Unraveled (A Turner Series Book 3)

Just about the time I start thinking I should find an alternative to HRs as my escape reading material, some author surprises me with a really great one and my addiction to that genre continues as strong as ever. In the recent past, it's been work by Joanna Bourne, Judith James and Meredith Duran, and this new Courtney Milan is certainly in the running for my favorite HR of 2011.

Milan's books have always been very promising. She started in 2010 with Proof by Seduction (Hqn) and has been supplying the HR reader with exceptionally well written, non-cookie-cutter novels ever since. She knows her way around angst and psychological problems in a way that feels genuine. You don't find yourself annoyed with the whiny self pity found in many other authors' angsty HRs. There's a real reason for the problems in Milan's books and you admire her characters and root for them to overcome their difficulties.

This new (and final, I believe) Milan entry in the Turner brothers series is in a class all its own. Seldom do I not want an HR to end, but this one immersed me in life in Victorian Bristol, hero Smite Turner's life as a magistrate and heroine Miranda Darling's struggles to survive in her lower-class environs and I could have read on for much longer but unfortunately ran out of pages.

Miranda walks a thin line trying to stay within the parameters of her own integrity (no stealing or prostitution) and her necessary cooperation with the Patron, the neighborhood enforcer/vigilante/boss, who requires unethical or illegal actions at times on her part in exchange for protection while living in the neighborhood. Smite Turner, on the other hand, the product of a very unhappy childhood with a mentally-ill mother, is rigidly controlled by rules and laws, no wiggle room for him, as a coping mechanism against the horrors of his past. Miranda has been in his courtroom several times as a "witness" in trials or a distraction in others and she, of course, is all about the "wiggle room" area of comportment.

The way their relationship develops is incredibly well written, romantic and very insightful. Milan "gets" relationships (romantic and familial) and psychological issues and also has a great way with words and dialogue. Also, don't miss Milan's notes after the novel. She shares her inspiration for the Turner family and their problems and her bases in fact about the judicial system and class issues in Victorian Bristol. I wonder what she has in store for her readers as a new series. Whatever it may be, I'll be reading it.

This book was extraordinary. The single best Regency historical romance I have ever read, including Lord of Scoundrels which was, until today, my all-time favorite. Actually, I take that back, Unclaimed was my favorite before this one.

If you've read Unveiled and Unclaimed, you've been waiting for this one - Smite's story. It was so worth the wait. Smite and Miranda are... just fantastic, together and separately.

I'm going to quit trying to write this review because I really have no proper words, it was just THAT awesome, I wish it could have gone on and on and I'm a little bit devastated that the Turner saga is over.

This book put me in a terrible predicament. In all honesty, I cannot rate a book, no matter how well written (and this one is) high when the subject matter is one I absolutely hate - that of a young innocent selling her body for the promise of money to someone, with the rest of the book centered on that sexual relationship. Unfortunately there was absolutely no reference whatsoever to that subject matter in the synopsis or I would have avoided it altogether, in my defense, however, until now, I have found Ms. Milan's writing to be some of the best in the business without such extended and prolific sex scenes, so this one really caught me unaware... touche'.
In her defense, if one looks past the 60% of the book that is sex scenes, the story is just as riveting and the character development that she weaves with such genius is still there in spades.

The hero is a magistrate and he is so ridiculously serious; the heroine is funny and resourceful. She was raised by a gay actor couple, he has a dysfunctional family. She is the guardian of a teen boy, he only lives with his dog. They both have endured trauma, loneliness, and fear. It seems quite impossible to see them together at first; he is so scandalized by the heroine's life and she can't tolerate his seriousness. But that's the magic of Courtney, make you grow characters and couples in your heart very quickly and very deeply.

Their relationship starts as a lust. Smite offers Miranda to be his mistress, not feelings involved. But she doesn’t shy away and challenges him constantly, and he worships the floor she walks on (even if he won't admit it)

They are a beautiful couple and I just love them so much. They set boundaries and have actual conversations before and after sex. It is sad how much it excites me to find consent in historical romance *sigh*

There were also great dialogues about how justice actually works for the working class, morality, and forgiveness. This is why I love Courtney Milan so much; I can always expect amazing heroines, lovely heroes, wonderful romance and interesting discussions about social issues. It is as great as it sounds.

I’m a little sad to let go the Turner family. They all grow on me and I wished I could have more of them, especially as married couples. But hey, there are more Courtney's books to read.

I really enjoyed Unraveled. Really I have loved all of the Turner brothers books, but the first and last, Unveiled and this one, are my favorites. Smite and Ash are just so...I just love them both so much. They both break my heart in different ways and I just loved reading them.

Smite is a loner. He is perfectly happy by himself living his normal life. He has enough money that he could live in a huge house with lots of servants and such, but he doesn't. He just has a small place. He had a hard time growing up with their mother and all, but the worst is that he cannot forget anything. He remembers everything that has ever happened to him. So I think it is particularly hard for him to try and move on since he remembers all. Since he has been working as magistrate he has been trying to make sure no one else falls through the cracks like he and his brothers did. He doesn't want others to suffer and he his harsh, but fair with his rulings. Really his fellow magistrates don't seem to care as much so he tries to do all he can for people.

When Miranda comes into his courtroom dressed in a disguise Smite recognizes her from another case. He tries to talk to her afterwards, but she escapes so he follows her. Miranda has not had the easiest of times. She lives in a bad part of town with a teenage boy she is taking care of. She has protection from the ruling force in the bad part of town, the Patron, but she doesn't want to be under his thumb anymore.

When Smite and Miranda meet they are both intrigued by the other. Smite knows he should stay away, but he can't. He thinks he can just have a month with Miranda and then have everything go back to normal. He does not expect to fall for her or care for her so much. It was really heartbreaking reading him and how he thinks he needs to be alone and hold onto his past to be effective at his job. I just wanted to make everything better for him. Miranda is so perfect for him. Even though they seem to be from two different worlds, they really have a lot of experiences in common. Smite thinks at one point how he never thought he would find anyone since he needs someone who knows what it is like to have hardships, like living on the streets, and also be intelligent.

Miranda is just so sweet with Smite. She is so fun and outgoing and just really pushes him to loosen up a bit. She likes a little bit of danger and one of my favorite scenes is when he tries to give her that, even though it is not what he would like. It just melted my heart how much he cared for her. She has been looking out for herself for so long and trying to get out from under the Patron, but she doesn't seem to be able to. I like that Miranda didn't try to just solve all of her problems herself. I liked that she included Smite in what is going on with her, especially once she grows closer to him. It is not the easiest for them to keep everyone they care about safe, but they do what they can. They are a great team and she really helps mend some of Smite's relationships and just is amazing. They both were amazing and I loved this book!

This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

The third and final book in the brilliant Turner series by Courtney Milan. This is the first and only series I’ve read by Milan and I’m extremely impressed with her voice, her pacing, and her very complex and troubled characters. This series is set in early Victorian England and is about three brothers raised by an unstable and overzealous mother. The impacts on the brothers is as varied as their personalities yet they maintain a strong, implacable bond now as adults.
Smite Turner is a determined and scrupulous magistrate—known as Lord Justice—living minimally and in stark contrast for the brother of a duke in Bristol, England. As a child, he was abused by his mother and, as an adult, he doles out justice for those who go unheard, as he once did. His duty is his life. Until Miranda. Like the book’s titles, his carefully crafted life becomes unraveled.
"When they needed someone, I was there. I listened. I acted. What happened to me won’t happen to them. Not while I can prevent it."
”’I fear being caged by luxury. I fear that one day I will no longer understand desperation, and with that, I will slowly stop listening to what others have to say.’”
“‘The truth is simply this: you can find a better man than I. God knows you wouldn’t have to look very hard. But I don’t believe you can find one who loves you more.’”
Miranda Darling is a survivor. Living in the slums with a young boy she saved, a child of fellow actors like herself, they live a hand to mouth existence. She is saved—sort of—by the protection of a dangerous entity known as the Patron, who keeps her safe, protects her virtue, but expects her to do illegal favors for them in exchange for this protection. She’s tied to them and walks a precarious line of fear and a desire to change her life for the better.
"So Miranda had kept him. In books, women reduced to straitened circumstances always surrounded themselves with kind, adoring loved ones through pluck and determination."
When she meets Smite, he is immediately enchanted by her. Like himself, she is a survivor, but he also feels a calm and peace with her that he has never felt before. He invites her to become his mistress and they embark on a one-month affair, growing closer together as the days tick by.
Miranda notices Smite’s kind heart behind the stoic facade, something that endears her to him.
”’No man is broken because bad things happen to him. He’s broken because he doesn’t keep going after those things happen. When you told me about your mother, and how it made you resolve to be the person you are…What I thought was, ‘Yes, please, I’ll take him.’ Because you didn’t break.”
The rich familial relationships Milan creates are wonderful. They remind me of the strong family dynamics that Grace Burrowes also writes about in her Windham series. Richard Dalrymple, a cousin and one-time best friend of Smite’s, begs forgiveness for a long-ago quarrel. It is a heartwarming reconciliation, however tentative. And Smite’s loving relationship with his brothers, Ash, and Mark. Words alone cannot aptly describe their camaraderie and understanding.
Miranda understands Smite like no other woman. Their love affair is passionate, sexy, and endearing. She gets him. And loves him for who he is.
”’What? That he’d fall in love and turn into an ordinary man?’ Miranda choked on the words. ‘Anyone who loved him would never want that. It would be like loving the ocean, but wishing it would change into a glass of water.’”
The covers perfectly capture Miranda’s orange red hair and are both beautiful.
A lovely and smart love story. I very much look forward to reading everything else this author has written.

Decided to return this book for a refund. When I'm looking for a good romance story between a man and a woman, the last thing I want to encounter is a strong gay theme. Big turn off. Very disappointing.

Unraveled
Reviewed by Francesca & posted at Under the Covers Book Blog

The third book in the Turner series features Smite. He's not the rake, but not the virgin either. What he is is a strict, cold, very serious lawman. I mean, his nickname is Lord Justice which he got because they tease him about being married to Lady Justice!

He's gone through a very traumatic childhood and, much like Mark, his mother truly left her mark on him. The events have traumatized him in many ways and they are the reason why he is the way he is today.

So when he meets Miranda, a girl from the wrong side of town, who's been working for The Patron doing some less than legal activities, it's a wonder that he wants to be with her. But what he offers her is a deal. She will be his mistress for a month, he will put her in a nice house and pay her for her services.

As much as Miranda would have never considered something like that before, the fact that she does have an attraction to Smite, and that the money would buy her a new life, she accepts. Even though she is a virgin herself.

But shortly into their affair her past comes calling. The Patron wants her back and will do and threaten whomever to get that.

I was enamored with Smite, his sentimentality quota, his stern ways, and his sweet and thoughtful moments. He showed he cared for Miranda from day one and he was not afraid to show that even in public. He wasn't hiding her and he stood up to others for her more than once.

The Turners just can't find love in all the normal places but they've all delivered great stories, and the writing by Ms. Milan is smooth and very easy to read. This one had me glued to the pages!

I've adored reading about the wonderfully flawed Turner brothers and their run-ins with the women who would accept and love them when they're at their worst. I liked Ash. I liked Mark. But it was Smite's story I was ANXIOUS to get to as we began to get hints at his secrets in the previous books.

Let me just say I wasn't disappointed.

Smite seems stern and controlled. Most people see him as being cold and distant when, in truth, he's simply determined to do the best he can for the people around him. His mother's madness left its mark on him and he deals with that every day.

I really, REALLY loved his interactions with Miranda. She breaks through his walls easily and she understands when he needs a little distance between himself and others. Their banter was ADORABLE and the way he apologized when his knee-jerk reactions hurt her made me puddly. I love a man who's willing to admit when he's wrong.

We got to meet up with the other brothers and their respective wives, watch Smite rekindle an old friendship, and see Lady Justice served with a ... yeah, I can't really come up with anything suitably awesome. Let's just say that the good guys save the day and the bad guys get taken down a notch and leave it at that.

Very fun, very addictive series. I'm sad to say goodbye to it.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

I actually bought this one at Audible, and I must say this book was a perfect éclair--a delightful pastry shell of plot both at the beginning and at the end, and a luscious cream filling of really good smut in the middle. This is an extraordinary book about PTSD, the power of love, and determination to bring justice to a place that really doesn't have any. Smite Turner is a highly damaged hero, who still remains upright, and Miranda (comma) Darling is someone who could make a vat of lemonade from a lemon. And she's just as tart as one, too, which is just what Smite needs, given his horror of being cossetted. The secondary characters are also well-played (though I could not tell if Robbie was hulking or scrawny, he's described as both, though by different people). I felt like smacking Dalrymple, though he grew on me (rather like fungus) as time wore on.

Oh, and did I mention the opera scene? Do not drive in heavy traffic while this scene is being narrated. At the very least, I had to put the air conditioning on nuke <G>.

And I can't believe I started this series with the third one, but ok, that just means I have to buy more books. Curse you, Courtenay Milan! You are an expensive habit!

Loved the series and this book!! Smite and Miranda are so perfect for each other. She actually completes Smite!! Smite or better known as Lord Justice still hasn't come to terms with what happened to him as a youth and has nor forgiving his brother or brother-n-law for things that were done to him. It takes the will of a strong woman, Miranda, um Darling for him to come to terms and seek forgiveness himself. A wonderful read!!

As always Ms Milan writes great love stories.
Smite was the most damaged of the turner brothers, and the one who needed to make the most amends.
The first book of the series was about Ash, and the best. You should read it if you have not. It's absolutely amazing.
Because Smite is harder and more complicated, the romance is not flowery but kind of weird. Miranda has "to read between the lines" to understand what Smite really means.
The story talks a lot about the slums in Bristol and the difficulties of getting justice for the poor. And to look out of place was to be found guilty of some crime.

As always Ms Milan writes great love stories.
Smite was the most damaged of the turner brothers, and the one who needed to make the most amends.
The first book of the series was about Ash, and the best. You should read it if you have not. It's absolutely amazing.
Because Smite is harder and more complicated, the romance is not flowery but kind of weird. Miranda has "to read between the lines" to understand what Smite really means.
The story talks a lot about the slums in Bristol and the difficulties of getting justice for the poor. And to look out of place was to be found guilty of some crime.

Unraveled is Smite Turner's story. Miranda Darling was just the woman who could bring Smite peace, even though he fought hard against love he finally found he could forgive others for their weaknesses if and only if he could forgive his own.

I love courtney milan books. She writes such different story lines. Her heroes and heroines have ordinary lives with everyday problems. Her story of Smite was so different as was the story of his brother Mark in the book before this one. IF youre looking for something to captivate your attention, read this book.

Ms. Milan wrote a beautifully paced story about a man (what a man )and a woman falling in love. They definitely had obstacles but they weren't ridiculous or made me feel as if I wanted to strangle the characters. Miranda was vunerable and intelligent, and Smite was ..sigh. You have to read this book. Yes, the book is the third in the series but I didn't read the other 2 and never felt out of the loop. It is written with exact detail about the time period and setting without taking away from the story of Miranda and Smite. Bravo.

Courtney Milan is by far one of our best historical romance writers at the moment. She writes beautifully about human relationships, exciting and sexy but without being overly melodrama. The historical details she includes is enough to give us a feel for the context without bogging us down with information that obscures the story. I especially enjoyed this glimpse of Bristol in the 1840s because that is where I lived as a teenager. But to be honest, this book did not engage me in the same way that its two predecessors did, Unclaimed (Hqn) and Unveiled (Hqn). This may be because I read it on Kindle as opposed to paper, so don't know if that made a difference somehow...I don't bond with electronic books in the same way I do with paper....I cannot read Kindle in the bath, for example. Somehow Smite feels wrong to me...for all the abuse he has experienced, I just wasn't convinced about the speed he fell for Miranda...their relationship felt too casual to me. That being said, I recommend it...it's just not a keeper for me.