The Casonova Code by Donna MacMean

July 30, 2012

And the winner of the red herring award is...

http://www.donnamacmeans.com/

Of course, you know I don't have such an award, but if I did, The Casanova
Code would certainly be one of my nominations. This is my first Donna MacMean book, and it also happens to be the first in a series. A series with the absurd name of The Rake Patrol. Triggers all kinds of childhood memories of watching tv as British soldiers chase German soldiers through

the desert.

Anyway, when I first started to read this book, I thought, hey, this is going to be a good one! It takes place in the late Victorian era and the heroine, Edwina, is a "modern" woman. She rides a bike, for Pete's sake! So, she is a Victorian biker chick. However, this particular biker chick is also a brilliant code breaker. You see, she and her brothers have been communicating through codes since they were little tadpoles. I thought she sounded like fun. But as it turns out, the problem I soon discovered with her was one I had with every character and plotline in this book - neither one of those things went anywhere. It was just like a hamster wheel, run, run, run and never arrive anywhere.

Our hero, Aston, used to be a typical rake, and true to the code of rakehood his father married Aston's almost fiance. So, Aston goes off to fight and gets shot in the leg, then he can have the hero limp and carry a cane.

Then we have the assorted cardboard characters - the three women Rat, I mean Rake Patrol members, the evil step-mother, the nefarious fathers (both), the secret club (Guardians). And let me tell you, there were more jumping to conclusions, over-reactions and silly misunderstandings than stars in the galaxy. I might have exaggerated. But there were tons of them, which is one of the reasons I found this read to be disappointing. I also thought the romance didn't connect until pretty close to the end of the book.

This doesn't mean I'm giving up on this author yet. I will look into her next story and hope for the best.

Time/Place: Edwardian England

Sensuality: Almost Hot