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thenovelbook's review
1.0
TMI. A careful reading of the summary would have alerted me that this wasn't as chaste as the author's other series.
ashbats99's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
anaidelawless's review
4.0
This was cute, I really liked both love interests and even the though the misunderstanding trope is not my favourite, I dint mind it here.
What we have here is a young free-thinking woman that loves sister enough to concoct many daibolical plans in order to make her realize her fiancé is a douchebag. Cue in a duke, that cannot just stay behind watching an innocent girl getting into trouble. When he realizes there is no way he can stop her, he joins her in her endeavors, falling in love in the process.
It was cute, sweet and funny.
What we have here is a young free-thinking woman that loves sister enough to concoct many daibolical plans in order to make her realize her fiancé is a douchebag. Cue in a duke, that cannot just stay behind watching an innocent girl getting into trouble. When he realizes there is no way he can stop her, he joins her in her endeavors, falling in love in the process.
It was cute, sweet and funny.
sarah_moynihan's review
4.0
Always looking out for her quieter sister, Emma sneaks off into the conservatory during a house gathering to steal a cutting from the Duke of Tent's prized orchids so that her sister may expand upon her own orchids. But she is caught and seeing as the man is stealing time alone to read in the conservatory, she assumes that he must be the duke's country cousin who has come to visit. Because what duke would ever read in his consevatory? But it is he and instead of being upset, he is amused and intrigued. Although shocked to discover that it is in fact the duke himself, her mind quickly begins to plot.
What Emma is most passionate about is trying to save her sister from a dreadful marriage to Sir Waldo Windbourne, a.k.a. Sir Windbag. So she dreams up a scheme and recruits the duke to woo her sister away from her engagement. The Duke isn't keen on this plan and initially refuses to be involved, but later he reluctantly accepts in the hopes of keeping Emma from further trouble. And he can't deny that he is intrigued and drawn to her.
____________________________
I loved Emma. She was was the star of this book. She was ridiculous and entertaining and I loved her. She was amusing throughout the entire book. Not in a cheesy or gimmicky way, but she's just so true to who she is and her plans. To the point where she has no sight of the bigger picture. Just so stubborn. And I'll be honest, her reasoning is often incredibly flawed and not best for those around her. But her heart is in the right place.
The other characters are your more generic historical mystery/romance characters. I don't mean that in a negative way, just that they adhere to the usual roles available to this genre, but Emma truly throws a wrench in that. She shakes things up and even pull the other characters out of their predictability. I just really loved her.
I thought this was going to be a light and shallow storyline and mystery, but this book was so much more. I was pulled in and I really loved when the mystery started to delve deeper than I expected it would.
The only negative thing for me is that Emma and Keswick do fall into the pitfall of misunderstandings and miscommunication, which does get drawn out a bit. But then they get called out for it and brought to their sense, which is done in such a unique and amusing way and I really enjoyed that.
I really enjoyed this book and I will be continuing with the series.
What Emma is most passionate about is trying to save her sister from a dreadful marriage to Sir Waldo Windbourne, a.k.a. Sir Windbag. So she dreams up a scheme and recruits the duke to woo her sister away from her engagement. The Duke isn't keen on this plan and initially refuses to be involved, but later he reluctantly accepts in the hopes of keeping Emma from further trouble. And he can't deny that he is intrigued and drawn to her.
____________________________
I loved Emma. She was was the star of this book. She was ridiculous and entertaining and I loved her. She was amusing throughout the entire book. Not in a cheesy or gimmicky way, but she's just so true to who she is and her plans. To the point where she has no sight of the bigger picture. Just so stubborn. And I'll be honest, her reasoning is often incredibly flawed and not best for those around her. But her heart is in the right place.
The other characters are your more generic historical mystery/romance characters. I don't mean that in a negative way, just that they adhere to the usual roles available to this genre, but Emma truly throws a wrench in that. She shakes things up and even pull the other characters out of their predictability. I just really loved her.
I thought this was going to be a light and shallow storyline and mystery, but this book was so much more. I was pulled in and I really loved when the mystery started to delve deeper than I expected it would.
The only negative thing for me is that Emma and Keswick do fall into the pitfall of misunderstandings and miscommunication, which does get drawn out a bit. But then they get called out for it and brought to their sense, which is done in such a unique and amusing way and I really enjoyed that.
I really enjoyed this book and I will be continuing with the series.
blueshadow's review against another edition
2.0
This book reminded me of Georgette Heyer's writings, you know, Regency era romance comedy, except without the witty writing, interesting characters, occasional scraps of plausible ideas, authentic Regency era dialogue, or, well, any of the qualities that make Heyer's writings good.
I should have known better by the description on the back of the book - Emma doesn't like the guy her sister is engaged to so she wants the Duke of Trent to flirt with her sister until her sister breaks her engagement. What? In what world does this idea even remotely make sense? And Emma persists with it, even after everyone she asks for help repeatedly tells her it's a terrible idea. And now we have learned Emma's guiding principle in life - if everyone says it is a bad idea, then she does it.
I listened to it as an audiobook so it was something to listen to while doing chores. It wasn't so bad when I decided to listen to (most) of a chapter, and then skip a chapter. Plus increased speed. I had absolutely no trouble following the plot of the improbable mystery that developed about halfway through the book. I gave it 2 stars because I did get to the end (after skipping about half), but that may be more to it running in the background while I did other things than any admirable qualities of the book.
I should have known better by the description on the back of the book - Emma doesn't like the guy her sister is engaged to so she wants the Duke of Trent to flirt with her sister until her sister breaks her engagement. What? In what world does this idea even remotely make sense? And Emma persists with it, even after everyone she asks for help repeatedly tells her it's a terrible idea. And now we have learned Emma's guiding principle in life - if everyone says it is a bad idea, then she does it.
I listened to it as an audiobook so it was something to listen to while doing chores. It wasn't so bad when I decided to listen to (most) of a chapter, and then skip a chapter. Plus increased speed. I had absolutely no trouble following the plot of the improbable mystery that developed about halfway through the book. I gave it 2 stars because I did get to the end (after skipping about half), but that may be more to it running in the background while I did other things than any admirable qualities of the book.
canadianbookaddict's review against another edition
1.0
I liked the writing and all but I thought it was just too long.Halfway through I got bored with it and I just couldn't make myself finish reading it.
ssung's review against another edition
2.0
three million regency romance lite reads later, i am convinced that of all tropes i have read through so far, it is the 'wicked duke reformed by true love' trope that i utterly despise. not hating on this particular book, only that this happens to be the most recent read with this trope, just an observation to remember for the future.
stormsreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
zouinthewild's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0