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gottalottie's review against another edition
4.0
This was great but I had to remove a star for the heroine, although a well developed character, I had trouble respecting her choices, her devotion to her brother really bothered me the whole time, if he had lied to her or been especially good to her I would understand.
pnwdermnrs's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Complex characters, star-crossed lovers, angst, political intrigue, and exquisite prose.
rachelini's review against another edition
3.0
This cover really doesn't match the book (not the reason for the 3 stars!). Duran is a great writer, I just didn't fully connect with this book until nearer the end.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
2.0
Ug. I didn't buy Adrian and Nora from the beginning. I loathed both of them. I don't appreciate the type of relationship that starts with one person doing horrible things to the other, even if it's because of a misunderstanding. It doesn't lay a good groundwork for the story to me. This one was a chore to get through. I find I either really love (usually) or really hate (twice) Duran's books. This was a hate.
eemms's review against another edition
2.0
Lost a star for the inexcusable threats of violence at about 80% through the book.
bookilydo's review against another edition
3.0
I am so conflicted about this review.
On the one hand, Meredith Duran’s writing is stunning. Historical romances that are so rich in actual historical context, period authentic dialogue and descriptions of a period’s way of life are few and far between. Duran does an excellent job of all of this in At Your Pleasure. I highlighted so many passages of this book where the writing really stood out or really had an impact:
Gradually she was teaching herself this trick: to find beauty in small things. When she’d had a husband’s name to bear, and his honor to uphold, and the world watching and judging her, these little freedoms had been unimaginable.
I deserve better—such a dangerous, mad thought for a woman to entertain.
The tightest grip failed to hold the most important things. There was no use in giving chase.
There is some great historical insight that wouldn’t bore readers not interested in the history aspect but that thrilled me because I’m a nerd who eats that stuff up! There are the big themes of the Jacobite movement in Georgian England and the plight of Roman Catholics in 17th/18th Century England. There are also plenty of smaller contextual mentions like the death of Louis XIV, the new French king’s regent, and Alexander Pope that add a richness to the historic aspect of the story.
However, on the other hand, the characters and conflict in this story just left me with a “meh” feeling. They sometimes straight up irritated me. The opening was promising. I raced through it. The pace of the book slowed to a crawl for me, though, in the middle and end.
There seemed to be endless miscommunication and conflict rehashing – not things that I enjoy in romance novels. The utter miscommunication trope – when all of a hero’s and heroine’s problems (at least with each other) would be solved by one simple, direct conversation – is tiring for me. It very often makes me want to throw a book across the room just to hear the satisfying thud against the opposite wall. This book is heavy with that as one layer of conflict. It’s understandable – Leonora and Adrian fell in love at a young age but were forced apart by their families. Both assumed that the other had abandoned them. If you like that sort of plotline, you’ll LOVE this book.
There are also plenty of internal conflicts within the characters. The heroine is preoccupied with the fact that she was not allowed to live out her dreams. Those dreams involved bucking traditional norms in early 18th-century England. She did not want to merely be a wife, a runner of the household, and most certainly she did want to endure the danger of labor and delivery. She is a much more serious heroine than in most romances. However, she’s also prone to misguided loyalty and stubbornness. She never can quite get out of that mindset to realize that if she actively pursues the things she wants, she just might be happier.
The hero has some serious rejection issues – rejection by the heroine (perceived), rejection by his family, by members of society, etc.. Ironically, he has a glaring lack of self-conflict regarding the fact that he’s basically holding the woman he loves hostage. He’s doing it For Her Own Good (that mollifies him, I suppose), despite the fact that at every turn he seems to be a sensitive, progressive-with-feminist-tendencies kind of guy. He seemingly respects her as an equal – except for when he finds it convenient not to.
There’s also a torture scene – the hero denies the heroine sleep to the point of cruelty in order to extract information. That’s when the novel really jumped the shark for me. I was done with it. It’s completely in line with the hero’s character, but it was just the end of my ability to be able to see him as hero-status-worthy.
Another part that bothered me was the lack of a clear happy ending. Of course, there is one – this is romance! The conclusion didn’t leave me with the happy little feeling that is so much a benefit of reading romance. I didn’t believe that the couple would ever be truly happy with one another.
I will definitely give Meredith Duran’s other books a shot. Her writing is too good. I hope that I like a future novel more than this one.
On the one hand, Meredith Duran’s writing is stunning. Historical romances that are so rich in actual historical context, period authentic dialogue and descriptions of a period’s way of life are few and far between. Duran does an excellent job of all of this in At Your Pleasure. I highlighted so many passages of this book where the writing really stood out or really had an impact:
Gradually she was teaching herself this trick: to find beauty in small things. When she’d had a husband’s name to bear, and his honor to uphold, and the world watching and judging her, these little freedoms had been unimaginable.
I deserve better—such a dangerous, mad thought for a woman to entertain.
The tightest grip failed to hold the most important things. There was no use in giving chase.
There is some great historical insight that wouldn’t bore readers not interested in the history aspect but that thrilled me because I’m a nerd who eats that stuff up! There are the big themes of the Jacobite movement in Georgian England and the plight of Roman Catholics in 17th/18th Century England. There are also plenty of smaller contextual mentions like the death of Louis XIV, the new French king’s regent, and Alexander Pope that add a richness to the historic aspect of the story.
However, on the other hand, the characters and conflict in this story just left me with a “meh” feeling. They sometimes straight up irritated me. The opening was promising. I raced through it. The pace of the book slowed to a crawl for me, though, in the middle and end.
There seemed to be endless miscommunication and conflict rehashing – not things that I enjoy in romance novels. The utter miscommunication trope – when all of a hero’s and heroine’s problems (at least with each other) would be solved by one simple, direct conversation – is tiring for me. It very often makes me want to throw a book across the room just to hear the satisfying thud against the opposite wall. This book is heavy with that as one layer of conflict. It’s understandable – Leonora and Adrian fell in love at a young age but were forced apart by their families. Both assumed that the other had abandoned them. If you like that sort of plotline, you’ll LOVE this book.
There are also plenty of internal conflicts within the characters. The heroine is preoccupied with the fact that she was not allowed to live out her dreams. Those dreams involved bucking traditional norms in early 18th-century England. She did not want to merely be a wife, a runner of the household, and most certainly she did want to endure the danger of labor and delivery. She is a much more serious heroine than in most romances. However, she’s also prone to misguided loyalty and stubbornness. She never can quite get out of that mindset to realize that if she actively pursues the things she wants, she just might be happier.
The hero has some serious rejection issues – rejection by the heroine (perceived), rejection by his family, by members of society, etc.. Ironically, he has a glaring lack of self-conflict regarding the fact that he’s basically holding the woman he loves hostage. He’s doing it For Her Own Good (that mollifies him, I suppose), despite the fact that at every turn he seems to be a sensitive, progressive-with-feminist-tendencies kind of guy. He seemingly respects her as an equal – except for when he finds it convenient not to.
There’s also a torture scene – the hero denies the heroine sleep to the point of cruelty in order to extract information. That’s when the novel really jumped the shark for me. I was done with it. It’s completely in line with the hero’s character, but it was just the end of my ability to be able to see him as hero-status-worthy.
Another part that bothered me was the lack of a clear happy ending. Of course, there is one – this is romance! The conclusion didn’t leave me with the happy little feeling that is so much a benefit of reading romance. I didn’t believe that the couple would ever be truly happy with one another.
I will definitely give Meredith Duran’s other books a shot. Her writing is too good. I hope that I like a future novel more than this one.
abbythompson's review against another edition
3.0
Lovely to read a "real" historical every now and then. Set in early 1700s, during the tension after Queen Anne's death and the bitter rivalry between the Jacobites and Hanoverians. I appreciated Duran's historical accuracy, all the way down to the choices the characters made. I like seeing how a woman, with very little personal power, negotiates her way around that world. It's a welcome change from all the anachronistic bluestockings running around Regency England.
chels_ebooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
5.0
My brain is in such a fog that I fear I won't do this book justice, but it was richly detailed in a way I won't soon forget.
Nora and Adrian are former lovers on the opposite sides of a rebellion. Nora isn't siding with rebellion, though, she's siding with her brother and father. To her, family is everything.
Adrian doesn't understand how Nora could be so foolish. Her brother is sinking, dragging her down by her skirts, and if Nora doesn't cut him loose it will be her downfall. Adrian desperately wants to save Nora, but she won't let him.
I spent the last half of the book with my heart in my throat. Adrian's love for Nora, and the realization that he is condemned to suffer because that love offers him no good choices, was unbearable at times.
Duran's a master at writing political and wartime conflicts into her romances. From The Duke of Shadows to this book, the point of view is tempered and melancholy. As the loose ends were tied and the romance entered the next stage I felt both hopeful and devastated.
Nora and Adrian are former lovers on the opposite sides of a rebellion. Nora isn't siding with rebellion, though, she's siding with her brother and father. To her, family is everything.
Adrian doesn't understand how Nora could be so foolish. Her brother is sinking, dragging her down by her skirts, and if Nora doesn't cut him loose it will be her downfall. Adrian desperately wants to save Nora, but she won't let him.
I spent the last half of the book with my heart in my throat. Adrian's love for Nora, and the realization that he is condemned to suffer because that love offers him no good choices, was unbearable at times.
Duran's a master at writing political and wartime conflicts into her romances. From The Duke of Shadows to this book, the point of view is tempered and melancholy. As the loose ends were tied and the romance entered the next stage I felt both hopeful and devastated.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Sexual assault