Category: Historical Fiction Publisher: 5 Prince Publishing
ISBN-10: 1631120107
Pages: 390
Copyright: March 13, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781631120107
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Ambition or Love? Which is more important to Adela Tilden?
Adela Tilden has always been more ambitious than her station in life might allow. A minor nobleman’s daughter on a failing barony, Adela’s prospects seem dire outside of marrying well-off. When Adela catches the eye of the crown prince, Edward, however, well-off doesn’t seem to be a problem. Thrown into a world of politics and intrigue, Adela might have found all the excitement she ever wanted—if she can manage to leave her past behind.
Excerpt
Adela Tilden held as still as she could force herself to be, her eyes sliding over every now and again to study the man sitting in front of her.
Antony looked up from the easel and released a breath through his nose. “Hold still.”
“I am,” she said, barely moving her mouth.
He gave her a dark look.
Adela exaggerated a sigh, dropping her eyes again to the side, staring at the same patch of grey stone as she had been for what felt like years. “I want to see what you’re doing.”
“You’ll see when I’m done.”
She fidgeted, glancing at her dress. “Can’t we make the neckline just a little lower?”
“Your grandmother doesn’t like it as it is,” Antony droned, the same answer yet again.
“Well, of course she doesn’t,” Adela said, barely refraining from rolling her eyes and getting yelled at again.
“Drop your shoulder a little,” he directed, “and hold still.”
So she’d get yelled out either way, it seemed. Adela shifted, still attempted to freeze.
Antony shook his head, running a frustrated hand through his brown hair. “No, drop…not… You know what?” He moved to her.
Adela watched him carefully, making no effort to help as he straightened the line of the dress where it stopped around her shoulders. If a little too thin to be called well built, she had to admit Antony Fletcher was an attractive man with his dark eyes and square jaw. It was a shame he has staged her looking away. She wouldn’t have minded the excuse to spend her time studying him right back.
He pressed her shoulder down lightly with the end of his paintbrush. “Can you hold that now?”
Her eyes remained on his face. “It’s hardly acrobatics.”
Antony’s eyes flicked up as he offered a weak smile, sliding away just as quickly as he adjusted the oblong pearl in the headpiece Adela’s grandmother had pulled out just for the occasion. He paused, finally moved a strand of the hair that had been left out of the braids at her crown and placed it over her shoulder. He stepped back, looking at her just a little bit too long, starting when he met her eyes. “There. Much better.”
The way he backed away, almost making it look like a retreat, made Adela smile. She watched Antony settle himself before tilting her head back the way it had been. “I don’t understand why Grandmamma wants a portrait of me anyway. It’s not as if anyone is going to see it. No one ever comes out here, you know. I’m surprised you’re here and you’re paid to be.”
“She’s trying to make sure that no one gets any funny ideas about your financial situation, I believe, Miss Tilden.” Antony didn’t look away from the easel.
“Even if they’re completely correct.” Adela heaved a sigh.
“Stop moving.”
She couldn’t help glancing again, looking away when he glared. “How old are you, Antony?”
He paused momentarily. “Does that matter?”
“I was just curious,” she said. “You’re much younger than the painters we used to have come here.”
“I’m not as well-seasoned as them, I would think,” he said. “And I imagine I’m quite a bit cheaper.”
“Oh.” She fought away a smile. “So I shouldn’t be surprised when my nose comprises the better part of my face, then?”
“I think I’m skilled enough to keep that from happening,” Antony answered, continuing under his breath, “Anyway, if I were going to make a feature too large it would much more likely be your eyes.”
Her eyes slid over to him again.
He met them for a second before looking away sharply. “Stay still.”
“You just started painting, then?” She looked down and away again.
“I’ve been painting my entire life,” he said, seeming relieved. “Just finished my apprenticeship a year or so ago.”
“So you’re what then?” Adela did the math in her head. “Twenty? Twenty-One?”
“Something like that.”
She smiled. “You don’t know which one?”
“Relax your face.”
She took a breath, forced off the smile. “Is it a secret?”
Exasperation leeched into his voice. “Is what?”
“Your age.”
He released a breath. “I just don’t see how it’s relevant.”
“I asked,” she said. “That doesn’t make it relevant enough?”
“I don’t believe that’s the way it works, Miss Tilden.”
She shifted. “Can I please move. I’m going to freeze in this position if I have to keep it up much longer.”
Antony set down his brush, holding his hands up, motioning his surrender. “We can take a break.”
Adela rolled her shoulders, standing quickly to stretch her legs. She turned. “Can I see now?”
He looked up from straightening his paints.
“I’d like to see how you’re painting me,” she continued at his silence.
Antony hesitated. “I prefer people not to see what I’m painting until I’m done.”
She moved closer. “I’m paying for it. I’d think you’d want to know if I’m unsatisfied in any way.”
He opened his mouth, cleared his throat before starting. “Your grandmother’s paying for it, Miss Tilden. Maybe I should show her.”
Adela pouted. “Please?”
He looked at her for another moment. Finally, sighing, he backed up for her to take a look.
Adela moved quickly, her soft slippers barely making a sound on the stone floor. And the painting slid into view. Unlike the other china-doll portraits in the manor—with every inch of the women in them softened, pale—the picture in front of her looked as though he had taken her reflection and pressed it onto the canvas. She studied herself, fascinated for a moment before collecting herself. She pulled herself straight. “You’re using a lot of red in my hair.”
His eyes lifted to her scalp. “Well, there is a lot of red in your hair, Miss Tilden.”
She twirled a strand absentmindedly around her finger, didn’t dispute it.
“Satisfied?” he finally asked.
“You are quite talented,” she said, looked from the painting to him. “I don’t think you have my lips quite right, though.”
“No?”
She picked up the mirror on the mantel, studying her face before looking back at him. “Don’t you think? My bottom lip is fuller.”
He looked at her lips for a moment, slid his eyes away, nodding. “I’ll fix it when you sit back down.”
She looked at her reflection for another moment before tilting the mirror down to fix the neckline of her dress.
Professional Reviews
Rocki's Once Upon a Blog Review
I love reading all kinds of books and I was really glad when asked to review this book. I have been wanting to read another Historical romance for quite a while now. I gave this book a 4 out of 5 on goodreads. Adela is a young girl around the age of seventeen by the end of the story. By the end of the book I had to keep reminding myself of how young she still was. She went through so much in this book that it made her seem older then her physical age.
At the beginning of the book Adela's constant chatter made it hard to get through at times, but I would just have to remind myself that this is a young girl with hardly anyone to talk to. She lives in a remote village that is filled mostly with sheep. Her incense chatter does quiet down a bit as she gets to the bigger city's, so it did get easier to read. Adela is very ambitious and wants to go far in life and won't let anything or anyone stand in her way. She is very intelligent in most cases but at some points she is also very naive. Which I think she realizes a bit at the end of the book when she is stuck between dealing with a recent death and that of court life.
I think a lot of the side characters helped form the story rather then the main character Adela. If it weren't for the side characters I would have lost interest fast. I really enjoyed Lettice who is Adela's friend and caretaker. She was the voice of reason which Adela needed a lot through out this story though she hardly ever listened. When Adela first meets with Antony a painter, I thought there could be something there, something that would push her to marry for love instead of a title. But as the story continued I thought Antony deserved better, though of course the characters never listen to me when I am reading, for the most part. When Adela meets Edward, I really cheered this couple on. I mean they both cared for another and they were both ambitious and understood one another. I really liked their relationship with one another.
The plot its self was very good and well thought out. I thought there would be more tension in the plot at the beginning when Adela finds herself gaining the attentions of an unwanted man. But she is soon whisked away into another problem.That was another part where she seemed super naive, she never thought a married man would ever touch her with out her permission. I so wanted to shake her at that point and tell her how much danger she was putting herself in. I know in that kind of setting these things probably happened and girls at that age don't think of things like that especially back in those days.
I will say I am highly intrigued to find out what happens in the next book. And see what sort of trouble Adela will find in the new world. If that is indeed where the next book is headed. Never know. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Red Reader Review
My, my, my, Miss Adela Tilden certainly knows how to get herself noticed. From the granddaughter of a baroness to the king's court, this little spitfire works her way to the top and all while under twenty. That's definitely ambition if I ever saw it. Dall threw Adela into a world of politics and intrigue and set her loose on the poor nobles.
They never stood a chance.
I didn't take to Adela's character until later in the story. Her young age and mannerisms gave her an edge of teen annoyance that I didn't favor, but as the story progressed, I forgot her age as she never really acted as young as she actually was. I can't imagine being so driven with ambition -- and so successful -- at such a young age. At the beginning, Adela is a young girl who would do whatever she could to relieve the boredom of her country home, especially entertaining young men around the home and seducing them with her beauty and wit. She's quite the harlot, if I do say so myself, and while "sleeping her way to the top" might not be entirely accurate, her mind for strategy and knowledge of her effect on men proved to be some of her greatest strengths in getting what she most desired.
I admire her character for being so bold in a world where women didn't have as many rights as men, and were reliant on marriage for security, both monetary and otherwise. Adela took what she wanted and that was that.
As for the rest of The Copper Witch's cast, they really made this story. Adela was distinct in her own right but I bored of her character alone. The other characters and there interactions with Adela, their reactions to her ambitious decisions and apathetic feelings toward those she'd already cast off for high positions, brought life and depth to the book. At the start the reader meets Antony, a painter commissioned to paint a portrait of Miss Tilden. During Adela's seduction of Antony, we get to see his struggle to maintain a proper distance...and fail. Dall focused a bit on him and I wasn't sure if the story would get to Adela and the prince, as mentioned in the synopsis, but it picked up quite a bit upon her leaving her country home. Throughout her journey as a rising star in court, Adela is accompanied by her friend and maid Lettice, who acts as an older sister when her mistress needs guidance the most -- and refuses it, naturally. Lettie remains loyal despite the string of male followers Adela gains, each ranking higher than the next until she cannot go any higher. Both Antony and Lettie keep their friendship with Adela when many slander her name and the lengths she went to in order to obtain such a high standing. Later on, we meet Prince Edward, who seems to share Adela's ambition and the two hit it off. I really hoped they would work out as Adela seemed to actually have feelings for him compared to the others before him.
...which brings me to the romance.
If you're looking for the hot and heavy, toe-curling sex scenes, this isn't the book for you. Adela and Antony have a fleeting fling before she joins the nobility life and is engaged to Lord Auborn, Thomas, within days of arriving at her aunt's. While he is smitten with her, as the pattern suggests, Adela quickly moves on to accept the attention of a duke, then the prince-turned-king during her engagement. I wasn't a big fan of the lady here and hoped Antony wouldn't be returning to seek her affections once more, although we're provided with glimpses of his various jobs. But Adela reaches the top with Edward and I hoped this was the last one. They both seemed to compliment each other well and while the romance and love between the two came off the page (in a perfectly tame fashion, mind you). It came down to whether I was rooting for Edward or Antony, and while she and Edward fit well, I'm on Team Antony. I think Adela needed the down-to-earth attitude he seemed to present.
The story itself is fairly simple to summarize, but much deeper once you read. Dall developed her protagonist throughout the course of a year and presented the perfect lead-in to a sequel, although I'm not sure where the story will go next despite Adela's young age. The Copper Witch did an excellent job of tying off most of the lose ends so it will be interesting to see where book two takes us.
Overall, I was quite pleased with this novel and am glad I accepted the review request, having been told by Red of Dall's writing skill. It's a great read for anyone who enjoys historical romances, or romances in general that are on the tamer side. I couldn't put it down!
Quintessentially Bookish Review
Overall Thoughts:
Though the book jacket description is eye-catching, it really isn’t doing this book justice. The story is much more involved than it would lead you to believe. I expected to like the book, but I ended up enjoying it, and Adela, more than I thought I would. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.
Characters:
Adela starts out as a little bit of a brat, but I soon started really liking her confidence and her unapologetic attitude towards going after what she wants. What reads as spoiled childishness at the beginning ends up morphing into a woman doing what she can to protect herself in a world where she doesn’t have many options. Yes, she is selfish and vain and sometimes hurts other people, but she is also strong, intelligent, and ambitious in a way that female characters (or, really,women in general) are not often allowed to be.
Setting:
I actually had to go back and skim the book again before I could write about the setting; I couldn’t think of any overly distinguishing characteristics. This is not because it is deficient, but instead because it complements the story so well. It provides the perfect backdrop for Adela and her rise to power.
Writing Style:
The writing isn’t exceptionally poetic – this is a novel driven more by plot than language – but it serves it’s utility. The dialogue is the most impressive bit. Dialogue is difficult for many writers, but Dall makes it seem effortless. It walks the line between appropriate to the historical setting and appealing to modern readers while still sounding completely natural. I’ll admit that my inner voice was slightly British when reading the dialogue.
Extras:
Just a touch of magic…maybe.
Favorite Line:
“Men tend to underestimate a smart woman with an innocent face.”
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