Reviews

Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell

jackiehorne's review against another edition

2.0

Campbell can write a page-turning plot and intriguing characters, but my stomach turns at a raping protagonist, no matter how difficult his childhood was. Ugh!

veronian's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Start off with an interesting character with nerves of steel and turn her into any generic heroine by the 50% mark, throw in a mishmash of tropes in the last quarter and casual idiocy (if you use birth control all the time and don't get pregnant, you must be infertile?), and undermine character development with a last minute kidnapping. If Kylemore is supposed to learn that consent and respecting Verity's decisions have value, then why does he ignore them to follow her, and we're supposed to think this is a good thing bc he can save her in the process? Anyways there's SA that she eventually decides she's ok with bc he's too sexy or something and he's just like sorry I did some unspecified bad things, and neither of them really holds him accountable. We also have my least favorite trope which is to let villains get away with anything because think of the scandal!!

Please throw this man in a well, 1*

ltsakmann's review against another edition

2.0

Ehh I am glad this is not the first Anna Campbell I read. It was very dark and the main male character ( I refuse to call him hero because he is not one!) was a jerk. Those of you familiar with the controversy surrounding this book will know what I mean. This is one of those books where each person will have a different reaction mine was not pleasant.

nelsonseye's review against another edition

4.0

Very difficult to read in places but I was very involved in the story.

gotobedmouse's review against another edition

2.0

This book was a little bit too rapey for me. The story was okay, and I saw where the author tried to get you to understand how the main characters can fall in love. But really their love boils down to an old fashion case of Stockholm syndrome. It reminded me of a caveman hitting a woman on top of the head and taking her back to his cave or in this case castle.

serialbookstarter's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars This was almost a 5 star read but the last 20 % the h went on and on about how she wasn’t good enough for the H. It’s obvious The Duke was crazy in love with her from the very first page of the book. I’m not a big fan of mistress trope but this book was different and I loved how obsessed Justin was with Verity.

diaryofthebookdragon's review against another edition

3.0

*** 3 stars ***

Courtesan? CHECK.
Stuffy duke who always has to have his way? CHECK.
So what did go wrong? I thought this was a perfect formula for a historical romance book. I guess I was wrong.
Don't get me wrong, the book was not bad. I gave it 3 stars - it means I liked it. But that was it. The characters behavior was a little bit weird and inconsistent with big mood swings and radical decisions. I just did not buy some of it, it did not seem natural. But I see that this is a first book that [a:Anna Campbell|296477|Anna Campbell|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1268676831p2/296477.jpg] wrote, and I hope that the next ones will be better. I will give her at least one more chance...

msmattoon's review against another edition

1.0

He rapes her three times, I think it was three nights in a row. So disappointing. He "loves" her though, and apologizes, so I guess she's okay with it. He saves her life from the danger she gets in by trying to escape the raping and imprisonment. Yay, he's a hero.

cwolbrecht's review against another edition

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

eslismyjam's review against another edition

1.0

I'm coming to the conclusion that I don't like old school romance. The hero was a jerk. I didn't like him, at all. Supposedly there is some redemption by the end but most of the book is just Kylemore treating Verity like crap, kidnapping her and raping her. NOT OKAY. He's a bad, bad dude. I wasn't willing to stick around until the end to see if he somehow became a nice guy, because how do you come back from kidnapping and rape? I don't know that you can. Maybe with a lot of groveling, but he didn't seem the type to grovel and I just wanted to punch him in the face.