Nothing But Velvet (ISBN 0312962436)

Routine.:
I'll go out on that well-known limb and take my stand, "This book was just ordinary." I suspect it would have made a good short story, but as a full length novel it suffered. The beginning was captivating, it held my attention, but somewhere along the way the story began to stumble. The book was too long for the ungarnished storyline. The novel opens well - a duke callously murdered and his legitimate heir framed by an unscrupulous brother. The question the reader ponders throughout the book was "why?". What pressure, what insufferable issue, compelled a brother to hate and despise both his father and his sibling? Unfortunately, the author never answers the question. Moving on, the novel continues to intrigue the reader. Years slip away and the falsely accused hero, Jason Sinclair, returns from the depths of misery. His mission: to clear his name, take back his realm title, regain his honor, and appreciate his freedom. To strengthen such a feat he must kidnap and imprison the novel's heroine, Velvet Moran. Now we have the recipe for spice -- a remote hunting lodge, two very attractive people, and hours of quality time together. Now this is the stuff for that long Canadian winter. But alas, the secluded adventure is short lived, unfulfilled, and sadly, the end of Martin's catchy storyline. Kat Martin slides into the land of : Our hero has a past. Our heroine doesn't care. Our hero cannot love. Our heroine can. Our hero cannot marry. Our heroine must marry. Our hero does not want children. Our heroine does. And so on and so on. "Nothing But Velvet", has the making of a grand short story found in an anthology collection. Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

I have read almost all Kat Martin's novels:
I have read a lot of her books. Recently I discovered, "Perfect sin, Wicked Promise, Silk and Steele, Nothing but Velvet, Fire Inside, Fanning the Flame, I was let down because of her inability to add versatility to her characters discriptions and looks. Her characters all shared similar personalities and all of the Heroines in these novels had the same shade of red hair and green eyes. The hero's all had brown hair, some grey but mainly blue eyes. Maybe my mistake was in reading them one after another. But I can say I was disappointed, the storyline was at times unbelievable and just plain boring. After reading the first two novels the rest became so predictable. He or she was once incarcerated and are now being accused of a murder they did not committed. They meet, have sex, marry then she leaves him. BORING, even the sex scenes were the same in each book. My advice to readers read two of these books then just insert the names of the different characters from the other books in there place and BAM you have read all SIX!!!

good but no one "moment":
as nearly every other person who reviews a kat martin book they have usually gone through a number of her other books. it's the same case with me. i first picked up mrs. martin's book "the silent rose" and loved the steamy and passionate way she wrote her stories. the conflict and characters that clashed and came together with something a little more possesive than love, a little more conflicting than courtship. her books always have me turning the pages as fast as i can. "Nothing but velvet" is the story of velvet moran, a paupered heiress in need of a wealthy husband to survive, and Jason Sinclair, the defamed duke framed for the murder of his father. Jason kidnaps Velvet to keep her from marrying his half brother Avery who we learn in the first few pages was the actual murdered of Jason's father. Everything leads from there as Jason searchs to clear his name and again and again ends up thrown together with velvet and a sexual tension that simmers just below the surface. Though i liked this book i felt like there was no defining moment in this book. That one moment where everything clicks and both people realize, whether they admit it or not, that they care about the other person past simple lust. Jason is the classic tortured hero but the reader is left to wonder why he's so tortured until nearly the end of the book when it would have had far more impact earlier. Velvet is the naive but passionate heroine. Martin's heriones are one of the reasons i so love her books. Her leading ladies are never afraid of their sexuality, even when they are portraited in eras as the 18th century. Velvet accepts Jason's desires and damn near seduces him herself several times. It's a refreshing change and something i wish i could see more of. Though Velvet is almost overly naive and innocent or the "good" socital lady she's likeable and loyal. The only thing that truly bothered me in this book was that it was written in the time period of 18th century england. This is not a very common period to have a romance take place, at least in my experience. it was hard to imagine some of the places and dress and i found myself placing the characters in a regency setting instead. this was more my personal doings than any draw back from the book. i just have little experience with the history of that particular era. All in all this was a book i don't regret reading. i will still continue to read kat martin's books and consider her a fine author.

A Keeper:
Some romance novels are keepers because they can be read again and still enjoyed. This is one of them. I have read several Kat Martin books and perfer her historicals, though I was vastly disappointed in "Nothing but Velvet's sequel, "Silk and Steel", which is the story of Lucien, Jason's friend and helper in clearing his name. I am not one who gives 5 stars often; to me, a 5 star rating is perfection, and this story did have a flaw or two, but still, I feel, a much better read then tons of romance books in stores today. Jason and Velvet make a great couple. In so many romances, the heroine is always fighting or tries to deny her sexual needs. That, thankfully, is not the case here. Velvet finds Jason as sexually appealing as he does her. I liked Lucien and he is a noble friend to Jason. At times, however, he is much smarter than Jason and so sometimes Jason appears to be like the classic gorgeous but dumb guy! Of course, to survive what he had to takes brains as well as brawn. My main issue with this story is the ending. Jason ends up with a noose around his neck and is saved. Well, that is okay but it is so rushed. It is like, hah? What is happening? Why is Lucien rushing to save him; what happend to bring the law down to save him when he was just convicted? It was too rushed and unclear. I hated when Velvet gave money to the poor semi-blind man and he tells her that her husband was innocent, yada, yada, yada. That was stupid. So the end was not great. I liked the epilogue, though. Nice way to end, knowing they had children, etc.

A darker romance and the healing power of love......*SPOILERS*:
While having all the outward appearances of being a typical romance, in the end I felt it wasn't. Jason Sinclair was framed for his father's murder by his younger brother and his Dukedom stolen from him. He escaped the hangman's noose and was indentured into convict labor in the colony of Georgia. His years since his murder conviction have definitely shaped him into one of the most tortured heros I have ever read. Now Jason, a self-made man, has secretly returned to England to ruin his brother, clear his name, and avenge his father. The first step is to foreclose on his mortgage on the Carlyle estate. Avery has squandored the fortune. The first kink is that Avery is betrothed to the Haversham heiress, Velvet Moran. So Jason kidnaps her on her way to the wedding to prevent her fortune from saving the estate..... Only what neither Jason or Avery knows is that Velvet is actually impoverished and desperate to marry the Duke for his fortune. Deperate to see the marriage through and save her family, Velvet desperately tries to escape her otherwise kind captor. While frustrated by Velvet's attempts at escape, Jason understands her reasons, and admires both her intelligence and courage in her attempts. As per his word Jason releases Velvet after the wedding, but his respect for her convinces him he must warn Velvet of Avery's true financial postition. Velvet is returned to Carlyle Hall, where she quickly ends the betrothal that would have spelled disastor for her family. While at Carlyle, she realizes that Jason is the elder Sinclair brother. She finds it impossible to believe that the Jason she met could have murdered his father, so she vows to help him clear his name as appreciation from saving her from the disastrous marriage. Jason is impressed with both her intelligence in determining the truth and her loyalty. Jason tries to fight his growing attratction to Velvet. He believes himself unworthy of marriage or children after the things he has done to survive. He finds out about Velvet's impoverished state, and is overcome with jealousy at her attempts to marry and gain her dowry. He decides to marry Velvet, so she can get her dowry while protecting her from his brother's growing suspicions, and granting her future independence. He offers a marriage of convenience, and vows he will leave when he finally clears his name. Depite his efforts to resist Velvet, Jason is not always successful, and is sometimes cruel in his taunts and efforts to push Velvet away. Velvet is determined to conquer Jason's mysterious demons and have a real marriage with a man she has come to love. One thing that made this book unique was the revelation of Jason's demons. He really did do terrible things. This may be the most truly tortured hero I have ever read. Despite the tortured hero that can't marry and doesn't want children cliche, Jason's reasons ended up not being your typical romance hero's reservations. I also liked Velvet. I found her intelligent. She didn't run off and do anything truly stupid that caused the hero problems, or didn't have to be perpetually "rescued." She never turned into a liability in her efforts to help the hero. It was easy to see how her loyalty, devotion, and love slowly healed the hero. *SPOILERS* A secondary character is raped and Jason's secret is very disturbing and violent.