Scan barcode
A review by tita_noir
The Secret Heart by Erin Satie
3.0
I liked the writing in this book better than I liked the story. It didn't 100% work for me as a romance novel mainly because I didn't actually enjoy the two main characters very much. They didn't make me happy for them. However, I appreciate the level of flawed characterization they bring to the story as well as the intensity of their relationship. This is not a typical light Hist Rom -- nor is it a typical angsty Hist Rom. There are some complex levels at work here that I appreciate even I couldn't wholly enjoy them.
In this story we meet Adam, the Earl of Bexly, a young man who has a very complicated and somewhat combative relationship with his powerful father, the Duke of Hastings. Actually, everyone in the book has a somewhat complex and combative relationship with the Duke. When we first meet Adam he has the clear signs of having fought on his face -- black eye, split lip, blood caked around his nostrils. He likes to box and does it kind of on the down low because it is something a titled Earl just does not do.
We also meet Caro Small, the heroine. She has been invited to the country home of the Duke at the behest of her best friend, the Duke's ward. Caro's family is on the edge of ruin and has somewhat of a shady reputation. Her father and brothers are spendthrifts and Caro is desperate to make a good marriage before they spend her dowry. Like Adam, Caro has an avocation that is frowned upon, she had balletic training thanks to family retainer who hails from the demimonde, so she practices dancing ruthlessly.
I actually liked Adam who I thought had a really good character trajectory. He goes from an enigmatic character to one who become sympathetic once you realize his relationship with his father to one you root for once he decides to really take his own fate in his hands.
Caro was a lot more difficult to like. She was a schemer. She needed to marry and her every thought had a calculating edge to it. I think I would have been more sympathetic to her if more of her inner dialogue was tempered with some genuine emotion. There were flashes, but I felt the 'I will act this way to create the result I need' angle of her personality took precedence over more genuine thought/feeling. So it was not easy to like her. She did soften and start to feel more authentic in her reactions to Adam, but that happened very, very late in the book.
There are other key supporting characters in the book all part of Adam's family all under his father's thumb. Outside of the romantic plot there is a murder mystery that affects the relationship. And another example of Caro using something to further her agenda in a rather calculating way.
By far the most fascinating character in the book is Adam's father, the Duke of Hastings. He is not necessarily a villain in the strict sense, but he is definitely an antagonist. He is a powerful man who wields his power and control over his family like a sledgehammer. They are resentful and, in some cases, cowed. He is definitely mean and callous. But I also liked that the author gave him a point of view so he just wasn't being am asshole just because the book called for one. He is a rich man who is the head of his household. He has a strong vision of what his family is supposed to be like and he takes pains to preserve that vision. He does it ruthlessly. He is also a master manipulator who thinks three moves ahead of everyone else. I did not like Hastings, but I can't deny that his scenes had a crackling energy that a lot of the rest of the book lacked. And thus I was always interested when he was in a scene.
In the end our hero & heroine do get together, but like I said they didn't make me happy. I just felt satisfied that they triumphed over Hastings.
In this story we meet Adam, the Earl of Bexly, a young man who has a very complicated and somewhat combative relationship with his powerful father, the Duke of Hastings. Actually, everyone in the book has a somewhat complex and combative relationship with the Duke. When we first meet Adam he has the clear signs of having fought on his face -- black eye, split lip, blood caked around his nostrils. He likes to box and does it kind of on the down low because it is something a titled Earl just does not do.
We also meet Caro Small, the heroine. She has been invited to the country home of the Duke at the behest of her best friend, the Duke's ward. Caro's family is on the edge of ruin and has somewhat of a shady reputation. Her father and brothers are spendthrifts and Caro is desperate to make a good marriage before they spend her dowry. Like Adam, Caro has an avocation that is frowned upon, she had balletic training thanks to family retainer who hails from the demimonde, so she practices dancing ruthlessly.
I actually liked Adam who I thought had a really good character trajectory. He goes from an enigmatic character to one who become sympathetic once you realize his relationship with his father to one you root for once he decides to really take his own fate in his hands.
Caro was a lot more difficult to like. She was a schemer. She needed to marry and her every thought had a calculating edge to it. I think I would have been more sympathetic to her if more of her inner dialogue was tempered with some genuine emotion. There were flashes, but I felt the 'I will act this way to create the result I need' angle of her personality took precedence over more genuine thought/feeling. So it was not easy to like her. She did soften and start to feel more authentic in her reactions to Adam, but that happened very, very late in the book.
There are other key supporting characters in the book all part of Adam's family all under his father's thumb. Outside of the romantic plot there is a murder mystery that affects the relationship. And another example of Caro using something to further her agenda in a rather calculating way.
By far the most fascinating character in the book is Adam's father, the Duke of Hastings. He is not necessarily a villain in the strict sense, but he is definitely an antagonist. He is a powerful man who wields his power and control over his family like a sledgehammer. They are resentful and, in some cases, cowed. He is definitely mean and callous. But I also liked that the author gave him a point of view so he just wasn't being am asshole just because the book called for one. He is a rich man who is the head of his household. He has a strong vision of what his family is supposed to be like and he takes pains to preserve that vision. He does it ruthlessly. He is also a master manipulator who thinks three moves ahead of everyone else. I did not like Hastings, but I can't deny that his scenes had a crackling energy that a lot of the rest of the book lacked. And thus I was always interested when he was in a scene.
In the end our hero & heroine do get together, but like I said they didn't make me happy. I just felt satisfied that they triumphed over Hastings.