Well I absolutely do not recommend this - it's racist, there's a lot of on page violence, descriptions of rape, and orphaned children that I wasn't heWell I absolutely do not recommend this - it's racist, there's a lot of on page violence, descriptions of rape, and orphaned children that I wasn't here for. I read it for the historical interest, and even then, I probably should've read something else. It's just that every other romance novel I've tried to read recently has been depressingly poorly written. ...more
This book did not clear the lowest of bars I set for it. I've read my share of hockey romances and this one haI received this as an ARC from NetGalley
This book did not clear the lowest of bars I set for it. I've read my share of hockey romances and this one had such high stars in reviews, I thought it would be good, but I've read better fanfiction than this one.
Let's just get it out of the way that this author clearly hasn't spent a long time among hockey fans/fandom. I would rather the sport of choice is more than window dressing for a romance, but even if it is just window dressing there are some key remarks about Christian that just don't make any sense.
But hockey aside, none of this was good. It's cliche to the point of nausea. The characters motivations and actions don't hold up under the lightest of scrutiny. Christian hates the way he's surrounded by paparazzi and puck bunnies so he...goes to a sports bar with his teammates near their arena with pictures of NHLers on the wall. Serena was so hurt by a crush at 16 she'll never open up but literally all it takes is Christian reveals he has a puppy and wow, guess he's trustworthy (seriously?). The prose is all telling not showing, and the way the sex is written is shading pretty violet.
Finally there's a bunch of internalized body shamey stuff that's pretty unfortunate. Serena is described as: curvy, not plus sized but smoking hot, tight but not emaciated, and having a real body (compared to all the skinny girls at school).
I was really disappointed by this book and didn't enjoy it.
Merged review:
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley
This book did not clear the lowest of bars I set for it. I've read my share of hockey romances and this one had such high stars in reviews, I thought it would be good, but I've read better fanfiction than this one.
Let's just get it out of the way that this author clearly hasn't spent a long time among hockey fans/fandom. I would rather the sport of choice is more than window dressing for a romance, but even if it is just window dressing there are some key remarks about Christian that just don't make any sense.
But hockey aside, none of this was good. It's cliche to the point of nausea. The characters motivations and actions don't hold up under the lightest of scrutiny. Christian hates the way he's surrounded by paparazzi and puck bunnies so he...goes to a sports bar with his teammates near their arena with pictures of NHLers on the wall. Serena was so hurt by a crush at 16 she'll never open up but literally all it takes is Christian reveals he has a puppy and wow, guess he's trustworthy (seriously?). The prose is all telling not showing, and the way the sex is written is shading pretty violet.
Finally there's a bunch of internalized body shamey stuff that's pretty unfortunate. Serena is described as: curvy, not plus sized but smoking hot, tight but not emaciated, and having a real body (compared to all the skinny girls at school).
I was really disappointed by this book and didn't enjoy it....more
A solid meh on this one :\ Some of it's fine, it's nice to see an MC who's a potter, but honestly the author's notes at the end were more engaging to A solid meh on this one :\ Some of it's fine, it's nice to see an MC who's a potter, but honestly the author's notes at the end were more engaging to me than most of the story. ...more
DNF at like 5%. Not for me, seemed to be hitting a lot of elements that I dislike in my histrom including fake dating and the kind of benevolent autocDNF at like 5%. Not for me, seemed to be hitting a lot of elements that I dislike in my histrom including fake dating and the kind of benevolent autocrat accidental Duke that lefty authors have started writing instead of just not writing about Dukes. ...more
And on one level, I am totally fine with how stupid it is. It's erotica (you could argue erotic romance). The worldbuiloh my god this book is so dumb.
And on one level, I am totally fine with how stupid it is. It's erotica (you could argue erotic romance). The worldbuilding and plot is only there so the sex scenes have somewhere to live, and it's silly to nitpick the worldbuilding and plot in these cases. If you liked this book, I get it! But sometimes you just have QUESTIONS. Like, they live in this set-apart bisected city of Olympus and reflect aspects of the Greek pantheon but it's NOT in Greece and they aren't magically embodying the gods, and it's unclear if anyone ever viewed them as gods, and also OHIO EXISTS. AND ZOOM MEETINGS. Like where is this reality bubble?? Why is this reality bubble??? I would have questioned it a lot less if the characters just didn't know what was outside their bubble or had more explicit magic but the level of handwaving wasn't quite at the right place for me.
The plot, similarly, you can't look at too hard. It reads as if the author did it straight through in one shot and did not go back to add any kind of set up or justification or whatever. No one knows about Hades, except a bunch of them do, actually a lot of them do and he was actually on the upper side of the river, but only once, and also for reasons no one who knows he exists told anyone and also it's not at all a big deal when he stops pretending he doesn't exist. If you break ~the treaty~ you'll start a war except if the big bad (view spoiler)[falls out of a window, conveniently dying without you needing to murder anyone (hide spoiler)] then everyone forgets why there was a treaty in the first place, or something, or it doesn't matter WHO CARES WHAT TREATY we need to have another public sex scene!!
Which brings me to, even the sex is set up and not followed through on? Hades is all broody broody domly dom who says he's too dominant to enjoy it if Persephone tops from the bottom and when asked what kind of dom/sub dynamic she wants, Persephone says she wants to misbehave to be punished, and then none of this is ever brought up again. Also she has a stupid safeword (pomegranate. It's pomegranate). Betty nailed it when she said the kink is the BDSM talk, not the actual BDSM. Which is FINE. It's fine. It's not for me.
I get why some people like it though. It is 110% id and if your id lines up with this book's id, you'll love it. I wanted to read something stupid though and oh boy it delivered. ...more
Poorly written, boring story! Don't mean to kick a book when it's down but I'm still sort of convinced this was born as Twilight fanfiction (derogatorPoorly written, boring story! Don't mean to kick a book when it's down but I'm still sort of convinced this was born as Twilight fanfiction (derogatory). I did laugh out loud when the book randomly dropped that the Duke took his grief from his first wife's death and became an undefeated gentleman boxer, insisting on bare knuckle fighting so he could feel the pain. This was apparently parallel to the previous lore drop, that the Duke had drunk himself into a stupor after his wife's death. If these seem unrelated it's because the book did not seem to remember the drunkenness when it lore dropped the boxing. CW for pregnancy and death in childbirth (past). The majority of the back half (that I got through) of the book is Adele wanting a baby and the duke insisting that if he gets her with child her life will be in danger. Technically true! But uh....handled really unconvincingly in this case. ...more
2 stars may sound harsh for a romance that was ultimately inoffensive, but although the premise is fun, the actual text made me want to toss my steeri2 stars may sound harsh for a romance that was ultimately inoffensive, but although the premise is fun, the actual text made me want to toss my steering wheel out the window and slide into a ditch.
premise: young wallflower writes letters to her boyfriend in Canada Scotland to get out of social obligations, finds out a decade later that they went to a real man this whole time! Fun! Wacky hijinks!
No! It's boring as fuck. Plot crucial character attributes, like Madeline's debilitating anxiety in crowds, fizzle out like nothing. Logan is boorish and tramples on all her boundaries but it doesn't matter because suddenly when he's here Maddy thinks she could do anything (why??). There's way too much time spent on waiting for a pet lobster to (literally) come out of her shell (GET IT) so she can mate (GET IT??!?) and then the lobster just fucks off and goes missing? God I hated listening to this book.
But I did finish it, and I don't think I've finished a fiction book in 5 months, so that's one thing in its favor. ...more
Wow, is Mary Balogh usually this good? Is this why she's so popular??
After the first two I tried were complete duds to me, I had low expectations forWow, is Mary Balogh usually this good? Is this why she's so popular??
After the first two I tried were complete duds to me, I had low expectations for this book, but I actually really enjoyed it! It's not plot heavy, but the romance is nearly overshadowed (affectionate) by opening the book in Brussels right before Waterloo. It gives the first 2/3 of the book, and the budding romance, a sense of place and time that really grounds what would otherwise be nothing much to write home about - she's making her debut, he's a rake who wants to get back at her brother, he flirts, she shows that she has a brain - it's all fine, but the setting and the way the setting influences the characters (Morgan, in particular) sets it apart.
The back third, when Morgan has decided she was wrong to trust Gervase and is going to get back at him by...accepting his proposal and making him fall in love with her, is a bit thin in comparison. But by then I was ready to suspend my disbelief, and it all worked out.
Shockingly, this otherwise extremely traditional book knows lesbians exist? Another plus....more
another insomnia book. I probably read about 80% of the actual words? It wasn't great. another insomnia book. I probably read about 80% of the actual words? It wasn't great. ...more
I was very into the romance in the first half. There are some KILLER lines, like the first sex scene where they have the exchange, "I have no way to haI was very into the romance in the first half. There are some KILLER lines, like the first sex scene where they have the exchange, "I have no way to harm you."/" I have no shield if you do." There's some extremely romantic refusal to go to confession until your lover's excommunication from the church is forgiven. There's historical femdom!! It's extremely sexy.
There's also a big stretch in the second half where politics takes over, and while I appreciate the focus on Elena's development and growth and personal story, there's a big "a year passed" while her romantic interest is imprisoned and it very much killed the momentum for me. I let the book languish for weeks until I finally finished it.
I was like CLUTCHING MY FACE into it for the vast majority of this book. The setting is so specific and immersive, the hero is SO sexually repressed, I was like CLUTCHING MY FACE into it for the vast majority of this book. The setting is so specific and immersive, the hero is SO sexually repressed, the heroine is SO sexy and dangerous. I went in completely blind and feel I can't do an adequate summary unless I resort to Stefon style, This Book Has Everything: Jousting! Capriciously saving a hot guy from destitution! Meeting again after 13 years! 13 years of celibacy! Italian assassins! A eunuch! Secret castles! The greed of organized religion! Minstrels! More jousting! It's one of those books that doesn't hold back and is all the better for it.
I did waffle a bit on whether to go 4 or 5 stars - some events at the end really killed the momentum for me, but I was SO into most of the book I went with 5. And I'll probably re-read it, tbh. Definitely reading the sequel at some point!...more
God I loved this book. Based on the other books in the series I was excepting Severin to be an asshole's asshole, but guys, he's a SPACE TOASTER. He hGod I loved this book. Based on the other books in the series I was excepting Severin to be an asshole's asshole, but guys, he's a SPACE TOASTER. He has decided to maintain only five (5) feelings. I can't explain why this hit me in just the right spot but as soon as he triumphantly told Cassandra that the lesson learned in Around the World in 80 Days was to turn the clocks back as you travel this book had my whole heart.
It is surprisingly low conflict, with nothing in particular keeping them apart, but in a way I enjoyed immensely. There's no grovel, because Severin never does anything to Cassandra he needs to grovel over, but when she is hurt by another man, he lays all his richest-man-in-England power at her feet and offers to solve all her problems. There is also a surprise literature cameo and a scrappy orphan. It's a little silly that what's keeping them apart for much of the book is Severin's insistence that he doesn't feel love and no one (before the very end of the book) is like, "maybe your actions speak louder than your insistence on only having five (5) feelings" but my belief was suspended and again, I just loved the experience of this book.
Mary Jane Wells does the audio superbly, as always.
CW: sexual harassment/groping (not by Severin), some internalized body shaming, fantasy Victorian billionaires...more
I read this mostly for historical interest, as it's one of Kleypas's first novels. Oof, it sure is. That.
The beginning is fun in a "wowIDEK you guys
I read this mostly for historical interest, as it's one of Kleypas's first novels. Oof, it sure is. That.
The beginning is fun in a "wow this is bonkers" way, but once Alex gets hit on the head, things go downhill FAST. Suddenly, he wants Lily so much that he'll happily trap her with him whether she wants it or not, and this is presented as a good thing. When Alex tells Lily how he thinks she's been going after him this whole time I was viscerally disturbed and reminded of nothing as much as the bit in Bujold's Shards of Honor when the psychiatrist is insisting Cordelia has been brainwashed and she's got it all wrong. He's wrong!! The audience knows he's wrong!! But idk maybe we were supposed to get gaslit and think maybe she really DID unconsciously like him this whole time? It's extremely uncomfortable, with Lily miserably upset, and somehow it's supposed to all come out sexy in the end. It never recovered for me.
Lily is traumatized from having her daughter stolen away from her. This makes her miserable and disconnected from life, at times bordering on suicidal. The emotional impact of this feels real...when the book remembers she has it. Especially in the bit where she cheerfully abducts the 12yo brother Alex is responsible for, there's parts of this book that seem to have flipped the scene to "fun romp" and forgotten about half the character's motivations. At the end though finding her child feels like much more of an emotional climax for Lily than anything concerning Alex, who she really doesn't seem to care about. And to be fair, he didn't seem to care much about her either!
Anyway, I could go on. I wouldn't recommend this except as an object of historical interest. I will probably read the next in the series because sometimes I want to suffer.
cw: romany slur used as an affectionate nickname for an English lady, some kind of (view spoiler)[mafia stealing blond children to sell to foreigners (hide spoiler)] plot, threats of rape from non-MC characters, also basically from the MC. ...more
(I should have written a review right after I read this book and not waited for the strike to end, so here's my thoughts a few weeks later)
I enjoyed (I should have written a review right after I read this book and not waited for the strike to end, so here's my thoughts a few weeks later)
I enjoyed this book more as a historical fiction book with romance than as a romance novel. Reconstruction era New Orleans is not something I've read much about and as usual Beverly Jenkins does a very effective job of bringing the reader into that world with detail and explanations that never feel pedantic. The main characters are interesting on their own terms (Valinda, a Black woman born free who is in New Orleans as a teacher while she waits for her fiance to return from France, and Drake, who comes from a rich Creole family) and as windows into the complicated and stratified life in that time.
However, as a romance...kind of a nothing. Valinda is engaged for a large part of the book, and Drake is pining but a gentleman about it. His mom is a bit of a meddler, but nothing really cringey and no one is ever put in a really uncomfortable position. We know Valinda isn't in love with her fiance and that thread is resolved with hardly any tension. I think there was an attempt here to subvert the "woman teaches a man how to love" trope by making Valinda the one who doesn't believe in love, but truly that was the least interesting part of the book. It doesn't help that the audiobook narrator reads sex scenes like they're NPR news bulletins.
tl;dr - it's a good book, I enjoyed a lot of it. Not my favorite romance novel.
cw: attempted rape, mentions of murder and lynching...more
Note: This book was published by HarperCollins. The HarperCollins union is currently on strike. You can join me in donating to their strike fund or reNote: This book was published by HarperCollins. The HarperCollins union is currently on strike. You can join me in donating to their strike fund or read more about supporting them here:
DNF. tl;dr I'm putting Eloisa James on the DNR (do not read) list after this one.
A prime example of a book where the author has told us some things about the characters but none of it seems to actually influence their motivations or behaviors or reasonably arise from circumstances. No one is going to want to romance Cleo because her father made his fortune in commodes (more on that later), but also she needs to work to become a wallflower, but also also she can't just skip the social season FOR REASONS (none are given, at least none that made an impression on me). James again FOR REASONS (!???) desperately wants this one specific costume shop from London to costume the chain of theaters he's constructing in the Americas. I don't get why these thoughts go together and why they are in a book. DNF material all on its own just out of boredom.
Back to the commodes - this book is set in 1815. It says "1815" in chapter 1. I was trying to work out how, in 1815, a character's FATHER could have already made his fortune (and left it to her - enough that she can drop 6000 pounds on a whim. This is Darcy level money) with a toilet business. "Ah, it must have been that lucrative industry, closed stools", I finally thought to myself, since in 1815, VANISHINGLY few homes had anything approaching indoor plumbing. Nope! A character confirms in dialogue that she means "those new flushing water closets". !??? Did the technology exist? Yes. Did it catch on before 1815? no! Not even close! Like we are DECADES out from the sewers and indoor plumbing that would make flush toilets common enough that I can imagine someone making a Darcy-level fortune on them in 1815, nevermind a generation previously! In the author's note, James mentions that water closets were in development in the early 1800s and by 1860 we'd have the S-bend flush toilet. That's great, WHY DID YOU SET YOUR BOOK IN 1815???
if you're thinking, "lighten up, it's just a backstory", then idk maybe read this book. I just like it when the setting and the background of the characters means things and informs the world they're in and surrounded by. If it was important to have the heroine be rich from toilets, why not write a Victorian? If you want to set it in 1815, why not make her dad idk, a savvy nightsoil man? Yes it's just backstory but backstory should inform and be informed by the setting and I find it (obviously) incredibly annoying when that is all thrown out the window like so much piss from a chamber pot....more
- this is not a great book - I mostly enjoyed it anyway
Completely id-y nonsense where an 18yo girl who is the most special catches the eye of a myster- this is not a great book - I mostly enjoyed it anyway
Completely id-y nonsense where an 18yo girl who is the most special catches the eye of a mysterious Shadow King but unfortunately also...not id-y enough? There are a few times when maybe in an attempt to subvert expectations it shies away from fully committing to the bit, but given there's nothing else to this book except the bit, that only took away from the experience.
I want to emphasize again that what makes this book not good is not the specialest girl who designs her own clothes (they are the most popular) and is the best at seducing men and getting her way. It's the complete lack of coherent worldbuilding and a plot that hinges on main characters being face blind and thinking that hiding something incriminating in a locked, monogramed chest in your own room is somehow a good plan. I listened to this book at no less than 1.65x speed because it really isn't that interesting. But if you're looking for some delightful nonsense and think you can get past the rest of it, I don't *not* recommend the book?...more
Aggressively lackluster book. Both MCs were annoying, absolutely nothing was happening, plot such as it was felt forced but not in a fun way. DNF 25%
Aggressively lackluster book. Both MCs were annoying, absolutely nothing was happening, plot such as it was felt forced but not in a fun way. I can see where Julia Quinn was going with Lord whateverhisnameis being neurodivergent but mmmmm idk, it didn't add to the book. It believably made the heroine more frustrated with him but that's about all I can say for it. And maybe I just don't like Julia Quinn's style in this book, but it has the "unaware of their own actions" problem where every character is continually surprised to find themselves moving or speaking or acting in a certain way. It's like watching the author play with dolls instead of reading a book about people.
I'll probably read a little more because I don't have another book on the go, but calling the DNF now to save myself the trouble. ...more
Well. It was better than the first 4 books in the series, and I finished it. But it is not Kleypas's best. I'm feeling very grateful I started with thWell. It was better than the first 4 books in the series, and I finished it. But it is not Kleypas's best. I'm feeling very grateful I started with the Ravenels series as there is no way I'd have given Kleypas 5 different chances otherwise.
Anyway, this is extremely okay. Nothing in particular happens and it's too long. Quirky animal charming heroine tames ill-used war vet. I knew it was a bad sign when the emotional tension was released with 4 hours of audiobook left. I expected a last minute near-death experience or a dumb misunderstanding but instead it was just boring - 3.5 hours of tepid historical romance sex (low point: "humid folds of her sex". humid folds.)
cw: romance novel PTSD (about 95% fixed by love)...more
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