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bookish_kristina's review
3.0
I need therapy now. This was bleak.
Woof! This was one of the more depressing books I’ve read in awhile. The writing was good and the setting was well done, but my gawd, this was the grapes of wrath of romance novels. A very downtrodden group of characters find each other in a cabin in the foothills of the Rockies. They have all been ravaged by the civil war, from both sides and working to recover.
This story needed more uplifting moments to balance the heavy. The relationship development between Cole and Melody needed more depth and more sweetness and less desperation. Also this was entirely too short and the ending was abrupt, which made their connection actually feel on the insta-love side. Small note: if you are going to name a book Seduced, give me more than one short grope session, will ya? Don’t know if I recommend this, it’s too sad and doesn’t give you enough reason to root for anyone. But I am interested in reading about Steven and Annie.
Narration was ok but I wouldn’t look out for this narrator again.
TWs rape, domestic abuse, war, murder, acts of violence recounted in memories, detailed descriptions of public hair.
Woof! This was one of the more depressing books I’ve read in awhile. The writing was good and the setting was well done, but my gawd, this was the grapes of wrath of romance novels. A very downtrodden group of characters find each other in a cabin in the foothills of the Rockies. They have all been ravaged by the civil war, from both sides and working to recover.
This story needed more uplifting moments to balance the heavy. The relationship development between Cole and Melody needed more depth and more sweetness and less desperation. Also this was entirely too short and the ending was abrupt, which made their connection actually feel on the insta-love side. Small note: if you are going to name a book Seduced, give me more than one short grope session, will ya? Don’t know if I recommend this, it’s too sad and doesn’t give you enough reason to root for anyone. But I am interested in reading about Steven and Annie.
Narration was ok but I wouldn’t look out for this narrator again.
TWs rape, domestic abuse, war, murder, acts of violence recounted in memories, detailed descriptions of public hair.
alexmcf's review
4.0
Well, I loved this book. It was perfect - no notes. I’m being petty and knocking a star off because it was too short. I hope the author reads this and writes a sequel, or a novella because I. Need. More.
romanceandraindrops's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
reading_rainy's review against another edition
4.0
*3.5*
Next, you have two brothers. Both survivors of the war, having watched their friends and family die, they are also walking wounded.
“What if happiness and love is the reward for having survived what we've survived?” he asked.Written like an old fashioned western romance, but with loads of emotional pulls. First, you have two sisters.
“As long as we're together, we will be fine."The older sister was a quintessential southern belle, spoiled and entitled until the civil war crushed her. Wed to a brutal man who rapes and beats her, she's a shell of her former self. Her only goal in life is to see that her younger sister remains safe.
Next, you have two brothers. Both survivors of the war, having watched their friends and family die, they are also walking wounded.
He could no longer pretend not to be aware of what was happening to him in this clearing. Day after day, moment by moment, he was finding the man he'd been—battered, bruised, different in so many ways, but underneath the blood and the dirt, he was still recognizable to himself.The storytelling is poetic and very atmospheric. Wish it have dived a bit deeper, and had steam (there's one moment of oral, but no actual sex) which is a shame because I think these two characters could have really helped each other heal during intimacy.
"The darkness in you matches the darkness in me"
setaian's review against another edition
4.0
The Civil War took everything from Melody and left her with a violent and abusive husband. Dragged across the country, she and her sister find themselves at a small homestead near Denver. Her husband is there for revenge, to kill the man he blames for the deserter's brand that mars his face.
Cole arrives at his brother's plot only to find a bloodstain on the porch and two women acting suspiciously. He knows his brother is dead and will exact his measure of revenge on those who killed him. But Melody and her sister are hiding something.
Lovers of fiction set in the Wild West look no further! This is great. It's a gritty well told story about finding love at the very edge of civilisation.
Cole arrives at his brother's plot only to find a bloodstain on the porch and two women acting suspiciously. He knows his brother is dead and will exact his measure of revenge on those who killed him. But Melody and her sister are hiding something.
Lovers of fiction set in the Wild West look no further! This is great. It's a gritty well told story about finding love at the very edge of civilisation.
tucker4's review against another edition
3.0
There were parts I liked and parts I didn't, but I don't know how much of that had to do with the audiobook narrator. This is the first romance I've listened to with a male voice. In the beginning I was thinking the story and writing were weak, but was I just disliking the narrator? Because by the sex scene...holy cow that shit was HOT!
whitneywillis20's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars
This story was short and on the unfulfilling side. It seriously had the backbone for a great story but lacked the meat. I'm curious enough and will read the next one in the series.
This story was short and on the unfulfilling side. It seriously had the backbone for a great story but lacked the meat. I'm curious enough and will read the next one in the series.
izziede's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this story.
It is gritty and dark though there is not much detail of the atrocities.
Cole and Melody are the Hero and heroine but Meoldy's sister, Annie and Cole's brother Steven are also part of the story and the book ends in a HFN and leads straight into the next book so I would advise having both so you can complete their tale.
Melody is a difficult one to rate, she reminded me a bit of 'Scarlett O'Hara' from 'Gone With The Wind'.
Pre-war she was the belle of the ball and manipulated things to get the man she wanted, hence somewhat dislikeable but since that time she has been through so much, esp in the form of her husband who was a violent drunk. She has lost all hope in a better life and when she
sees any glimpse of it she is afraid to hope.
Cole was a bit of a romantic pre-war but has been scarred by the horrors he has witnessed and he sees a great strength in Melody and admires her for it.
The author paints a vivid picture of the effects war have on families and people. It is a bit depressing but it is beautifully written.
It is gritty and dark though there is not much detail of the atrocities.
Cole and Melody are the Hero and heroine but Meoldy's sister, Annie and Cole's brother Steven are also part of the story and the book ends in a HFN and leads straight into the next book so I would advise having both so you can complete their tale.
Melody is a difficult one to rate, she reminded me a bit of 'Scarlett O'Hara' from 'Gone With The Wind'.
Pre-war she was the belle of the ball and manipulated things to get the man she wanted, hence somewhat dislikeable but since that time she has been through so much, esp in the form of her husband who was a violent drunk. She has lost all hope in a better life and when she
sees any glimpse of it she is afraid to hope.
Cole was a bit of a romantic pre-war but has been scarred by the horrors he has witnessed and he sees a great strength in Melody and admires her for it.
The author paints a vivid picture of the effects war have on families and people. It is a bit depressing but it is beautifully written.