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winterreader40's review
4.0
3.5 stars
Elissande has been caring for her sick aunt for most of her life and her uncle has ensured she has no friends and very few if any pleasures in life, so when, while her uncle is away, her neighbor comes by begging a place to stay for herself and her house party for a few days because her home has been over run by rats she agrees. She also starts to plan to catch a husband so that someone will take her and her aunt away from this abusive situation.
Lord Vere works for the home office(or something like) but he does it by playing the part of an idiot, so when he sees the woman of his dreams he cringes that he has to stay in his roll, but then he figures out that she's husband hunting and is less excited but still can't keep away from her.
This was an interesting story but there is emotional and physical abuse in it.
Elissande has been caring for her sick aunt for most of her life and her uncle has ensured she has no friends and very few if any pleasures in life, so when, while her uncle is away, her neighbor comes by begging a place to stay for herself and her house party for a few days because her home has been over run by rats she agrees. She also starts to plan to catch a husband so that someone will take her and her aunt away from this abusive situation.
Lord Vere works for the home office(or something like) but he does it by playing the part of an idiot, so when he sees the woman of his dreams he cringes that he has to stay in his roll, but then he figures out that she's husband hunting and is less excited but still can't keep away from her.
This was an interesting story but there is emotional and physical abuse in it.
tessanne's review
4.0
Soooo.
At first I thought this book was going to be downright fun. I should have known better, considering the author. I thoroughly enjoyed the hero acting like an idiot. However, I found his abrupt turnaround from his initial reaction/feelings to be too extreme and the was he treated Ellisande bizarre and beyond mean.
I still love Thomas’s writing though, and these complaints weren’t bad enough for me to rate it any lower.
At first I thought this book was going to be downright fun. I should have known better, considering the author. I thoroughly enjoyed the hero acting like an idiot. However, I found his abrupt turnaround from his initial reaction/feelings to be too extreme and the was he treated Ellisande bizarre and beyond mean.
I still love Thomas’s writing though, and these complaints weren’t bad enough for me to rate it any lower.
mdalida's review
5.0
I was only looking for a quick, pass-the-time kind of romance, and I should've known that Sherry Thomas would've delivered more!
I know I'm a fickle romance reader. One trope that I love will be the one I hate in the next book because it's overdone. I just finished Duran's Written on Your Skin about both MCs hiding behind masks with intrigue and the heroine's family and background consisting of danger and physical abuse. I was less than impressed, sadly, and almost shut this book down when I realized it was very nearly the same premise...
I'm so glad I didn't!
Vere is a spy, but also a very public Marquess. In order to hide his spy ruse, he has adopted a sweetly dim-witted personality after a conveniently timed horse accident that supposedly knocked his brain around - 13 years ago. Talk about dedication to the craft.
Elissande (a mix of Eleanore and Cassandra, turns out, and is now my new favorite name) is trapped under her uncle's roof, mainly because her physically abusive uncle is keeping the aunt drugged up, and Ellie refuses to leave her aunt out of fear of what the uncle will do.
The uncle is the lure - he's potentially, probably, a criminal mastermind.. hence what brings in the spies. Once the spies infiltrate the house as supposed house guests, Elissande grabs for her chance at freedom and creates a typical caught-in-the-act scandal to induce marriage.
I picked this book after doing a Goodreads search for "aggressive heroines" or "alpha heroines" ... oddly, it doesn't fit those categories, but I still loved it.
Ellie isn't aggressive or alpha. She's desperate, which makes her appear emboldened and forthright. She creates the ruse to make Vere marry her. She pushes for marital sex. She seeks him out. She touches him first. She wants the marriage with all the goods. He is reluctant because he's perpetually alone due to spyhood, but also intensely lonely because of the same. I loved Elissande because her background was perfectly characterized by Vere - she's a survivor, even better than someone who just exists through pain; she lived through it and it didn't twist her. She still retains gratitude and hope and love. I found that powerful. A true alpha heroine of Thomas' would've been in her Not Quite a Husband novel...
Vere - sigh :-) some hated his idiot act because they felt it diminished him as a man. To me, that didn't bother me at all. I know that spies led double lives, and I had grown tired of the Batman thing where the double life is the Batman vs the hedonistic playboy. I saw this as kinda comical, really. I loved that Ellie figured it out before he told her :-) I loved that the author had her hero feeling emotion - most especially, tenderness and tears at certain parts.
There's a secondary romance in here that I also enjoyed! Secondary romances rarely detract from the storyline for me (UGH, Except you, Kleypas' Again the Magic...), so this one was sweet and spicy :-)
I know I'm a fickle romance reader. One trope that I love will be the one I hate in the next book because it's overdone. I just finished Duran's Written on Your Skin about both MCs hiding behind masks with intrigue and the heroine's family and background consisting of danger and physical abuse. I was less than impressed, sadly, and almost shut this book down when I realized it was very nearly the same premise...
I'm so glad I didn't!
Vere is a spy, but also a very public Marquess. In order to hide his spy ruse, he has adopted a sweetly dim-witted personality after a conveniently timed horse accident that supposedly knocked his brain around - 13 years ago. Talk about dedication to the craft.
Elissande (a mix of Eleanore and Cassandra, turns out, and is now my new favorite name) is trapped under her uncle's roof, mainly because her physically abusive uncle is keeping the aunt drugged up, and Ellie refuses to leave her aunt out of fear of what the uncle will do.
The uncle is the lure - he's potentially, probably, a criminal mastermind.. hence what brings in the spies. Once the spies infiltrate the house as supposed house guests, Elissande grabs for her chance at freedom and creates a typical caught-in-the-act scandal to induce marriage.
I picked this book after doing a Goodreads search for "aggressive heroines" or "alpha heroines" ... oddly, it doesn't fit those categories, but I still loved it.
Ellie isn't aggressive or alpha. She's desperate, which makes her appear emboldened and forthright. She creates the ruse to make Vere marry her. She pushes for marital sex. She seeks him out. She touches him first. She wants the marriage with all the goods. He is reluctant because he's perpetually alone due to spyhood, but also intensely lonely because of the same. I loved Elissande because her background was perfectly characterized by Vere - she's a survivor, even better than someone who just exists through pain; she lived through it and it didn't twist her. She still retains gratitude and hope and love. I found that powerful. A true alpha heroine of Thomas' would've been in her Not Quite a Husband novel...
Vere - sigh :-) some hated his idiot act because they felt it diminished him as a man. To me, that didn't bother me at all. I know that spies led double lives, and I had grown tired of the Batman thing where the double life is the Batman vs the hedonistic playboy. I saw this as kinda comical, really. I loved that Ellie figured it out before he told her :-) I loved that the author had her hero feeling emotion - most especially, tenderness and tears at certain parts.
There's a secondary romance in here that I also enjoyed! Secondary romances rarely detract from the storyline for me (UGH, Except you, Kleypas' Again the Magic...), so this one was sweet and spicy :-)
j_elphaba's review against another edition
4.0
Pessoalmente considerei esta obra uma excelente fonte de entretenimento, uma janela perfeita para outras épocas, com laivos de sensualidade e bonitas descrições para a palavra amor.
Os personagens conquistaram-me pela sua inteligência e força psicológica sem no entanto, ao longo da narrativa, esconderem as suas fragilidades, o que me permitiu usufruir de um final brilhante.
A forma como os protagonistas inibiram o seu passado misterioso, permitiu-me uma compreensão total das suas atitudes e o desenrolar dos desenvolvimentos, que foi, na minha opinião, bastante audaz, transformou a união do casal principal em algo muito divertido mas que consegue manter presente a noção de seriedade que implica pertencer a elitista sociedade inglesa, muito rígida nos seus valores.
Tal como no livro anterior considerei a escrita da autora maravilhosa, transmitindo as emoções certas, dos sorrisos às lágrimas, do êxtase ao medo que nem a paixão consegue serenar. Em suma, tudo se conjuga na perfeição para as últimas 150 páginas do livro que são, simplesmente, arrebatadoras.
Opinião completa: http://historiasdeelphaba.blogspot.pt/2012/06/promessas-de-amor-sherry-thomas-opiniao.html
Os personagens conquistaram-me pela sua inteligência e força psicológica sem no entanto, ao longo da narrativa, esconderem as suas fragilidades, o que me permitiu usufruir de um final brilhante.
A forma como os protagonistas inibiram o seu passado misterioso, permitiu-me uma compreensão total das suas atitudes e o desenrolar dos desenvolvimentos, que foi, na minha opinião, bastante audaz, transformou a união do casal principal em algo muito divertido mas que consegue manter presente a noção de seriedade que implica pertencer a elitista sociedade inglesa, muito rígida nos seus valores.
Tal como no livro anterior considerei a escrita da autora maravilhosa, transmitindo as emoções certas, dos sorrisos às lágrimas, do êxtase ao medo que nem a paixão consegue serenar. Em suma, tudo se conjuga na perfeição para as últimas 150 páginas do livro que são, simplesmente, arrebatadoras.
Opinião completa: http://historiasdeelphaba.blogspot.pt/2012/06/promessas-de-amor-sherry-thomas-opiniao.html
sarahcophagus's review
3.0
Incredibly silly premise. Lying about your own intelligence to all of your acquaintances and loved ones for 13 years sounds exhausting. Feels like there are at least a dozen smarter and simpler ways to seem unassuming in order to spy effectively. The cartoonishly evil uncle was perfectly menacing and his threat always looming was really well done. You could really feel Elissande’s desperation to get out from under his thumb. I wasn’t too on board with their love connection until after Elissande and Vere were married. Before that, we’re pretty much just told that they think the other one is hot (we’re told Elissande looks like Vere’s dream girl), but they’re otherwise lying to and manipulating each other into getting what they want out of them. And even when after they’re married and it’s finally time to put their cards on the table and atone for the ways they’ve both screwed up with each other, that’s when the external drama re-emerges and shifts focus away from dealing with any of that satisfyingly.
amotoquinha's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
fringebookreviews's review against another edition
2.0
I KNOW there was such a compelling story there but good god he literally took his act so far that he left her in the company of her uncle that he knew scared her and the uncle proceeded to BEAT HER UP. She then got punched later in the book. I hate violence towards heroines like this. The uncle also ruined the life of her aunt and it made me sick.
There was so much potential but it was ultimately a book that started off SO FUN but was really such a downer. Why did he wait so fucking long to explain his act to her?? We barely got to see them be a couple when both of them were being honest about who they were. ROBBED. Even the sex scene after all the revelations was fade to black so we didn’t get that chemistry !!
Also His at Night??? There were not many nights!! Is it bc he was “himself” at night? Bc I needed MORE. He wasn’t even really himself those times he veered more into jerk territory.
It was so cruel to keep Freddie in the dark like that too!! On that note, the secondary romance ATE the main one for breakfast.
I’m also just thinking about how he played that charade for 13 years and then it was all undone so easily?? It just seemed so goddamn pointless to not be honest with his brother and Ellisand once they were married. That would’ve made the book drastically different.
The beginning and his grand gesture account for the two stars. The rest was so disappointing 😩
There was so much potential but it was ultimately a book that started off SO FUN but was really such a downer. Why did he wait so fucking long to explain his act to her?? We barely got to see them be a couple when both of them were being honest about who they were. ROBBED. Even the sex scene after all the revelations was fade to black so we didn’t get that chemistry !!
Also His at Night??? There were not many nights!! Is it bc he was “himself” at night? Bc I needed MORE. He wasn’t even really himself those times he veered more into jerk territory.
It was so cruel to keep Freddie in the dark like that too!! On that note, the secondary romance ATE the main one for breakfast.
I’m also just thinking about how he played that charade for 13 years and then it was all undone so easily?? It just seemed so goddamn pointless to not be honest with his brother and Ellisand once they were married. That would’ve made the book drastically different.
The beginning and his grand gesture account for the two stars. The rest was so disappointing 😩
falulatonks's review
4.0
2022 review: Gotta say 2013!me nailed it. Does it count as a full reread if I skipped - not skimmed, fully hit next page 10 times - every time I saw the second couple's POV chapters?
But Vere and Ellie were both great this time, too.
==
3.5, probably. Two general Thomas complaints: what is up with these titles that are 5x raunchier than books with this level of emotional investment/drama really need?!?! and secondly - Thomas keeps writing side stories that are nowhere near as engaging as the main romance, and they're both too short to get me interested and too long that I get annoyed skipping through them. these books are already so short, man, why would I want to spend less time with couples I generally really like?!
HAN's main 'ship is really great. I generally like stories about people who wear masks, in a way, and have to pretend, and realise they can pretend together (this is also my preferred reading of Taming of the Shrew, incidentally)! and I loved that this was about how these masks can grate and stifle, without getting into overly angsty territory - I liked that this was about consequences, like how both of their facades irritate each other, too. Their relationship is what's pushed my rating up to 4 stars - they're good for each other; they exasperate each other but they're both so similar, they're both help each other so well. that was nice to see - especially in a way where the book didn't spell it out, didn't force us into understanding it that way.
I do have to say that Ellie's awful uncle made me feel kind of sick - wish I'd been better-warned for that, so I'm saying it here - and at the same time, being about someone who was watching and experiencing abuse firsthand I expected more awareness and exploration of that? which felt lacking here. it wasn't portrayed loosely or as a foundation to the romance, which is what I usually worry about when this kind of thing happens in romance novels, but there could've been more.
I did love her, though, and I liked Vere, too - he's got that usual Dude Roughness as in most historical romances, which I'm not a fan of, but I liked his backstory, and I liked that Thomas explored it without getting into standard mainpain territory - a little more restrained, a lot less ready to excuse his other faults. and they're both so honest! and so simultaneously quick to get frustrated and so good to the people they love! and they're intelligent, and they're not warm, but I loved them being together. love stories about similar people, about people who aren't that good, but are kind of great. man I dug them a lot.
But Vere and Ellie were both great this time, too.
==
3.5, probably. Two general Thomas complaints: what is up with these titles that are 5x raunchier than books with this level of emotional investment/drama really need?!?! and secondly - Thomas keeps writing side stories that are nowhere near as engaging as the main romance, and they're both too short to get me interested and too long that I get annoyed skipping through them. these books are already so short, man, why would I want to spend less time with couples I generally really like?!
HAN's main 'ship is really great. I generally like stories about people who wear masks, in a way, and have to pretend, and realise they can pretend together (this is also my preferred reading of Taming of the Shrew, incidentally)! and I loved that this was about how these masks can grate and stifle, without getting into overly angsty territory - I liked that this was about consequences, like how both of their facades irritate each other, too. Their relationship is what's pushed my rating up to 4 stars - they're good for each other; they exasperate each other but they're both so similar, they're both help each other so well. that was nice to see - especially in a way where the book didn't spell it out, didn't force us into understanding it that way.
I do have to say that Ellie's awful uncle made me feel kind of sick - wish I'd been better-warned for that, so I'm saying it here - and at the same time, being about someone who was watching and experiencing abuse firsthand I expected more awareness and exploration of that? which felt lacking here. it wasn't portrayed loosely or as a foundation to the romance, which is what I usually worry about when this kind of thing happens in romance novels, but there could've been more.
I did love her, though, and I liked Vere, too - he's got that usual Dude Roughness as in most historical romances, which I'm not a fan of, but I liked his backstory, and I liked that Thomas explored it without getting into standard mainpain territory - a little more restrained, a lot less ready to excuse his other faults. and they're both so honest! and so simultaneously quick to get frustrated and so good to the people they love! and they're intelligent, and they're not warm, but I loved them being together. love stories about similar people, about people who aren't that good, but are kind of great. man I dug them a lot.