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pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
This book has been on my to-read shelf since 2011. This is the first novel that Burrowes published and so it is typical that I managed to read a later part of her series first.
This was another good romance. I got what I wanted: a break from reality, some interesting characters, a good romance and a happy ending. That is why I read romance.
This was another good romance. I got what I wanted: a break from reality, some interesting characters, a good romance and a happy ending. That is why I read romance.
katdid's review
2.0
2.5 stars. Lordy this was d r a w n o u t. Sometimes I think Burrowes loves her characters a bit too much and just wants to linger over every minor interaction.
Spoiler
I didn't really understand why Anna didnt just accept one of Gayle's many marriage proposals already. Also she gets points deducted for bitterly describing her sister and grandmother as "tarts".gaderianne's review against another edition
3.0
This book was okay - it didn't have a lot of action. In it, the Earl is pressured by his father to marry and have kids. He resists but finds he is drawn to his housekeeper. The housekeeper is really a well born lady fallen on hard times and running from some unspeakable something from her past. As main characters, I liked the Earl, but Anna....well...I just wanted her to stop whining about her past. I got it - you're on the run. But when the main characters don't bother to confide/trust in the person they love...well it just drives me CRAZY. You trust with a man enough to sleep with but not enough to have him try to help you? Hmmm....
I kept reading for two reasons - the two brothers in this story. They were funny and delightful and I loved them. Loved them enough to give the next book in the series a try even though this one was only so-so.
I kept reading for two reasons - the two brothers in this story. They were funny and delightful and I loved them. Loved them enough to give the next book in the series a try even though this one was only so-so.
thisisabooktracker's review
5.0
Now THIS is a romance book
In sci-fi and fantasy, reviews often mention the author's world-building, the ability to create a complex and complete setting that makes the story all the more believable. With this book, Burrows captured my heart with her romance-building. The characters were robust and went through all the small and unglamorous dealings of getting to know each other, their personalities and their bodies, before becoming lovers. Yes, I'm saying the MCs made their way around the bases instead of throwing themselves headlong into home base. It was quite refreshing for me and, though the plot might have been hobbled in a place or two, the characters had endeared themselves to me enough that I looked past it with ease.
In sci-fi and fantasy, reviews often mention the author's world-building, the ability to create a complex and complete setting that makes the story all the more believable. With this book, Burrows captured my heart with her romance-building. The characters were robust and went through all the small and unglamorous dealings of getting to know each other, their personalities and their bodies, before becoming lovers. Yes, I'm saying the MCs made their way around the bases instead of throwing themselves headlong into home base. It was quite refreshing for me and, though the plot might have been hobbled in a place or two, the characters had endeared themselves to me enough that I looked past it with ease.
aswirlgirl's review against another edition
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Ugh! This book was terrible. I liked Anna initially but could barely stand her by 7 hours in. Her “secret” was RIDICULOUSLY lame and could easily have been handled by Gayle.
This book was TWELVE HOURS LONG and the story could easily have been done in 8 hours, max.
My understanding is that this is the author’s first book, and it shows. I’ve read many of her other books and enjoyed them. I’m giving her a break for this one, because gosh! It’s AWFUL.
I did enjoy Val and Devlin, and look forward to reading their stories, as well as that of Percival and Esther n
This book was TWELVE HOURS LONG and the story could easily have been done in 8 hours, max.
My understanding is that this is the author’s first book, and it shows. I’ve read many of her other books and enjoyed them. I’m giving her a break for this one, because gosh! It’s AWFUL.
I did enjoy Val and Devlin, and look forward to reading their stories, as well as that of Percival and Esther n
ekateclark's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
andipants's review against another edition
3.0
This book seemed loooong; I almost felt like I was dragging myself through it at times. I think it was at least partially because the individual chapters were very long. With books like this, I like to grab a chapter or two before bed, on my breaks at work, in between chores at home, etc.; a lot of paperback romances will average between 5 and 15 pages per chapter, so that works just fine. This one, on the other hand, averaged around 30 pages per chapter, so sitting down to read one was somewhat of a time commitment, which is probably another reason it took me so long to get through it.
As for the story itself, it was okay; nothing amazing, but nothing terrible, either. The anachronisms were a bit irritating, especially the fact that Anna acts nothing like a housekeeper (and hello, where is the rest of the household?). The plot also registered pretty high on the flimsy-conflict scale - I'm never a big fan of plots where the main conflict is both characters simultaneously thinking, "I love him/her, but I'll pretend I don't because he/she clearly doesn't love me!" - particularly not when there's no good reason whatsoever for them to believe that. And I did not buy Anna's reasoning for not telling Westhaven what was going on with her brother. Westhaven has money, power, and social capital, and is very clearly in a position to help her, and her brother and his henchman are about as inept as villains get, so thinking Westhaven couldn't do anything about it was thickheaded at best. I did like the characters, however, particularly Westhaven's brothers. The side romance between Val and Morgan was sweet. There was also plenty of steam, and it was good and fully consensual steam, so that's a definite plus. Can we please agree though, that calling someone by their full name is grandmother-ish and not sexy? Especially when that name is such a mouthful as "Gayle Tristan Montmorency Windham"?
As for the story itself, it was okay; nothing amazing, but nothing terrible, either. The anachronisms were a bit irritating, especially the fact that Anna acts nothing like a housekeeper (and hello, where is the rest of the household?). The plot also registered pretty high on the flimsy-conflict scale - I'm never a big fan of plots where the main conflict is both characters simultaneously thinking, "I love him/her, but I'll pretend I don't because he/she clearly doesn't love me!" - particularly not when there's no good reason whatsoever for them to believe that. And I did not buy Anna's reasoning for not telling Westhaven what was going on with her brother. Westhaven has money, power, and social capital, and is very clearly in a position to help her, and her brother and his henchman are about as inept as villains get, so thinking Westhaven couldn't do anything about it was thickheaded at best. I did like the characters, however, particularly Westhaven's brothers. The side romance between Val and Morgan was sweet. There was also plenty of steam, and it was good and fully consensual steam, so that's a definite plus. Can we please agree though, that calling someone by their full name is grandmother-ish and not sexy? Especially when that name is such a mouthful as "Gayle Tristan Montmorency Windham"?
ravenousrose's review against another edition
3.0
Extra star given for potential. The writer may improve as time goes on and this certainly was better than some of the absolute crap first-time romances I’ve read. However, it still needed some work.
Main, non-spoiling complaints:
- awkward,repetitive language that was inappropriate for the time period
- good character development ruined by unreasonable (even ridiculous) actions taken by characters
- hard to follow sub plots
- odd anti-climactic ‘reveals’
Main, non-spoiling complaints:
- awkward,repetitive language that was inappropriate for the time period
- good character development ruined by unreasonable (even ridiculous) actions taken by characters
- hard to follow sub plots
- odd anti-climactic ‘reveals’
roseybot's review against another edition
I've been craving a historical romance lately, given my swing into science fiction, but this book isn't what I'm looking for.
I feel like I've discussed how I don't need the historical details to be absolutely correct for me to enjoy a book -- I read Kate Nobel and Eva Leigh after all and they are both pretty modern and inaccurate -- but there's a difference between their books, where there is still a nod towards the historical setting, and this book, where it exists only in the titles.
First off -- the food. I got very distracted when the heroine offered the hero muffins. In a Regency Era book. This smacked so much of an American author to me, that I had to look it up. Muffins might have existed in Regency England, but it's unlikely. Then came the parade of lemonade. Everyone drank it. Everyone. And it made it me crazy. Because lemonade in England is a sweet, carbonated drink that's rather like sprite, and this was clearly American lemonade.
I got real annoyed by the food, apparently.
Furthermore, this is a romance between a housekeeper and her employer. I'm already kind of leery of this trope. I don't like the power imbalance of it, but I think that it can be done all right. This is not one of those times. Even without the power imbalance, there was something very much off about Anna being a house keeper. For one thing, she never appeared to actually work. She could take time off to go wander around with the Earl and never once did anything more than cut flowers. Domestics in big houses worked from dawn till dusk, and sometimes after, to keep the houses they worked in clean and in order. Anna, being in charge of this, should have been at least a little busy.
But no, she gets to galavant off with the Earl to see other houses.
Worse still is the way that none of the Nobility seemed to have a problem with the Earl's house keeper sleeping with her employer. In fact, many encouraged the Earl to marry her, despite the very real and serious ramifications that they would have faced had this been real. Class is a real thing in England, and their relationship would have hurt everyone. It needed to be addressed, and instead of using that to fuel the conflict between Anna and Gayle, it never got touched upon.
The Duchess, Gayle's mother appears, and she let's Anna sit next to her to talk to her. It was so jolting and weird to me that Anna agreed that I almost gave up there. Then Gayle appeared and offered an arm to both Anna and his mother and I threw up my hands.
Look, I don't need that much historical accuracy, but I need to know you tried to research some things, or at least have read... say any other historical romance. I got half way through this book and it got to be too much. Especially since the romantic tension was basically nil, as he asked her to marry him at 25%. 25%!
Ugh. Life is too short for mediocre books.
I feel like I've discussed how I don't need the historical details to be absolutely correct for me to enjoy a book -- I read Kate Nobel and Eva Leigh after all and they are both pretty modern and inaccurate -- but there's a difference between their books, where there is still a nod towards the historical setting, and this book, where it exists only in the titles.
First off -- the food. I got very distracted when the heroine offered the hero muffins. In a Regency Era book. This smacked so much of an American author to me, that I had to look it up. Muffins might have existed in Regency England, but it's unlikely. Then came the parade of lemonade. Everyone drank it. Everyone. And it made it me crazy. Because lemonade in England is a sweet, carbonated drink that's rather like sprite, and this was clearly American lemonade.
I got real annoyed by the food, apparently.
Furthermore, this is a romance between a housekeeper and her employer. I'm already kind of leery of this trope. I don't like the power imbalance of it, but I think that it can be done all right. This is not one of those times. Even without the power imbalance, there was something very much off about Anna being a house keeper. For one thing, she never appeared to actually work. She could take time off to go wander around with the Earl and never once did anything more than cut flowers. Domestics in big houses worked from dawn till dusk, and sometimes after, to keep the houses they worked in clean and in order. Anna, being in charge of this, should have been at least a little busy.
But no, she gets to galavant off with the Earl to see other houses.
Worse still is the way that none of the Nobility seemed to have a problem with the Earl's house keeper sleeping with her employer. In fact, many encouraged the Earl to marry her, despite the very real and serious ramifications that they would have faced had this been real. Class is a real thing in England, and their relationship would have hurt everyone. It needed to be addressed, and instead of using that to fuel the conflict between Anna and Gayle, it never got touched upon.
The Duchess, Gayle's mother appears, and she let's Anna sit next to her to talk to her. It was so jolting and weird to me that Anna agreed that I almost gave up there. Then Gayle appeared and offered an arm to both Anna and his mother and I threw up my hands.
Look, I don't need that much historical accuracy, but I need to know you tried to research some things, or at least have read... say any other historical romance. I got half way through this book and it got to be too much. Especially since the romantic tension was basically nil, as he asked her to marry him at 25%. 25%!
Ugh. Life is too short for mediocre books.
laurenjodi's review against another edition
3.0
The Heir
3.5 Stars
As the heir to the Duke of Moreland, Gayle Windham, Earl of Westhaven, is under pressure to marry and produce offspring. Determined to thwart his father’s matchmaking machinations, Westhaven sequesters himself in London and is put straight in the path of his young and lovely housekeeper, Anne Seaton, whose secretive past intrigues Westhaven almost as much as his attraction to her.
Not bad for a debut novel but it does suffer from several shortcomings. To begin with, the pacing is sluggish and the suspense plot lacks the tension and excitement necessary for a truly engrossing story. Nevertheless, the villains are exceptionally smarmy and get their just desserts.
Second, Anne’s character is problematic as she devolves from a smart, witty and endearing heroine into an indecisive, secretive and blubbering twit. The keeping secrets trope has never been a favorite and makes absolutely no sense here as the hero is well aware that all is not as it seems.
On a more positive note, Westhaven is a scrumptious hero and his chemistry with Anne is off-the-charts sizzling. Burrowes certainly knows how to write a smoking’ sex scene. The banter between the Windham brothers is another plus and I look forward to reading Dev’s and Val’s books.
3.5 Stars
As the heir to the Duke of Moreland, Gayle Windham, Earl of Westhaven, is under pressure to marry and produce offspring. Determined to thwart his father’s matchmaking machinations, Westhaven sequesters himself in London and is put straight in the path of his young and lovely housekeeper, Anne Seaton, whose secretive past intrigues Westhaven almost as much as his attraction to her.
Not bad for a debut novel but it does suffer from several shortcomings. To begin with, the pacing is sluggish and the suspense plot lacks the tension and excitement necessary for a truly engrossing story. Nevertheless, the villains are exceptionally smarmy and get their just desserts.
Second, Anne’s character is problematic as she devolves from a smart, witty and endearing heroine into an indecisive, secretive and blubbering twit. The keeping secrets trope has never been a favorite and makes absolutely no sense here as the hero is well aware that all is not as it seems.
On a more positive note, Westhaven is a scrumptious hero and his chemistry with Anne is off-the-charts sizzling. Burrowes certainly knows how to write a smoking’ sex scene. The banter between the Windham brothers is another plus and I look forward to reading Dev’s and Val’s books.