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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
I have always enjoyed historical fiction, and this one is a good combination of both. It was an easy fun read with interesting characters and good plot twists!
One of my favorite books. Like Downton Abbey? Read this.
Interesting take on the Industrial Age through the lens of an incredibly rich American heiress who exchanges her wealth for an English title. I wasn't sold on the marriage being a love match. But as someone who has been controlled her whole life, I was not surprised at the turn of events in the protagonist's life. I hope it worked out ok for her.
More of a 2.5-3. Poor character development but beautiful vivid details of clothes, environment, furnishings, etc. A nice companion to my concurrent Downton Abbey watching but not nearly as engaging.
The story could have benefited from the author choosing the "Gothic Romance" or the "Austenesque" style for the novel rather than both. It also would have been fun to see more or the search for a title parts of the story, but overall I enjoyed the book.
So much head hopping it is jarring. Different perspectives are fine, but start a new section! The storyline was dull and the characters didn’t interest me enough. When I got frustrated with all the head hopping, I read some reviews on here and decided to not finish it.
I started reading this book while visiting Newport. Seeing all the mansions really helped me to visualize the events. I enjoyed this book. There were a few loose ends that I feel got swept up rather too quickly and not really resolved but overall a fast fun vacation read.
This was very well written, but the misunderstandings that could have been cleared up with a simple conversation irritated me. The characters were interesting, though, as was the setting.
I have not encountered a novel that has been set (at least partially) in Newport, Rhode Island during the golden age of the “summer cottages” of the mega wealthy. It is such a beautiful setting and is probably one of the few settings in the United States that can evoke such a vivid world as European castles of old. Only a small portion of the novel is set here before it moves into well known Victorian England – but it still brought gorgeous pictures to mind.
It was also refreshing to read a romance novel for a change. This book treads more heavily on the romance side of the coin than the historical but there is enough there to certainly give you the sense of Victorian England. We even get to have Prince Bertie as a relatively important side character. It was also very interesting to see American upper class society juxtaposed against the English upper class – they were vastly different and it became quite an important plot device throughout the novel.
This was a great read and even though it ended in possibly not the most ideal situation it was still what I was rooting for. I even held off finishing the book for a few days because I really didn’t want it to end – it was such an enjoyable ride. I would certainly love to read another book by this author, it was a great debut.
And on a completely random note – I think the author had inspired choices for character names – I am particularly fond of Cora Cash!
he narrator was wonderful. She was a very flexible reader and had great accents for all of her characters. She had to switch between American and British accents throughout the story and I thought this was done seamlessly. At the end of the novel there was an interview with the author which was a wonderful treat. One thing that I found quite interesting was that she had never written dialogue before and so she would often read it out loud to hear how it sounded – which I think was perfect preparation for an audiobook.
This book was received for review from the publisher - I was not compensated for my opinions and the above is my honest review.
It was also refreshing to read a romance novel for a change. This book treads more heavily on the romance side of the coin than the historical but there is enough there to certainly give you the sense of Victorian England. We even get to have Prince Bertie as a relatively important side character. It was also very interesting to see American upper class society juxtaposed against the English upper class – they were vastly different and it became quite an important plot device throughout the novel.
This was a great read and even though it ended in possibly not the most ideal situation it was still what I was rooting for. I even held off finishing the book for a few days because I really didn’t want it to end – it was such an enjoyable ride. I would certainly love to read another book by this author, it was a great debut.
And on a completely random note – I think the author had inspired choices for character names – I am particularly fond of Cora Cash!
he narrator was wonderful. She was a very flexible reader and had great accents for all of her characters. She had to switch between American and British accents throughout the story and I thought this was done seamlessly. At the end of the novel there was an interview with the author which was a wonderful treat. One thing that I found quite interesting was that she had never written dialogue before and so she would often read it out loud to hear how it sounded – which I think was perfect preparation for an audiobook.
This book was received for review from the publisher - I was not compensated for my opinions and the above is my honest review.
While there were some inaccuracies as to the British aristocracy (tattoos? Really?), this was an enjoyable read and quick despite its length. I found Cora to be true to her generation and upbringing and really loved her in the end. Her mother and mother-in-law were characters to be loathed, and her husband one to be constantly frustrated and intrigued with. It's a book I'd recommend to others suffering "Downton Abbey withdrawals", and one I will be keeping in my library to read again someday.