Written On Your Skin

Written on Your Skin Written on Your Skin I'll come straight out and say that I really liked this book, but still feel that it is not as compelling or original as "The Duke of Shadows" her first book. Perhaps Duran is especially inspired by India?Speaking of exotic locations I enjoyed the location of the beginning of this book, Hong Kong, which is where the couple meet. He is a spy and she is the step daughter of a man who is the Villain of the piece. Phin is there to bring him in for treaon. I know that Duran is interested in setting her books in parts of the British Empire and I for one would have liked more of the book to be set there.The majority of the book is set in England, where the hero and heroine re meet after 4 years. Mina is a interesting and entertaining heroine, very quick witted and not simpering at all. She previously risked her life to save Phin, in order to enable him to bring her Step Father (who mistreats her Mother) to justice.Now her Step Father has escaped prison and her Mother has been kidnapped and Phin and Mina must work together to find her Mother.I think the way they eventually fall in love is believable and I like the way he is not threatened by her cleverness and she is able to break through his slightly morose exterior.

So by this stage I have read all of Meredith Duran's books which are generally great. She writes well, has great dialogue, convincing plot and story telling, not to mention a solid dose of romance and intimate scenes. With this book however I just didn't like the heroine Mina, and when I don't like a heroine I really struggle to enjoy the book even if the rest of it is good. Phin isn't nearly as exciting as he was portrayed in Bound by Your Touch. I agree with another reviewer here, both characters were just that bit too self-absorbed and their angst a little contrived. Nevertheless I'll still keep buying MD's book because she is truely becoming one of my favourite historical romance writers. I have noticed that she tries to create different characters in each book, which is generally a good idea and I'm sure difficult to do, no one heroine/hero is the same in all of her books up to now.I just hope that when Meredith Duran writes about Lockwood from Duke of Shadows she doesn't ruin it for us for the sake of creating a different character... sometimes repetition is good (e.g. Judith McNaught books can be formulaic but still fabulous reads).

When Phin Granville was a spy, working in Hong Kong, Mina Masters saved his life. He then did his best over the next four years to forget about her, and once he ascended to the title Earl of Ashmore he left his spying life behind too.But now Mina is in London and old troubles are resurfacing. She needs help, so it's only natural to expect Phin to repay his debts.Meredith Duran's third novel focuses James' troubles friend from  Bound by Your Touch , the mysterious Phin, with all her usual beautiful prose and excellent characterisations. It's just unfortunate that I didn't particularly like any of the characters involved.Phin and Mina both tend towards arrogance, with frequent moments of selfishness and self-absorption. Mina is at times naïve and brattish in her single-minded stubbornness, while Phin dismisses everyone else's demons and problems to better lament his own. As such there is a lot of soul-searching and pages of angsting, which dilute the tension of the central plot. As such, for me, it led to a weak ending.All Duran's usual, good hallmarks are in place, but this one simply didn't work for me.

I'm relatively new to Meredith Duran's books - this is the fourth that I have read after Duke of Shadows, Your Wicked Heart and Bound by Your Touch. I liked it very much. Mina needs help and Phin owes her because she saved his life - unfortunately he does not know what to do with her and resorts to keeping her captive while he tries to resolve the mess; equally unfortunately Mina (for very good reasons) will not be controlled, nor directed and subjects him to constant mutiny and embarrassment. I enjoyed Mina's boldness and determination and her exasperated love for her mother - whose choices are the source of Mina's unhappiness; I liked that she more or less dragged Phin from his path of self-destruction and battled for the happy-ever-after that their much abused souls deserved. Only a character like Mina could have given Phin back his self-respect.

As a fan of her first novel, "The Duke of Shadows", which I loved, this book "Written on your skin" by Meredith Duran was very disappointing.I certainly liked The Duke of Shadows, which is why i thought to give this book a go and to be honest I wish I hadn't now, this book is really boring compared to her first book.I enjoyed her first book very much and I read it twice, within a year, but this book "Written on your skin", is really boring! Half of the time I had to read sentences twice because I got completely lost, so what on earth happened Meredith, when you put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard I should say, on this book?Meredith Duran, I love your writing, you wrote a very good book first time around, The Duke of Shadows, wish I could say the same for this one, but I can't, sorry! I got bored with the characters and the story line.I would certainly say do read "The Duke of Shadows", instead of "Written on your skin".

I love Phin. I was intrigued by him in Bound By Your Touch and so was glad to find he had a book of his own. Nor was I disappointed. Unfortunately, however, I found Mina's argumentative nature rather irritating. I wished, just occasionally, she'd shut up and listen.

So, so good!