Review: Belladonna by Fiona Paul + Giveaway

Title: Belladonna
Author: Fiona Paul
Series: Secrets of the Eternal Rose, book #2
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Date: July 16, 2013
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In Renaissance Italy, love, lust, intrigue and secret societies converge to stunning results!

In the second in the stunning Secrets of the Eternal Rose series, Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he’s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass’s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose—the only evidence that will prove he’s innocent.

So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of vampirism, secret soirees and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who is working for the Order’s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself.

Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?

Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.

Much like it's predecessor, Belladonna got off to a bit of a slow start for me.  But knowing that the author takes her time building the story, trying to catch her stride, I knew that I'd get to the middle and practically be unable to stop reading.  And that's exactly what happened.

Fiona Paul has done it again.  She's taken Renaissance Italy and made it even more beautiful and picturesque, but she's also lent an air of mystery and creepiness to the story by setting part of it in Florence, where there have been reports of vampires.  Vampires!  I know, right?  But that aspect is all about perception and what one believes.  Though, I suppose much of this story is, considering a major underyling theme is religion versus science.  But I'm not about to get into that debate here.

So, Cass is all set to start her life with Luca after the events of Venom.  She's forsaken Falco for the life she is supposed to have, the one that would make her parents proud.  But she still can't stop thinking about him.  I'm not going to lie, I'm not the biggest fan of Falco.  Even more so after the thing at the end of this book, but that's not the biggest factor.  He's pompous and a bit obscene, and though he genuinely seems to care for Cass, his heart is not always in the right place with regards to her.  I mean, it seems that every tête-à-tête between them results in him trying to bed her.  Not cool...especially considering what that would do to her reputation as a noble woman.  And he has nothing to offer her.  I understand that forbidden love is exciting, and normally I could get on board with it, but Falco just doesn't do it for me.  Cass is still charmingly innocent in the ways of love -- despite being a bit of a voyeur! -- and I hope she remains so.

Now, Luca...that's a man.  He provides.  He protects.  He is the antithesis of Falco in every way.  Sure, he's not as passionate, but he's respectful and shy, and Luca is just what Cass needs to calm her adventurous spirit before she finds herself in more danger than she can escape from.  And he has a history with Cass.  One that they both need to dig deeper into in order to figure out what happened to her parents and determine what role the Order of the Eternal Rose and Joseph Dubois played in their deaths.

I must admit, the love triangle is not as central to the story in this second installment, which might have something to do with why the pacing picked up sooner and I found myself glued to the pages.  Falco is absent for a large part of the novel, and Luca spends a lot of his time in a dungeon this time around.  For the most part, Cass is on her own.  But that was probably for the best since she's got her own investigation to undertake.  The mystery of the Order of the Eternal Rose, the ageless Belladonna, the strange Dottor Piero...these are what intrigued me most this time around.  That, and figuring out what it all had to do with Renaissance vampires.

I wouldn't say that the story is predictable, though I did guess the direction the story was taking fairly early on.  Like I said, it's all about what one believes or perceives to be true.  I'm open-minded but I also take everything with a grain of salt.  Somehow, my wild, hair-brained theories always pan out.  But the journey to seeing those theories come to fruition is still fun in this case, so it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the novel one bit.  In fact, I was rather excited to see how everything played out.

Though I enjoyed Venom, Belladonna marks a surprising improvement upon the first book and has guaranteed that I absolutely must pick up Starling when it releases next year.  After the ending in this book, I'm not sure what the future holds for our heroine, but I know that she won't give up until she knows all of the Order's secrets.  I just hope she nabs them before they nab her.

Rating:  

the Secrets of the Eternal Rose series

About the author:

Fiona Paul lives in St. Louis, MO where she's managed to persuade fancy universities to award her degrees in psychology and nursing. Between her studies, she traveled around five continents and spent time living in Thailand and South Korea (which is probably why she finds the idea of wearing shoes in the house a little weird).

In addition to writing, Fiona is somewhat obsessive about coffee, music, and adventure sports. Her future goals include swimming with great white sharks and writing a whole slew of novels, not necessarily in that order.

Find Fiona:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

And because I loved the book and because I love you guys, I'm giving my ARC away!  =)

Rules:

• This giveaway is for US residents only. 
• One entry per household.
• Entries will be verified.  Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Winner will be notified via email.  Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected.  Please check your SPAM folders!!!
• We are not responsible for lost packages.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Labels: fiona paul, giveaways, historical fiction, paper lantern lit, paranormal, penguin, secrets of the eternal rose, vampires

Teaser Tuesday #63: Belladonna by Fiona Paul

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are the books we're teasing this week:

Title: Belladonna
Author: Fiona Paul
Series: Secrets of the Eternal Rose, book #2
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Date: July 16, 2013
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In Renaissance Italy, love, lust, intrigue and secret societies converge to stunning results!

In the second in the stunning Secrets of the Eternal Rose series, Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he’s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass’s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose—the only evidence that will prove he’s innocent.

So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of vampirism, secret soirees and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who is working for the Order’s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself.

Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?

Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.

The dark-haired man reached her side.  "Bella," he said, slightly out of breath.  His hand grazed her lower back.  "It is poor form to make a man chase after you, do you not know that?"

-- p. 127 of ARC

Ha, I think he means pure fun to give chase.  =)  Or is that just me?   ;0)  Just started this book yesterday, and it was slow at first, but it seems that things are about to get interesting.  :D

What are you teasing this week?  Share it in the comments or leave a link so we can visit!

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Labels: fiona paul, historical fiction, paranormal, penguin, secrets of the eternal rose, teaser tuesday, vampires

Review: Venom by Fiona Paul

Title:  Venom
Author:  Fiona Paul
Series:  Secrets of the Eternal Rose, book #1
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Date:  October 30, 2012
Source:  Southern Book Bloggers ARC Tours
Purchase:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.

Venom started out as a very difficult read for me.  If it hadn’t been for a slew of reviews raving about this book, I might not have felt compelled to finish it, even if I did request it on an ARC tour.  But I am nothing, if not determined, and so I forged on…and I was handsomely rewarded with a tale of mystery, romance, and intrigue that twisted and turned more than a corkscrew.

The hardest part of this story for me, aside from the pacing in the very beginning, was the speech patterns of the main character.  I love historical fiction, and I knew Venom was set in Renaissance Italy; the research the author did on that front shines through.  Even the behaviors remarked upon in the book seemed relative to the time period.  It was simply the dialogue (mostly between Cass and Falco) and Cass’s own inner monologue that did not seem cohesive to the Renaissance era.  It just didn’t seem formal enough, especially considering Cass is a member of nobility, and maybe it has something to do with the fact that Falco is not.  But maybe I’m also expecting too much because I recently read My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, and though that was a fluffier read than Venom, it grabbed my attention from the very beginning and really made me feel as if I were walking the streets of Renaissance Italy as I read.

Cass was not my ideal protagonist, either.  She wants her independence, her freedom to choose who she loves and where she goes, but her efforts are thwarted time and again by her stodgy aunt or her maidservant.  But even with a murderer on the loose, Cass constantly puts herself at risk to seek the answers she so desperately craves regarding her friend’s missing body, the odd hours Falco keeps, and the many secrets of Senore Dubois and Dottore de Gradi, in addition to actually trying to find the murderer.  Sure, Falco is her near constant companion on her quest for the truth, but even he seems dangerous.  And she’s putting others’ well-being at risk with her endeavors, including the maidservants who are covering for her in her absence.  I guess my biggest problem with Cass’s character is her faltering sense of honor.

It would be careless of me not to mention that there is a love triangle in this novel, though it isn’t truly present until much closer to the end of the book.  Falco is that cocky, arrogant, enigmatic son-of-a-bleep that you don’t want to fall for, that you try your hardest not to fall for, and then what do you do?  You fall for him.  Well, most girls will anyway.  He was definitely swoon-worthy, but I’m faithful to a fault.  And distrustful as all get out.  Why was Cass seeking out Falco for secret, steamy moments when she’s engaged to the doggedly faithful Luca?  Even if she doesn’t love him and it’s only an arranged marriage, there was such a thing as honor back in those days.  Sure, the gallivanting behind Luca’s back is more fun to read about, but for shame, Cass.  For shame.  But, and this is a small concession, I never truly trusted Luca either.  For all of his undying faithfulness, his character isn’t as straightforward as he’d like everyone else to believe.  But this book is built upon secrets and lies and seduction, after all, and where would the fun be if both male points of this love triangle were the perfect guy?

As I was reading this story, I was fully prepared to rate it at three stars.  It was simply an "okay' read for me.  But then the proverbial stink hit the fan, if you know what I mean.  Another murder.  Luca comes home.  Mada's wedding.  And once that pacing picked up, it did not slow down.  And as sure as I was that I had everything all figured out, every piece of the puzzle where it belonged, I was thrown off course again and again.  Not many books come across my reading pile that can throw a serious curveball that I don't see coming, but Venom managed to do just that.  Fiona Paul is a whiz at misdirection, in addition to her ability to create such a picturesque setting.  The open ending left me a little wanting, but I'll definitely be picking up future installments in this series because I am sooo curious about the Order of the Eternal Rose.  I just know the story behind that will keep me glued to the pages!

Favorite Quotes:

"How terrible it must be to be a member of the noble class. So many rules. Such restraint. You must feel like a caged bird, battering its wings against the sides of its golden prison."

“Cass felt torn in two, like the sky split by lightning. One side guilty. One side wanting. She froze, statue-still, as Falco’s lips brushed against her earlobe and then moved down and across her jawbone. His mouth hovered in the air, a parchment width away from hers. Eternities came and went.”

"I know you want this as much as I do," he said. "You aren't going to report me. And even if you did, I'm inclined to think a night with you might well be worth imprisonment."

“Everyone else was apologizing to God for their sins, and here she was dreaming up some new ones.”

“He described marriage as much like a cage full of birds, where the unmarried struggle to get in and the married struggle to get out.”

Rating: 

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Labels: arc tour reviews, dac 2012, fiona paul, historical fiction, murder mystery, penguin, reviews, secrets of the eternal rose, southern book bloggers

Teaser Tuesday #27: Venom by Fiona Paul

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


This week's teaser comes from the following book:

Title:  Venom
Author:  Fiona Paul
Series:  Secrets of the Eternal Rose, book #1
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Date:  October 30, 2012
Source:  Southern Book Bloggers ARC Tours
Purchase:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.

My teaser:

    "Cas felt torn in two, like the sky split by lightning.  One side guilty.  One side wanting.  She froze, statue-still, as Falco's lips brushed against her earlobe and then moved down and across her jawbone.  His mouth hovered in the air, a parchment width away from hers.  Eternities came and went.
    Slowly, Cass tilted her lips to meet his."  -- p. 187 of ARC

*fans self* Whew!  I sense some major chemistry!  Too bad she's already engaged to some bookish type.  :(  It's taken me a bit to get into this novel because the dialogue doesn't really fit the time period, but the murder mystery aspect is compelling.  And obviously the romance is off to a great start.  :P

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Labels: dac 2012, fiona paul, historical fiction, murder mystery, penguin, secrets of the eternal rose, southern book bloggers, teaser tuesday