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katekatiekait's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism
lostinabookbrb's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
carapuce's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
The writing style was difficult. Had to re-read sentences to make sure I was understanding what was going on.
Hated the hero. What a terrible dude with barely any redeeming qualities. He listened to his mother call the woman he supposedly loved awful, derogatory names, and excused it as his mother just being angry? In addition to a host of other terrible behaviour. Awful, irredeemable character.
It all could have been fixed in the first ten pages if anyone had the sense to actually TALK.
Also, the book is heavy. Don't know why it's being called light-hearted, but it's heavy on the racism and racial tensions.
I ended up skimming the last quarter of the book, and I regret ever having read this.
Hated the hero. What a terrible dude with barely any redeeming qualities. He listened to his mother call the woman he supposedly loved awful, derogatory names, and excused it as his mother just being angry? In addition to a host of other terrible behaviour. Awful, irredeemable character.
It all could have been fixed in the first ten pages if anyone had the sense to actually TALK.
Also, the book is heavy. Don't know why it's being called light-hearted, but it's heavy on the racism and racial tensions.
I ended up skimming the last quarter of the book, and I regret ever having read this.
melbsreads's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content warnings: racism, racial slurs, death of a spouse (in the past), grief, classism, bullying, pregnancy (in the past), discussion of slavery, war (in the past)
This was................an interesting read. Don't get me wrong, the romance at the heart of the story was heartfelt and occasionally heartbreaking, but despite all of that, I really loved it.
However. So much of this story is caught up in racism that it was honestly a struggle to get through at times because it was RELENTLESS. And, like, I understand that it's realistic to the time. But it's not exactly what I would have expected from a historical romance, you know? And yes, there are consequences in the end for the most racist of the characters. But by that point it was kind of......too little too late for me.
In short: I liked it, but it was A Lot. And it was A Lot to the point where I don't think I want to continue with the series...
This was................an interesting read. Don't get me wrong, the romance at the heart of the story was heartfelt and occasionally heartbreaking, but despite all of that, I really loved it.
However. So much of this story is caught up in racism that it was honestly a struggle to get through at times because it was RELENTLESS. And, like, I understand that it's realistic to the time. But it's not exactly what I would have expected from a historical romance, you know? And yes, there are consequences in the end for the most racist of the characters. But by that point it was kind of......too little too late for me.
In short: I liked it, but it was A Lot. And it was A Lot to the point where I don't think I want to continue with the series...
miss_melissalee's review
3.0
2.5
I really wanted to like this one, I love Theo and her friends. I had a hard time with the writing at times. I definitely had many issues with the hero. I will try to keep reading the other books because I want to know what happens to Frederica and Jasper as well as Ester. I will say definitely do give this a shot and form your own opinions because we don't have many historicals/regency with diverse main characters.
I really wanted to like this one, I love Theo and her friends. I had a hard time with the writing at times. I definitely had many issues with the hero. I will try to keep reading the other books because I want to know what happens to Frederica and Jasper as well as Ester. I will say definitely do give this a shot and form your own opinions because we don't have many historicals/regency with diverse main characters.
jacfrostisagirl's review
3.0
This was a really interesting read. The author is definitely talented. But Theodosia is such an amazing character, person, mother, friend, and boss. And Ewan is…there. It took the entire book for me to find any respect for him.
This entire book was also just one giant misunderstanding trope. And in spite of the fact that Ewan knew people thought he was dead, knew his parents were the worst, and knew that Theo was a poor flower seller being left on her own?? He still blames his ex-fiancé for every hurt he felt. And I’m like??? Dude. She’s so much better than you. Get a grip.
This entire book was also just one giant misunderstanding trope. And in spite of the fact that Ewan knew people thought he was dead, knew his parents were the worst, and knew that Theo was a poor flower seller being left on her own?? He still blames his ex-fiancé for every hurt he felt. And I’m like??? Dude. She’s so much better than you. Get a grip.
jacfrost248's review
3.0
This was a really interesting read. The author is definitely talented. But Theodosia is such an amazing character, person, mother, friend, and boss. And Ewan is…there. It took the entire book for me to find any respect for him.
This entire book was also just one giant misunderstanding trope. And in spite of the fact that Ewan knew people thought he was dead, knew his parents were the worst, and knew that Theo was a poor flower seller being left on her own?? He still blames his ex-fiancé for every hurt he felt. And I’m like??? Dude. She’s so much better than you. Get a grip.
This entire book was also just one giant misunderstanding trope. And in spite of the fact that Ewan knew people thought he was dead, knew his parents were the worst, and knew that Theo was a poor flower seller being left on her own?? He still blames his ex-fiancé for every hurt he felt. And I’m like??? Dude. She’s so much better than you. Get a grip.
lanidacey's review
4.0
3.5 to be correct, but I'm rounding up since the things I liked outweighed the things I didn't.
This was a cute story that took a bit of time to get going. I liked our main couple, but they both could have saved themselves a lot of heartache if they just communicated. I really loved the supporting characters, including the butler, Pickens; the hero's brother, the viscount Lord Hartwell; and the heroine's BFFs, Frederica and Ester. I'd definitely pick up any future stories Vanessa Riley wrote about them. I feel like I learned more about them as people than I did our couple. They were given more interesting personalities and more realistic conflicts than our main leads. (Especially, Frederica. She's the acknowledged illegitimate daughter of a duke and is also biracial, so it was fascinating reading about her life.)
There was good tension, both between the couple and with the various major and minor antagonists. I would have liked the final showdown with Lester to be more vindictive, but I'm a petty person. 😂
One critique, if I can get technical. There were some quirks in the writing that drove me nuts. For example, the hero's eyes were always described as "bluer-than-blue." Every. Single. Time. Once or twice, I get, but it's weird for the color to be referred to that way whenever they are mentioned (and this is a romance novel, so they are mentioned a lot.) It's not actually that descriptive. Are his eyes ice blue, sky blue, a warm blue, a cold blue, dark blue, light blue?
Also, and I'm not entirely sure how to describe this, sometimes characters would move around and not be where I expected them to be. For example, a character would be described as rising from his seat, but I never remember reading that he'd sat down in the first place. Another time, the text mentions that a child is sitting on the hero's shoulders, but then a line describes how the hero had to bend down to whisper in the child's ear. This is a super minor issue, but whenever it happened, it confused me and would pull me from the story.
Overall, a cute read that really picks up steam in the second half. I'm looking forward to more of this series.
This was a cute story that took a bit of time to get going. I liked our main couple, but they both could have saved themselves a lot of heartache if they just communicated. I really loved the supporting characters, including the butler, Pickens; the hero's brother, the viscount Lord Hartwell; and the heroine's BFFs, Frederica and Ester. I'd definitely pick up any future stories Vanessa Riley wrote about them. I feel like I learned more about them as people than I did our couple. They were given more interesting personalities and more realistic conflicts than our main leads. (Especially, Frederica. She's the acknowledged illegitimate daughter of a duke and is also biracial, so it was fascinating reading about her life.)
There was good tension, both between the couple and with the various major and minor antagonists. I would have liked the final showdown with Lester to be more vindictive, but I'm a petty person. 😂
One critique, if I can get technical. There were some quirks in the writing that drove me nuts. For example, the hero's eyes were always described as "bluer-than-blue." Every. Single. Time. Once or twice, I get, but it's weird for the color to be referred to that way whenever they are mentioned (and this is a romance novel, so they are mentioned a lot.) It's not actually that descriptive. Are his eyes ice blue, sky blue, a warm blue, a cold blue, dark blue, light blue?
Also, and I'm not entirely sure how to describe this, sometimes characters would move around and not be where I expected them to be. For example, a character would be described as rising from his seat, but I never remember reading that he'd sat down in the first place. Another time, the text mentions that a child is sitting on the hero's shoulders, but then a line describes how the hero had to bend down to whisper in the child's ear. This is a super minor issue, but whenever it happened, it confused me and would pull me from the story.
Overall, a cute read that really picks up steam in the second half. I'm looking forward to more of this series.