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2.99 AVERAGE
2.99 AVERAGE
This was worse than I thought it was going to be.
This one is hard to rate. I'm going to go with a 3 since I thought it flowed well and was an interesting character study and probably a more realistic look at marriage between aristocrats at the time.
Did I enjoy it? Nope. It's not a light and fluffy type of romance nor is it an old school romance where you love to hate the hero and get drawn into the 'oh, no he didn't' factor either. The hero was just a man. He did happen to be good looking and titled, but he wasn't extraordinary in the way you want a romance hero to be, or even over-the-top in the old school bodice ripper style. He was very flawed, but not a monster. He ran instead of facing the issues in his marriage. He made jokes or sarcastic comments when conversation got serious. He was ridiculously out of touch with his emotions and childish/prideful. By the end I didn't hate him, but he's not my type of hero.
The hero, John, is a handsome, charming and penniless Viscount known for wild living. The heroine, Viola, is a beautiful, sheltered and idealistic 17 year old when they meet. Her brother is a Duke and she has a very substantial dowry.
John is desperate for money, having just inherited his title/estates and come face-to-face with the disaster his father left behind. As he later tells Viola, he "needed" to marry for money and he "wanted" to marry for desire. So, Viola is perfect for him. She's rich and he wants her in bed. I also truly believe he liked her as well. It's all very suitable in his mind. Others may disagree, but I do think he wanted the marriage to work.
Problem was, he wasn't thinking too deeply about feelings. He even has a mistress during the courtship. His biggest sin was in not taking the heroine's feelings seriously. She said she loved him and he told her he loved her too, knowing that's what she wanted to hear and what he needed to say to get her to marry him. Love was just a word with no real meaning to him.
The heroine was very angry when she finds this out and she had a right to be. The hero lied to her about loving her before the marriage and had a mistress during the courtship (he did break it off before the marriage). She wanted reassurance from him, she wanted him to fight for her. He waited around a month for her to thaw and let him back in her bed. When that didn't work, he stormed off in a huff and took a mistress. He apparently did try a few times to reconcile the marriage, but was easily scared off by the heroine's coldness toward him. I thought the heroine got too much blame for what happened and being a 'ice queen'. Yeah, she didn't exactly grant forgiveness easily, but he also wasn't giving her what she needed to forgive him and she was hurt.
Seeing the hero's POV made me realize he was way more desperately insecure than anyone realized and cared more about the heroine than he realized. He never wanted the marriage to become estranged. He liked being married to the heroine and would have rather been with her than his procession of mistresses over their separation. I do believe that. The problem was he never told the heroine any of this until the end and she assumed he just didn't give a crap about the estrangement until he needed an heir - 8 years later.
The guy was like a deer in headlights when faced with a difficult emotional situation. If he couldn't joke, charm, or justify his actions he had no idea what to do and he ran. A lot of the point of the book was him growing up and learning he has to deal when things get emotionally sticky. The heroine also had to face making the best of what she had and trying to let go of the past.
Very human issues. Interesting character study. Emotionally charged at times. Well written. And all that being said, I'd never read this again. It's not what I come to romance for, but I read it in one sitting and some credit has to be given for that.
Did I enjoy it? Nope. It's not a light and fluffy type of romance nor is it an old school romance where you love to hate the hero and get drawn into the 'oh, no he didn't' factor either. The hero was just a man. He did happen to be good looking and titled, but he wasn't extraordinary in the way you want a romance hero to be, or even over-the-top in the old school bodice ripper style. He was very flawed, but not a monster. He ran instead of facing the issues in his marriage. He made jokes or sarcastic comments when conversation got serious. He was ridiculously out of touch with his emotions and childish/prideful. By the end I didn't hate him, but he's not my type of hero.
The hero, John, is a handsome, charming and penniless Viscount known for wild living. The heroine, Viola, is a beautiful, sheltered and idealistic 17 year old when they meet. Her brother is a Duke and she has a very substantial dowry.
John is desperate for money, having just inherited his title/estates and come face-to-face with the disaster his father left behind. As he later tells Viola, he "needed" to marry for money and he "wanted" to marry for desire. So, Viola is perfect for him. She's rich and he wants her in bed. I also truly believe he liked her as well. It's all very suitable in his mind. Others may disagree, but I do think he wanted the marriage to work.
Problem was, he wasn't thinking too deeply about feelings. He even has a mistress during the courtship. His biggest sin was in not taking the heroine's feelings seriously. She said she loved him and he told her he loved her too, knowing that's what she wanted to hear and what he needed to say to get her to marry him. Love was just a word with no real meaning to him.
The heroine was very angry when she finds this out and she had a right to be. The hero lied to her about loving her before the marriage and had a mistress during the courtship (he did break it off before the marriage). She wanted reassurance from him, she wanted him to fight for her. He waited around a month for her to thaw and let him back in her bed. When that didn't work, he stormed off in a huff and took a mistress. He apparently did try a few times to reconcile the marriage, but was easily scared off by the heroine's coldness toward him. I thought the heroine got too much blame for what happened and being a 'ice queen'. Yeah, she didn't exactly grant forgiveness easily, but he also wasn't giving her what she needed to forgive him and she was hurt.
Seeing the hero's POV made me realize he was way more desperately insecure than anyone realized and cared more about the heroine than he realized. He never wanted the marriage to become estranged. He liked being married to the heroine and would have rather been with her than his procession of mistresses over their separation. I do believe that. The problem was he never told the heroine any of this until the end and she assumed he just didn't give a crap about the estrangement until he needed an heir - 8 years later.
The guy was like a deer in headlights when faced with a difficult emotional situation. If he couldn't joke, charm, or justify his actions he had no idea what to do and he ran. A lot of the point of the book was him growing up and learning he has to deal when things get emotionally sticky. The heroine also had to face making the best of what she had and trying to let go of the past.
Very human issues. Interesting character study. Emotionally charged at times. Well written. And all that being said, I'd never read this again. It's not what I come to romance for, but I read it in one sitting and some credit has to be given for that.
Liked this one. She managed to redeem a trope that I hate: the cheater. By the end of the story you not only sympathize with him, you like him too. So good on her. Plus he likes poetry; that's a bonus. Viola is also great in this one; she sticks to her guns but also knows when to try again.