Book Review: A Raging Madness by Jude Knight

Author: Jude Knight
Title: Raging Madness (Redepenning #2)
Genre: Historical Romance & Mystery
Pages: ebook
Published: May 2017
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion.)

Ella survived an abusive and philandering husband, in-laws who hate her, and public scorn. But she’s not sure she will survive love. It is too late to guard her heart from the man forced to pretend he has married such a disreputable widow, but at least she will not burden him with feelings he can never return. 

Alex understands his supposed wife never wishes to remarry. And if she had chosen to wed, it would not have been to him. He should have wooed her when he was whole, when he could have had her love, not her pity. But it is too late now. She looks at him and sees a broken man. Perhaps she will learn to bear him. 

In their masquerade of a marriage, Ella and Alex soon discover they are more well-matched than they expected. But then the couple’s blossoming trust is ripped apart by a malicious enemy. Two lost souls must together face the demons of their past to save their lives and give their love a future.


This is book 2 of the series. I did not read the first one (I had no idea there was a first one, oh well), but this did well as a stand-alone; I think the other book followed two other characters - not 100% sure though. 

But yes, this story follows Ella and Alex. The two of them have had lots of horrible stuff happen to them from the past and in their present. Ella comes to Alex for help and a part of Alex needed helping too. They had loved each other but never acted on it since Ella had been previously married to a scum-bag. But fate throws them a bone and they really have to work for it. It was not an easy road for them. Which I really do love that in a romance...you know they are going to end up together, but it is fun watching the journey and having that worry that they may not. 

There is LOTS of drama and a lot going on. Ella had the roughest time...yes, Alex had a rough patch too, but I feel Ella had a lot on her plate. There were a couple of times I did tear up for her. BUT a lot of it could have been avoided if THEY COMMUNICATED! GAH! *rips hair out of head* Just say what you mean and how you really feel. Gah! Yes, yes, if they did that then there would've never even been a second book. I get it, but still maddening. 

Anyways...

It did take me FOREVER to finally get into the book. I had a hard time the first 20 or so pages. Not that the beginning was slow, it just did not grip me right away. I also had an issue with the flow of the story during some parts. It just felt uneven and chunky. The rest of the book flowed well overall. Also, there were some unrealistic parts that had me sigh.

Besides for the first 20 pages, the flow in a couple spots, and a couple cheesy parts I really enjoyed this book. It was sad, but it was a beautiful story of two people going through so many trials and heartaches to finally be together. I do recommend reading this if you love a story about moving forward and finding happiness. Out of five stars, I shall stamp this with....4. 

Character Interview with Alex and Ella from A RAGING MADNESS

Ella and Alex sit nervously in the rector's parlour. He has some questions, he says. They mustn't worry. The questions are not intended to be intrusive, but rather to help them understand one another, so that they can work through the different approaches that they, like every other couple, bring to a relationship.

(Where an early nineteenth century rector found a set of twenty-first century marriage preparation questions, I could not say. In an envelope on his mantel-piece, perhaps?)

But here he is, armed with a pot of strong tea and some hearty slices of pound cake.

Rector: What are your priorities and expectations in a relationship?

Ella: My priorities have changed since I have been with Alex. At one time, my top priority was to protect myself from further harm, and to do that, I kept my emotions tightly buttoned up. Perhaps if any of my children had lived, it might have been different. Yes. I would have needed to protect them, I imagine. Now, I want what Alex wants. I know I can trust him to put me first, and so I am safe to put him first. My priorities have changed because my expectations have changed.

Alex: I must agree with Ella. My earlier experiences meant I disbelieved in love, at least for me. I wanted to give and receive pleasure, and beyond that I wanted to do and receive no harm. Now I want a great deal more. I am seizing happiness, which I never expected. Joy, even. Ella and I are partners and friends, as well as lovers.

(Ella gives Alex a shove, and whispers, "Alex, you can't say 'lovers' to the Rector!" The rector just smiles and continues.)

Rector: What's your biggest fear in a relationship?

Alex (taking Ella's hand and smiling): I have no fears for the relationship. It's not that I think we'll always agree. I'm sure we'll have misunderstandings and arguments. But we will talk them through. I've never had that with a lover before.

Ella: I am not afraid that we shall cease loving one another. (She leans into Alex's shoulder, hiding her face as she admits,) I am afraid of losing him. Life is very uncertain, and he will do dangerous things like clambering around on the stable roof to check the shingles.

Rector: You have both had past relationships. Do you blame yourself when a relationship fails?

Ella: I blamed myself for years. If only I had been more conformable, better born, prettier, more responsive to... (She trails off, blushing).

Alex (kissing the hand he holds): None of that is true, Ella. Melville would have been a bully and an arsewipe no matter what you had done.

Ella: I realise that now. He was the problem; not me. And you must know the same is true of you, my love. The Bad Baroness was to blame for that horrible incident, not you.

Alex: I am, at the very least, to blame for my poor taste, Ella. Not just with the baroness, but with others. They coloured my view of women, and therefore the way I treated you. I am so sorry, my dear heart. I will spend my life making it up to you.

(They kiss, while the rector smiles benevolently.)

Rector: Lady Melville, why did your relationship end? Who ended it?

Ella: In a legal sense, it ended when Gervase died. How else can a marriage end? But in another sense it never began. He did not want me as wife from the first, and I certainly would not have married him given a choice.

Rector: If you could have, would you have fixed it and got back together? Would he?

Ella (hesitating): I feel I should say yes, and perhaps if my children had lived... But he would have been, at best, an indifferent father. It sounds dreadful to say I was better off without him even before I met Alex. At least until Gervase's brother and his wife tried to destroy me. And now? Now I know what a real marriage can be. How can I wish myself back in the nightmare that was my first marriage?

Rector: Lord Renshaw, why did your relationship end? Who ended it?

Alex (blushing): This is a little embarrassing. I was infatuated with a woman, Reverend. I would have done anything for her. But I suffered a complete revulsion of feeling when I discovered that she had seduced me at the behest of her husband, who enjoyed watching her with her lovers! I found out at a most inconvenient and intimate moment, and I left the house immediately, pausing only to resume my clothing.

Rector: If you could have, would you have fixed it and got back together? Would she?

Alex: She would have. Indeed, she made the attempt. But I have never considered sexual intimacy to be a spectator sport, and objected to being made a performer against my knowledge or wishes. I found---I still find---the idea repulsive.

Rector: What's the most important thing in your life?

Ella: Alex. And family. I have one now, thanks to him.

Alex: Yes, family. And Ella is the most important person in my family.

Rector: Where do you see yourself in five years? In twenty years?

Ella (exchanging a melting glance with her beloved): Beside my Alex. If God sees fit to bless us, in five years he will have his heir and perhaps another child or two. Our stables will be established, and our horses winning notice. In twenty years, I see us at the height of our fame as horse breeders, but beginning to think about handing the enterprise to the younger generation. They will be young for it then, of course, but we can begin to prepare them. And, of course, we might have a daughter of an age to be presented. We will need to rely on Alex's sister for that. I have never made a come out and would not know how to go on! But I am sure Susan will be glad to help.

Alex (his eyebrows climbing into his hairline in his alarm): Good heavens. She is not even born, perhaps not conceived yet, and you would have me put her on the marriage mart? Have mercy, dear Ella. Rector, I share Ella's vision, and her and I growing old together, with our family and our tenants around us. If we are given children, I will be grateful and will treasure them. If not, then I am already rich, for I have the woman of my dreams to share my life with.

Book Excerpt: A Raging Madness by Jude Knight

Genre: Regency romance, historical romance, historical suspense,
Regency noir, gothic    
Heat rating: PG-13   
ISBN: 9780473393670
Page count: 382 pages on Kindle    
Publication date: 9 May 2017

Blurb

Ella survived an abusive and philandering husband, in-laws who hate her, and public scorn. But she’s not sure she will survive love. It is too late to guard her heart from the man forced to pretend he has married such a disreputable widow, but at least she will not burden him with feelings he can never return.

Alex understands his supposed wife never wishes to remarry. And if she had chosen to wed, it would not have been to him. He should have wooed her when he was whole, when he could have had her love, not her pity. But it is too late now. She looks at him and sees a broken man. Perhaps she will learn to bear him. 

In their masquerade of a marriage, Ella and Alex soon discover they are more well-matched than they expected. But then the couple’s blossoming trust is ripped apart by a malicious enemy. Two lost souls must together face the demons of their past to save their lives and give their love a future.

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Book Excerpt

Alex poured the coffee, his rinsed shaving mug doing service for Jonno’s portion. Ella sat and sipped while Jonno cleared the table and pushed the serving trolley out of the way. At Alex’s gesture, he sat on the stool again.

“Now, Lady Melville. What trouble are you in, and how can we help?” And should he believe a word she said? She did not act like a lunatic, apart from appearing half-naked in his room in the middle of the night. Apart from the panicked response to her brother-in-law.

That she had taken opium in some form was beyond a doubt. The contracted pupils, the loss of appetite, the shaky hand, the restless shifting in her seat, all spoke to that. Thanks to his injury, Alex had far too close and personal an experience of the symptoms to mistake them. The bruises on her jaw hinted that the drug taking might not have been voluntary, but perhaps her keepers needed to drug her to keep her calm.

Sane or not, Alex hoped he would not need to hand her back to Braxton. Her fear might be irrational, but when she had stood at bay, begging for his help, he had been thrown back ten years. Not that she begged him then. But he left camp on a short trip for supplies, and returned to find Ella married and much changed, her fire banked; her joy extinguished. That time, he had ignored her plight, hardened his heart and left her to the fate she had engineered. And had suffered with her as the consequences quenched her vitality and sucked away the last of her childhood. Suffered, and been powerless to help.

“I have been drugged,” Ella said baldly. “Twice a day. For weeks now. They won’t tell me why. If I refuse, they force me.”

“‘They’ being Braxton and his wife?” Alex prompted.

“And Constance’s dresser.”

“Go on.” He was careful to show no disbelief, no surprise.

“I have been kept in my room. They locked the door. They took all my clothes, my shoes. I saw you out the window and so I came. Will you help me, Alex?”

“I can take you to the rector.” Even as he said it he remembered the plump little man greasing at Braxton’s elbow. Ella would find no help there.

“No!” Her rejection was instant and panicked. “He will give me back and they will send me to that place. No, Alex. You do not know what they plan for me.” She was weeping. Alex had seen her calm under cannon fire, dry-eyed at her father’s funeral, efficient and unemotional in the midst of the carnage of a hospital tent after a battle. He had never seen her weep.

He captured her hands, and kept his voice low and soothing. “I do not, Ella. Tell me.”

PLEASE BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THE CHARACTER INTERVIEW MAY 5TH!