Innocent in the Ivory Tower - Lucy Ellis
Mills & Boon Modern
Harlequin UK, 2011
ISBN: 9780263887006
My rating
From the back cover:
"When purity and passion collide...
Nanny Maisy Edmonds is furious when a stranger tries to take her orphaned little charge - stealing a shockingly explicit kiss from her into the bargain! Can infamous tycoon Alexei Ranaevsky really be the child's godfather? Installed in Alexei's remote Italian villa, Maisy is intent on protecting little Kostya - and nothing else...
Alexei's childhood-turned-nightmare means he allows himself no emotional attachments. But Maisy's beguiling sweetness has the uncompromising Russian determined to seduce her down from her inexperienced pedestal..."
This is Lucy Ellis's first book, I believe she was runner-up in 2010's New Voices competition. That's pretty impressive. I have been looking forward to reading this book.
The hero Alexei and the heroine Maisy meet when Alexei rushes in to claim to his godson after the death of the little boy's parents. Maisy has been looking after him since he was born after his mother, Maisy's best friend, struggled to cope. She begs Alexei to let her stay with the baby. Alexei agrees both for the baby's benefit and his own, as for reasons that baffle him he is entranced by Maisy. Maisy is also drawn to Alexei and this disturbs her, she doesn't have that much experience with men and knows that Alexei is not really the 'forever' type. But despite their attempts to ingore the desire between them, it's not long before they give in and begin an affair. Yet cracks soon show in their relationship, especially when it comes to Maisy's loyalty to the baby and Alexei's very busy lifestyle, and neither of them are willing to budge.
I really hoped that I would like this more than I actually did. Don't get me wrong, it is an enjoyable book but, for me, it just didn't seem to click. The plot, while very well written, is a little contrived and the pace felt a little jumpy at times. There seemed to be a lot of issues raised then forgotten about, which is frustrating. I liked the dialogue between the hero and heroine, there is a lot of it and it is very entertaining to read, but again at times this jumped around a little.
There is nothing really bad in this book, but nothing really great either. It didn't hold my attention and for a first book by an author, I was a little disappointed. Especially when I compare it to first books by other recent new authors, such as Lynn Raye Harris, Aimee Carson, Maisey Yates, and Natasha Tate, whose first books were fantastic. But, I will definitely be reading future books by Lucy Ellis, as there is something there...
This is an enjoyable book and worth a read, but one that doesn't quite reach it's potential.
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