I enjoyed this book way more than the first two in this series. I loved Alyx and Raine (despite his stubbornness). The only thing I could have done without was Alyx either bellowing or spatting every time she opened her mouth. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read without a whinny and stupid hero/heroine.

I was anticipating something original, being that the heroine masquerades as a boy around the hero. It started out well and then gradually became disappointing. Raine, the hero, is a jerk! He kept on getting mad at Alyx, the heroine, for things she did that meant well for him but "hurt his pride". Gosh, I am getting sick of stumbling upon stories with such chauvinistic pigs who are so consumed with their pride. He gets mad at her three times and abandons her, he wasn't even there when she gave birth and he practically ignored her as their child is almost a year old. God what kind of a husband and father is that? She always has to be the one to come to him, even though she wasn't particularly asking for forgiveness, the notion of going to him is enough to say that she's wanting his understandings. Maybe I'm sounding like a feminist myself, but this Raine just infuriates me. If it was me, I would've left him a long time ago. I wouldn't want to have a baby and deal with another BIG one.

I've read many of Jude Deveraux's historicals and this is one of my favorites. The book is flawed and it is major comfort food (as opposed to deathless prose) but it's still an enjoyable read. Raine does a lot to salvage it. He's sexy and honorable and stubborn and just plain yummy. Alyx (the heroine) gets a bit whiny at times and she doesn't really deserve Raine in my opinion because Hey, why don't you try talking to the man you're in love with, huh? Huh? No? Oh...

Sorry. Big Misunderstandings in Romance are one of my peeves and this one features several...in fact *counts on fingers* more than five! The book is very good, though, strong conflict, interesting plot. Alyx recovers from her father's death rather quickly and the ending frankly makes me want to bash my head against a wall. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Raine behaves SO TOTALLY out of character for the last 2-3 chapters but since I always skip those and go straight to the HEA its not a problem for me. First time readers might find those last 2-3 a bit of a slog, though, just FYI.

To sum up: Raine is sexy and the breeches plotline makes for some amusing hijinks. The ending, though, taints an otherwise enjoyable bit of junk food reading.

Velvet Song was definitely my least favorite of the Velvet series. Don't get me wrong it was still a good book, but it just wasn't as good in my mind as the others. I liked the plot, with Alyx dressing as a boy and Raine not realizing it and them falling in love, I liked seeing what happened to Jocelyn who played a big part in TVP (it was nice to see him move on from poor Constance and choose Rosamund instead she seems great) and I liked what Alyx became after she fell in love with Raine and their love changed her. But at the beginning I felt she was really annoying, with her constant bickering about the upper classes. Also the fact that Raine would get mad at her and leave, she'd come back, he'd get mad after awhile and leave again got old after about the 3rd time! I wasn't a big fan of the whole robin hood and the robbers story but maybe that's just me. One scene I will give Jude Deveraux a lot of credit on is finally showing us the reaction of one of the Montgomery brother's when they hear about Mary. Also I loved the burning scene and the wedding that follows, FABULOUS. I felt the scenes with Brian Chatworth were wonderful, he's even better though in Highland Velvet with Mary and Velvet Angel even though he's only in 1 scene there. I felt sorry for Roger with that but also it was his own fault (PS that scene is obviously based on Homer's Illiad with Hector, Patroclus, and Achilles). I did love how Alyx got Raine back in the end with Catherine, but I will say that at times she doesn't seem to be a very good mother - when her daughter's only a few months old, she leaves her to go stay in the forest with Catherine's father, and then when she's about a year old she sends Catherine to Raine completely on her own (OK maybe nto on her own, she had a nurse but still Alyx didn't go with her). Does she not want to be around her daughter that much? This book is good and the love that Raine and Alyx share is obvious and wonderful, but it definitely does not beat Velvet Promise, Highland Velvet, or Velvet Angel in the series and CERTAINLY does not top my very favorite Montgomery novel Wishes. Read it to help understand the series though.

Velvet Song is even BETTER than the first two books in the series and so far it is my favorite.

Up until the third book the women married to the Montgomery men have been head turning beauties. Not so Alyxandria Blackett. What she lacks in physical beauty she makes up for with her voice. She has a powerful singing voice and can out bellow Raine Montgomery! As for Raine Montgomery, he finds her entrancing which, considering she is disguised as a boy for the first part of the book, causes problems to his psyche. I will say it doesn't take him overly long to figure out that Alyx is actually female.

A delightful surprise for me in this book is that Jocelin Laing reappears. I liked the character and was concerned for him when he disappeared in Velvet Promise and had hoped that Deveraux would bring him back in one of the other books. Without giving to much of the story away, I will say that I was pleased with what happened to him.