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shannonlangton's review
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I found this one more of a struggle to get through though still just as well written as all of her other books.
I love all the connections and references to other books in her repertoire
I love all the connections and references to other books in her repertoire
marthareads98's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jaelee's review
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
romance_era's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
"If I promised you sun, moon, stars? If I vowed to always hunt you, would you take flight? Or would you choose to be caught?"
Finally, Seraphina and Malcolm’s story! I have been intrigued since book 1 when Sophie shoved him into the lake for hurting her sister—it did not disappoint. Malcolm 100% redeems himself.
Favorite Scenes
💜 The underwater excursion.
💜 Mal’s passion for Greek mythology. When he tells the story of Orion and Merope—SWOON.
💜 Any and all scenes the dangerous daughters are together. Their loyalty, banter, and disregard for propriety provide endless entertainment.
💜 The delicious spicy scenes. I love that the men prioritize the women’s pleasure.
💜 The Parliament grand gesture.
💜 The snippets we got of Caleb and Sesily—those two are going to be fire.
💜 The epilogue! My heart was bursting. 🥹
🎙️ The audiobook was exceptional! Justine Eyre delivered. 👏
🎧 I highly recommend speeding the reading pace up to enhance the listening experience. I listen at 2x the speed.
*First Read: 18 April 2024*
katyanaish's review against another edition
5.0
Where to begin with this...
I suppose that first I should say that generally, I hate second-chance romance. Far too often, it seems to me that the problems that led to the original split are never really solved, and at the end of the book I feel like it is just a matter of time until the couple splits again. Even worse, the reconciliation usually happens because one of the pair - or sometimes both of the pair - choose to suck up the horrible thing that happened before, and go forward as if it never happened.
But Sarah MacLean is an auto-buy author for me, and so I knew I'd be giving this a whirl.
Emotionally, this book put me through the wringer. From about the 60% mark, I felt like I was always crying. I mean, like, ugly cry. I didn't put it down until 4am last night, and that was because I hit that 60% point and just sobbed my way forward, unable to step away.
In the end, that kind of emotional engagement is why I can give this book no less than 5 stars.
So what of the story? Well, it was hard. It was hard because ... I was - and still am - so incredibly angry with Mal. I don't know how to forgive him. At the end of the day, I feel like everything that went wrong was his fault. Let's walk through it... (which means we're in spoiler tags from here on, of course)
Yes. She did. And for a large part of the story, you believe that's her great crime... until the backstory, the circumstances, were filled in. Mal never courted her properly. He never went to her house, meeting her family. We're told he never even took her out in public - it was all just... clandestine meetings and illicit looks at events. To the world, it looked as if he was ... perhaps drawn to her, despite disdain for her and her family. She was being savaged in society... and that savagery was spreading to her sisters... because it was clear to all that she was pursuing a duke, someone so far above her that it was laughable, someone who clearly had no intention (to the world) of marrying her, but was instead just taking advantage of her cheap affections.
Mal was unforgivably selfish in this. He allowed her to be destroyed, publicly, and allowed her family to be stained, because he could not bring himself to bother to be decent or honorable. Or even discreet! He was obvious about their affair, and again, just displayed this constant casual disdain. He sent a carriage to go and fetch her, for goodness' sake! In the middle of the day! And this is not just the obliviousness of youth - we're told he is 30! And so, I do not believe that he truly cared for her then, I do not believe that he loved her. Love would never allow for her to be savaged like that. For proof, look at his behavior in the end of the book. Someone in the tavern made a casual comment about the Sparrow being someone he'd like to bed, and Mal beat the crap out of that man. Similarly, when that horrible woman slandered Sera at lawn bowling ... his utter rage in that moment ... THAT is love. That need to protect her, defend her honor. Mal feels love now, I believe that. But three years ago, no. He felt selfish infatuation.
So Sera trapped him. Because she had a duty to salvage her reputation before she brought down her sisters. There was some selfishness here, too, on her part - she wanted him, and that was probably at least half of why she trapped him... she loved him and felt, based on his actions, that though he might use her, dally with her, he would never marry her. So she took matters into her own hands... and I do not blame her for it. He had left her with few options. If she didn't marry him - when the whole world believed he was having sex with her - she'd be destroyed, and her family with her.
This leads us to ...
2. When Mal feels duped, his maliciousness is breathtaking.
He didn't allow her to explain any of the above to him... hell, he refused to even speak to her. He didn't take any responsibility for his own role in the situation, but rather cast her as the horrible Delilah, luring him to his doom. And the way he lashed out ... the cruelty is staggering.
To begin, his condemnation. She offers to flee before the wedding, give him his freedom and just disappear. He refuses. He condemns her to a life bound to him, but not with him. He wants her to not be in his house, not be in his life, but to be trapped, always alone. This isn't supposition, he TELLS her this, before the wedding. He intends for the remainder of her her life to be punishment. And when they are married, literally immediately after the wedding breakfast, he throws her out.
Months later, he finds that their indiscretion caused her to become pregnant. He is FURIOUS with her for not telling him ... this despite him telling her that he wants no part of her in his life, wants no children with her, wants no family, wants never to see her. So then he lashes out again, arranging for her to discover him having an affair. I can't ... I don't have words for the cruelty. She has told him she loves him, and so he knows that this ... it will gut her. He just continues to punish her, again and again. And when her sister, Sophie, is with her, catching him at his cruel worst in this moment ... and defends her sister... Mal does his level best to not only ruin Sophie, but to cripple their entire family, trying to destroy their father's business.
And so, alone and probably hideously depressed for her pregnancy, Sera loses the baby... and is told that she has been left barren. Mal's maliciousness has finally utterly destroyed her - she lost everything. Her love, her child, any regard in society, any hope for a future. And so, prompted by his total bitch mother, Sera leaves... disappears. Which costs her the last thing she had: her sisters. She's now utterly alone.
3. How can Mal possibly make up for this?
I don't believe that Mal truly understands what he did. To be fair, that's not for lack of trying. He feels like a proper bastard about it all now. It's probably impossible for him to ever understand the depth of his ... I don't even have a word. Cruelty isn't enough. Maliciousness isn't enough. He was monstrous, in his selfishness.
He searched for her, wanting to bring her back ... but even with that, there was a level of condescension. He admits that he'd always imagined that when he found her, she'd be grateful for it, because he'd be rescuing her. And he did beautiful things. The ballroom, the story of Merope and Orion... guys, I sobbed. I understand that this was his repentance, and the scale of it was also breathtaking. It made me love him, when I thought I should hate him. Was it enough? I don't know. How could anything possibly be enough?
In the end, giving Sera her freedom ... it was the single unselfish choice that Mal made in the entire book, and in that moment, he earned Sera. And I do have hope for them, which is different from how I feel at the end of most second-chance romances. I think because... they both changed so much. Sera was not going to allow herself to be crushed anymore. She was going to be his equal, or nothing at all. And Mal seemed to finally understand that ... I don't know. That perhaps he really didn't love her 3 years ago. That he treated her like a toy, because he didn't really see her value. But he loved her now. He loved who she had become. And so I have hope for them.
One last thing.
I disagree. And I say that as a woman who wants no children, and who certainly does NOT find them mandatory to an HEA.
To me, though, happily ever after means that the characters get what they want, and Sera so desperately wanted children. Her life was a brutal punishment for a perfectly justifiable mistake, and I honestly hoped that Sera could have babies, that the doctor had just been overly dour (with his, "oh, she's going to die and she's probably barren anyway" bullshit ... wrong on both counts, asshole).
So I was happy for the babies, because I wanted nothing more than for Sera to get everything she wanted. She deserved that.
Five tear-soaked, sleepless stars from me.
I suppose that first I should say that generally, I hate second-chance romance. Far too often, it seems to me that the problems that led to the original split are never really solved, and at the end of the book I feel like it is just a matter of time until the couple splits again. Even worse, the reconciliation usually happens because one of the pair - or sometimes both of the pair - choose to suck up the horrible thing that happened before, and go forward as if it never happened.
But Sarah MacLean is an auto-buy author for me, and so I knew I'd be giving this a whirl.
Emotionally, this book put me through the wringer. From about the 60% mark, I felt like I was always crying. I mean, like, ugly cry. I didn't put it down until 4am last night, and that was because I hit that 60% point and just sobbed my way forward, unable to step away.
In the end, that kind of emotional engagement is why I can give this book no less than 5 stars.
So what of the story? Well, it was hard. It was hard because ... I was - and still am - so incredibly angry with Mal. I don't know how to forgive him. At the end of the day, I feel like everything that went wrong was his fault. Let's walk through it... (which means we're in spoiler tags from here on, of course)
Spoiler
1. Sera trapped him.Yes. She did. And for a large part of the story, you believe that's her great crime... until the backstory, the circumstances, were filled in. Mal never courted her properly. He never went to her house, meeting her family. We're told he never even took her out in public - it was all just... clandestine meetings and illicit looks at events. To the world, it looked as if he was ... perhaps drawn to her, despite disdain for her and her family. She was being savaged in society... and that savagery was spreading to her sisters... because it was clear to all that she was pursuing a duke, someone so far above her that it was laughable, someone who clearly had no intention (to the world) of marrying her, but was instead just taking advantage of her cheap affections.
Mal was unforgivably selfish in this. He allowed her to be destroyed, publicly, and allowed her family to be stained, because he could not bring himself to bother to be decent or honorable. Or even discreet! He was obvious about their affair, and again, just displayed this constant casual disdain. He sent a carriage to go and fetch her, for goodness' sake! In the middle of the day! And this is not just the obliviousness of youth - we're told he is 30! And so, I do not believe that he truly cared for her then, I do not believe that he loved her. Love would never allow for her to be savaged like that. For proof, look at his behavior in the end of the book. Someone in the tavern made a casual comment about the Sparrow being someone he'd like to bed, and Mal beat the crap out of that man. Similarly, when that horrible woman slandered Sera at lawn bowling ... his utter rage in that moment ... THAT is love. That need to protect her, defend her honor. Mal feels love now, I believe that. But three years ago, no. He felt selfish infatuation.
So Sera trapped him. Because she had a duty to salvage her reputation before she brought down her sisters. There was some selfishness here, too, on her part - she wanted him, and that was probably at least half of why she trapped him... she loved him and felt, based on his actions, that though he might use her, dally with her, he would never marry her. So she took matters into her own hands... and I do not blame her for it. He had left her with few options. If she didn't marry him - when the whole world believed he was having sex with her - she'd be destroyed, and her family with her.
This leads us to ...
2. When Mal feels duped, his maliciousness is breathtaking.
He didn't allow her to explain any of the above to him... hell, he refused to even speak to her. He didn't take any responsibility for his own role in the situation, but rather cast her as the horrible Delilah, luring him to his doom. And the way he lashed out ... the cruelty is staggering.
To begin, his condemnation. She offers to flee before the wedding, give him his freedom and just disappear. He refuses. He condemns her to a life bound to him, but not with him. He wants her to not be in his house, not be in his life, but to be trapped, always alone. This isn't supposition, he TELLS her this, before the wedding. He intends for the remainder of her her life to be punishment. And when they are married, literally immediately after the wedding breakfast, he throws her out.
Months later, he finds that their indiscretion caused her to become pregnant. He is FURIOUS with her for not telling him ... this despite him telling her that he wants no part of her in his life, wants no children with her, wants no family, wants never to see her. So then he lashes out again, arranging for her to discover him having an affair. I can't ... I don't have words for the cruelty. She has told him she loves him, and so he knows that this ... it will gut her. He just continues to punish her, again and again. And when her sister, Sophie, is with her, catching him at his cruel worst in this moment ... and defends her sister... Mal does his level best to not only ruin Sophie, but to cripple their entire family, trying to destroy their father's business.
And so, alone and probably hideously depressed for her pregnancy, Sera loses the baby... and is told that she has been left barren. Mal's maliciousness has finally utterly destroyed her - she lost everything. Her love, her child, any regard in society, any hope for a future. And so, prompted by his total bitch mother, Sera leaves... disappears. Which costs her the last thing she had: her sisters. She's now utterly alone.
3. How can Mal possibly make up for this?
I don't believe that Mal truly understands what he did. To be fair, that's not for lack of trying. He feels like a proper bastard about it all now. It's probably impossible for him to ever understand the depth of his ... I don't even have a word. Cruelty isn't enough. Maliciousness isn't enough. He was monstrous, in his selfishness.
He searched for her, wanting to bring her back ... but even with that, there was a level of condescension. He admits that he'd always imagined that when he found her, she'd be grateful for it, because he'd be rescuing her. And he did beautiful things. The ballroom, the story of Merope and Orion... guys, I sobbed. I understand that this was his repentance, and the scale of it was also breathtaking. It made me love him, when I thought I should hate him. Was it enough? I don't know. How could anything possibly be enough?
In the end, giving Sera her freedom ... it was the single unselfish choice that Mal made in the entire book, and in that moment, he earned Sera. And I do have hope for them, which is different from how I feel at the end of most second-chance romances. I think because... they both changed so much. Sera was not going to allow herself to be crushed anymore. She was going to be his equal, or nothing at all. And Mal seemed to finally understand that ... I don't know. That perhaps he really didn't love her 3 years ago. That he treated her like a toy, because he didn't really see her value. But he loved her now. He loved who she had become. And so I have hope for them.
One last thing.
Spoiler
On the subject of babies. I know that it is a common complaint in HR that the HEA always means babies, and some people find that tiresome and/or tedious... and those people will probably be unhappy that in the end Sera and Mal had their babies.I disagree. And I say that as a woman who wants no children, and who certainly does NOT find them mandatory to an HEA.
To me, though, happily ever after means that the characters get what they want, and Sera so desperately wanted children. Her life was a brutal punishment for a perfectly justifiable mistake, and I honestly hoped that Sera could have babies, that the doctor had just been overly dour (with his, "oh, she's going to die and she's probably barren anyway" bullshit ... wrong on both counts, asshole).
So I was happy for the babies, because I wanted nothing more than for Sera to get everything she wanted. She deserved that.
Five tear-soaked, sleepless stars from me.
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a perfect conclusion to Malcolm and Seraphina's wildly scandalous fall-out (the infamous koi pond plot set-up we get in The Rogue Not Taken) and hit every note I needed to feel fully invested in their happily-ever-after. This is high-angst with significant (and painful) on-page character work that explores how our own deep-seated insecurities are a betrayal of self far more painful and difficult to heal than any betrayal by a romantic partner. For readers with a hard line on infidelity, this plot set-up might simply be a deal-breaker, but I have to say that as someone who is deeply invested in explicit fidelity in historical romance, this was not insurmountable to me at all (and in fact, was so well contextualized that it felt insignificant in comparison to the couple's shared trauma).
Beyond the individual growth arcs and conflict resolution for Malcolm and Sera, there were so many things I loved about this story: Sera's sisters (who SHINE in this installment), the close and entirely platonic friendship between Sera and Caleb (no friend zone bitterness or jealousy here, these two are just health business partners and it's FANTASTIC), and the incredible comedy of the alt-Bachelor house party. And there were also several small decisions that felt really big - the decision not to include a gratuitously graphic and traumatic on-page childbirth scene, the decision not to replay the koi pond scene in entirety, etc. - that evidence how deeply MacLean respects her characters.
All-in-all, for high-angst reader who enjoy messy people making a mess of their lives and slowly (very slowly) figuring out how to be together again, this is a beautiful romance, with an absolutely chart-topping grovel and grand gesture.
Beyond the individual growth arcs and conflict resolution for Malcolm and Sera, there were so many things I loved about this story: Sera's sisters (who SHINE in this installment), the close and entirely platonic friendship between Sera and Caleb (no friend zone bitterness or jealousy here, these two are just health business partners and it's FANTASTIC), and the incredible comedy of the alt-Bachelor house party. And there were also several small decisions that felt really big - the decision not to include a gratuitously graphic and traumatic on-page childbirth scene, the decision not to replay the koi pond scene in entirety, etc. - that evidence how deeply MacLean respects her characters.
All-in-all, for high-angst reader who enjoy messy people making a mess of their lives and slowly (very slowly) figuring out how to be together again, this is a beautiful romance, with an absolutely chart-topping grovel and grand gesture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Child death, Grief, Misogyny, and Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent
Child death: stillbirth.claranagbabasa's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-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
5.0
If you're shock, imagine how I feel.
I, who despise the mere thought of the cheating trope. I, who once said, infamously— no amount of grovelling could excuse cheating. I, who is the younger brother—
Wait, no, different dialogue.
WHAT I MEAN IS— This book promised heady drama of the highest degree. It was no easy read for certain; so many times my chest tightened in that delicious way (in the I'm in the gripes of drama and I can relate in a way, and that is hurting me this better have a good ending or I swear to god, someone is going to have to sedate me way). Times I had to scroll past certain paragraphs to remain sane because the writing was good. The story was lovely. I could not stop even if I wanted to.
But then it wrought fierce characters, comedic twists to sharp inhales of tensions— and the grovelling. Fair enough that when this was recommended for me, I held onto the promise rope of intense grovelling.
And it delivered.
It delivered it so well, I flew through the pages. Plowed through the heartbreak and devoured the writing.
That last chapter definitely tied it up with a pretty bow for me, that I could not refuse to give it the 5 stars it deserved.
For tropes I disliked, it made me love the story.
People might think the epilogue was too on the err of happily ever after— I say fuck it. We deserved that HEA. I still like the male character a little less, but if girlie gets her ever after, I could care less.
I, who despise the mere thought of the cheating trope. I, who once said, infamously— no amount of grovelling could excuse cheating. I, who is the younger brother—
Wait, no, different dialogue.
WHAT I MEAN IS— This book promised heady drama of the highest degree. It was no easy read for certain; so many times my chest tightened in that delicious way (in the I'm in the gripes of drama and I can relate in a way, and that is hurting me this better have a good ending or I swear to god, someone is going to have to sedate me way). Times I had to scroll past certain paragraphs to remain sane because the writing was good. The story was lovely. I could not stop even if I wanted to.
But then it wrought fierce characters, comedic twists to sharp inhales of tensions— and the grovelling. Fair enough that when this was recommended for me, I held onto the promise rope of intense grovelling.
And it delivered.
It delivered it so well, I flew through the pages. Plowed through the heartbreak and devoured the writing.
That last chapter definitely tied it up with a pretty bow for me, that I could not refuse to give it the 5 stars it deserved.
For tropes I disliked, it made me love the story.
crayondall's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
3.0
It was hard to see how Haven would be a hero after what happened, but he did a fair amount of groveling. Book was overall a bit long and repetitive.
ari913's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0