out and see where these two end up. 

Evan Oswald, I fear over time, we will erase each other with a need to prove ourselves to each other.”

He patted his pocket. “I take this night and your flowers with me.” He tapped his forearm where her name was buried beneath his coat. “You are always with me. Always.”

More quotes/comments: Buddy Read

“Evan Oswald, I fear over time, we will erase each other with a need to prove ourselves to each other.”

More quotes/comments: Buddy Read

He had once told her that the right man would know how to put her together when it was time, yet probably he did not expect that it would be the right woman putting him back together.

For quotes/comments: Buddy Read