Rating: 2 1/2 Fish Sticks

After her father was hanged, Lady Katherne "Kit" Lindsay was left to the care of her lascivious uncle who had one goal in mind: acquiring her inheritance. Upon entering Kit's room and seeing her Uncle raping Kit, Martha, a servant, hit William over the head which the women thought had killed him. Knowing that the hangman's noose awaited them both, they fled away in the night, hoping to reach London where they hoped they would not be recognized. During their journey, they were caught by Jeremy Hughes, a traveling play actor and all around rogue, who decides to turn them in for the reward.

After turning the fugitives over to the magistrate, Jeremy had a change of heart and went back to release the women. He offered them both positions in his play company in exchange for their passage to London. Only, upon joining the play company, Kit gained an enemy in Lucy, Jeremy's current lover, who became extremely jealous of the obvious connection between Jeremy and Kit. To get rid of Kit, Lucy accused her of stealing money from the play company, to which Kit and Martha again found themselves on their own to make their way to London, where Jeremy, not able to get his mind off of Kit, follows them and catches Kit hook, line, and sinker (pun intended: see the end of the review)

As their relationship grows, Kit and Jeremy became entangled in many adventures and misadventures, meeting people such as King Charles II, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, the great fire of London, a very jealous Lucy and the problems she created for Kit, and Kit's abduction by her Uncle William. But could their love for each other withstand the hurdles that were thrown in their path?

On the positive side, I enjoyed the historical events and characters that were thrown into the plot to keep the story moving, from the great fire of London, to Nell Gwyn, actress and mistress to King Charles II. I also feel that the author did an excellent job of capturing the essence of John Wilmot's libertine character. However, for as much as these elements strengthened the story, it was these historical events and characters that carried the whole book. The entire subplot of Kit and Jeremy's relationship seemed very weak in comparison to the external events that were happening around them.

Then we get to the "cod" thing. Throughout the entire book, a man's penis was referred to as a cod, which disturbs me to no end. Not only did it become monotonous to see the word "cod" used excessively, but it certainly does not bring sensual thoughts to my mind when reading a sex scene that talks about his "swelling cod". I'm sorry, but the seafood section of the grocery store doesn't whip my libido into a frenzy. And to reference a cod during the beginning scene when Kit was being raped by her Uncle: "...his one hand around her throat, his other forcing her hand to stroke his fully aroused cod." I will never be able to look at fish the same again and my quality of life has been knocked down a few pegs just for having to read that.

I'm thinking that the high point to this book was the conversation that ensued after I was finished reading this book. I mentioned the harrowing experience of reading about men’s' cods to our other resident reviewers, Sheila and Vivian, which began a hilarious, if not downright wrong, 3-way chat conversation that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. OK, sue us...we're married women (or close enough) and have nothing better to do on a Saturday night but talk of cods until 1:00 in the morning. Needless to say, the laughs were rolling and the tears were falling as one quip after another (some quite raunchy) flowed from our keyboards, which left some questions hanging in the air:

First, was it Atlantic or Pacific cod?

If a man was to use his cod in a threesome, would it be the Gorton's fisherman and Mrs. Paul that would join him?

Has anyone ever died from being impaled by a cod?

If a penis equals cod, does that mean a threesome equals grouper?

Was Disney giving subliminal messages in Peter Pan when they called Captain Hook a codfish?

And last, but not least, do we women have to start worrying about contracting ich and fin rot instead of yeast infections? (Sick, I know, but it couldn't be helped)

To sum it all up, if you’re looking for a good, attention grasping read, this may not be the book you’re looking for, but if your looking for a conversation piece to share with the ladies, this is your ticket.

----------------------------------------

Publisher: Signet (August 1, 2006)
ISBN: 045121921X
Buy the Book