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a_reader_obsessed's review
3.0
3 Stars
I guess you could say that anything with romance and sci-fi is going to garner a second look from me, and because I greatly enjoyed Sci-Regency so much from JL Langley, trying out this series from Butler was basically a no brainer.
Poor Tiral has inherited an earldom when his brother dies unexpectedly in an unfortunate accident. Thing is, the estate is up to its ears in debt, and the only way to save it and those under its care is for Tiral to offer his title of Earl in exchange for a large dowry. When he meets a mysterious cultured stranger at his first soirée, Tiral comes up with a plan to ask this gentleman to school him in the arts of seduction so he can snag him a rich spouse. What he doesn’t realize is that the man he starts to fall for is one of the richest tech moguls around and who has his own issues with the uppity lords and ladies from his past.
What I will say is that though this was quite long for me, this was well written with a slow burn plausible progression that shows off the back and forth banter between Tiral and Zev (minus the absolutely asinine reason why Zev won’t ever commit again). This is classic historical Regency romance in terms of propriety and societal rules (minus fainting virgins and adding a sexual inclusivity that doesn’t bat an eyelash at any pairing). What this isn’t is actual sci-fi. The odd mention of techie “fobs” and “flyers” and where whole planets serve as property instead of a large estate does not make this quite entrenched in the aforementioned genre as this pretty much read like straight historical which isn’t my usual cuppa.
Overall, despite my wishing this had more world building and outer space flair, fans of historical romances will surely enjoy this and subsequent installments!
I guess you could say that anything with romance and sci-fi is going to garner a second look from me, and because I greatly enjoyed Sci-Regency so much from JL Langley, trying out this series from Butler was basically a no brainer.
Poor Tiral has inherited an earldom when his brother dies unexpectedly in an unfortunate accident. Thing is, the estate is up to its ears in debt, and the only way to save it and those under its care is for Tiral to offer his title of Earl in exchange for a large dowry. When he meets a mysterious cultured stranger at his first soirée, Tiral comes up with a plan to ask this gentleman to school him in the arts of seduction so he can snag him a rich spouse. What he doesn’t realize is that the man he starts to fall for is one of the richest tech moguls around and who has his own issues with the uppity lords and ladies from his past.
What I will say is that though this was quite long for me, this was well written with a slow burn plausible progression that shows off the back and forth banter between Tiral and Zev (minus the absolutely asinine reason why Zev won’t ever commit again). This is classic historical Regency romance in terms of propriety and societal rules (minus fainting virgins and adding a sexual inclusivity that doesn’t bat an eyelash at any pairing). What this isn’t is actual sci-fi. The odd mention of techie “fobs” and “flyers” and where whole planets serve as property instead of a large estate does not make this quite entrenched in the aforementioned genre as this pretty much read like straight historical which isn’t my usual cuppa.
Overall, despite my wishing this had more world building and outer space flair, fans of historical romances will surely enjoy this and subsequent installments!
tashas_books's review
3.0
4 stars for the first 70%, 2 stars for the last 30%
And all that stuff at the end with the pirates and the murdering mobster? Ridiculous and unnecessary. The conflict between the MCs could have been resolved in a much better (and believable) way.
Spoiler
The reason why Zev didn't want to get married was very contrived and forced - it was supposed to be an emotional reaction to an earlier trauma, but it felt more like an unfortunate rule he had to follow, or a decision he made a long time ago and just had to maintain, even if he disagreed with it now.And all that stuff at the end with the pirates and the murdering mobster? Ridiculous and unnecessary. The conflict between the MCs could have been resolved in a much better (and believable) way.
teresab78's review
4.0
3.5 stars.
While it felt more regency and less sci fi I was engaged by the new earl’s endeavours. I liked both characters and bought the romance
While it felt more regency and less sci fi I was engaged by the new earl’s endeavours. I liked both characters and bought the romance
sarful's review against another edition
2.0
For a regency in space, it felt a bit slow and anticlimactic. Nothing really happened for a long time and the pacing felt a bit glacial. Nothing was necessarily wrong, just really slow. The reason why Zev didn’t want to marry felt a little childish after so long, especially with how he felt with Tiral. I don’t know, I guess I wanted more. It was fine.
suflet's review against another edition
3.0
Shelved in Historical because it's kind of neo-Victorian set in the future.
I really enjoyed this and loved Tiral and Zev together but I didn't find the ending emotionally satisfying. The characters definitely have a strong HEA on paper. I found that the big reveal for the source of conflict was underwhelming and didn't justify the pain it had caused, however, leaving me kind of mad at Zev for putting Tiral through all that.
SPOILERS BELOW
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This wouldn't knock a star of the review, it just bothered me a little: I was slightly irritated with Tiral for not choosing a political marriage with the decent guy who understood his financial situation well and still wanted to marry him and work on building a happy relationship together. Like, it was the best possible situation but he still decided to go with selling the solar system and potentially kicking out generations of tenants. Of course, I came to the book looking for a story about love but not realism so I'd be pretty hypocritical to let that phase me too much.
Back to Zev: He basically put Tiral through the wringer just so that he could a) learn to stop torturing and isolating himself after being the victim of a horrible, traumatizing, heartbreaking prank he was put through a decade previously and b) figure out what marriage and chosen family meant to him personally. I just feel like he should probably have learned both of those things on his own time and not meddled with Tiral if he wasn't going to follow through. Between the two of them they jeopardized the livelihoods of thousands (millions? billions?) of tenants of the Gret star system (though granted that was ultimately Tiral's responsibility). I'm saying it was a red flag and if Tiral were my friend I'd be cautioning him that Zev has some emotional development to work on and that they should talk to a couples therapist and Zev should certainly be seeing a therapist individually.
I really enjoyed this and loved Tiral and Zev together but I didn't find the ending emotionally satisfying. The characters definitely have a strong HEA on paper. I found that the big reveal for the source of conflict was underwhelming and didn't justify the pain it had caused, however, leaving me kind of mad at Zev for putting Tiral through all that.
SPOILERS BELOW
.
.
.
.
.
This wouldn't knock a star of the review, it just bothered me a little: I was slightly irritated with Tiral for not choosing a political marriage with the decent guy who understood his financial situation well and still wanted to marry him and work on building a happy relationship together. Like, it was the best possible situation but he still decided to go with selling the solar system and potentially kicking out generations of tenants. Of course, I came to the book looking for a story about love but not realism so I'd be pretty hypocritical to let that phase me too much.
Back to Zev: He basically put Tiral through the wringer just so that he could a) learn to stop torturing and isolating himself after being the victim of a horrible, traumatizing, heartbreaking prank he was put through a decade previously and b) figure out what marriage and chosen family meant to him personally. I just feel like he should probably have learned both of those things on his own time and not meddled with Tiral if he wasn't going to follow through. Between the two of them they jeopardized the livelihoods of thousands (millions? billions?) of tenants of the Gret star system (though granted that was ultimately Tiral's responsibility). I'm saying it was a red flag and if Tiral were my friend I'd be cautioning him that Zev has some emotional development to work on and that they should talk to a couples therapist and Zev should certainly be seeing a therapist individually.
1001reads's review against another edition
5.0
super cute and a stellar example of yes, the main characters are great but the side characters are amazing, perfection, I love all of them.
also everyone dunking on zev all the time about his not wanting to get married is just *chef’s kiss*
also everyone dunking on zev all the time about his not wanting to get married is just *chef’s kiss*
daddysauron's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
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
5.0
Absolutely perfect to scratch my Bridgerton itch *chef's kiss*
sitathereader's review against another edition
4.0
An easy read — funny, clever, and very sweet.
Tiral is adorable and Zev is a bit of a stubborn doofus but also quite endearing.
The other characters around them pulled everything together and there is just enough intrigue outside of the pair to help move the plot along.
I did a few parts a bit dialogue heavy, I would’ve liked to see a bit more descriptors breaking up all the talk. However, this only happened in only a couple of sections in the entire book.
But other than that, absolutely loved it. I’m looking forward to the next book
Tiral is adorable and Zev is a bit of a stubborn doofus but also quite endearing.
The other characters around them pulled everything together and there is just enough intrigue outside of the pair to help move the plot along.
I did a few parts a bit dialogue heavy, I would’ve liked to see a bit more descriptors breaking up all the talk. However, this only happened in only a couple of sections in the entire book.
But other than that, absolutely loved it. I’m looking forward to the next book
lilacwire's review
2.0
I liked the world - a cute twist on the victorian era romance. However, the "will they/won't they" portion stretched on a bit too long for my taste and I found myself growing a bit bored by the end.