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almostg's review against another edition
4.0
Great historical romance.
I enjoyed this a lot! High stakes and complex, believable characters. I'm interested to find out more about the real woman on whom Blanche was based
I enjoyed this a lot! High stakes and complex, believable characters. I'm interested to find out more about the real woman on whom Blanche was based
rednikki's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This takes place in a setting and time period that is unusual for romance novels. The heroine is truly unique and unconventional, with a background that you rarely see in romance novels but that many might appreciate more than the naive innocent that is so common in the genre. I think for many others it might rate a 4 or higher. However, it's set in a region and a moment in history that is near and dear to my heart, and didn't get the details quite right in a way that took me out of the story more than once.
I was very excited to read about a female pirate in Brittany, especially one based on Jeanne de Clisson. I was also excited to read a romance set in a period much earlier than the Regency era. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite do it for me. Even though the hero and heroine were involved heavily in the politics of the time, I didn't get a sense of those politics in this book. They felt like window dressing rather than baked in to the milieu.
I also didn't get as strong a sense of place from this as I would have liked. There are some very specific aspects of Brittany that were missing here. For starters, the language spoken is implied to be a dialect of French; Breton is a Celtic language that has almost nothing in common with French. It felt like a stack of missed opportunities to create something deeper.
On the positive side: kudos to the author for creating an older woman/younger man romance. Also for creating a heroine who has lived a very tough life, and done some things to survive that would traditionally be unacceptable for a romance heroine. I loved the way their HEA came together!
I was very excited to read about a female pirate in Brittany, especially one based on Jeanne de Clisson. I was also excited to read a romance set in a period much earlier than the Regency era. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite do it for me. Even though the hero and heroine were involved heavily in the politics of the time, I didn't get a sense of those politics in this book. They felt like window dressing rather than baked in to the milieu.
I also didn't get as strong a sense of place from this as I would have liked. There are some very specific aspects of Brittany that were missing here. For starters, the language spoken is implied to be a dialect of French; Breton is a Celtic language that has almost nothing in common with French. It felt like a stack of missed opportunities to create something deeper.
On the positive side: kudos to the author for creating an older woman/younger man romance. Also for creating a heroine who has lived a very tough life, and done some things to survive that would traditionally be unacceptable for a romance heroine. I loved the way their HEA came together!
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