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froggy_dear's review
3.0
Jane Eyre, but with cross dressing? Not quite, but... I dug the heroine who disguises herself as a footman, and the awkwardness that ensues upon promotion. There's a lot I like, yet I had to look up summaries to remember the story.
itisallmydoing's review
3.0
I'm very conflicted. This is my first full-length novel of the author's, and I was no fan of our wicked duke's attitude towards women and blindness to power structures. The writing was excellent, and I did enjoy our heroine's pluck for the most part. I will probably try one more book.
domtheknight's review
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This book really did not work for me. I've read plenty of power differential books but the gap between duke and maid in this one came across as gross. I didn't think he respected her boundaries, I didn't think she could reasonably consent to anything, and I didn't really think she did consent, at least not to their early kissing or their first time. There's a missing explanation from how he gets to all his servants are safe and won't be taken advantage of, to it's ok to come after her, specifically. It also bothered me that neither of them thought about possibility of her getting pregnant and being totally screwed in her position.
I also didn't really believe they loved each other, the emotional journey felt too shallow. I thought Fallon was ok but couldn't see why she'd love him at all, and I didn't believe Dominic had any depth or had changed or was anything other than mildly intrigued because she was different than all his other women.
Emotional journeys of the other characters also felt off. I didn't buy the motivations or the sincerity of the friend, Hunt, or the grandfather, Collins.
I've read some other books by this author that didn't have this shallow problem but they were modern settings. I'll probably try another historical sometime to see if it was just this book. It also seems like maybe this is an early one - perhaps her later writing got better.
I also didn't really believe they loved each other, the emotional journey felt too shallow. I thought Fallon was ok but couldn't see why she'd love him at all, and I didn't believe Dominic had any depth or had changed or was anything other than mildly intrigued because she was different than all his other women.
Emotional journeys of the other characters also felt off. I didn't buy the motivations or the sincerity of the friend, Hunt, or the grandfather, Collins.
I've read some other books by this author that didn't have this shallow problem but they were modern settings. I'll probably try another historical sometime to see if it was just this book. It also seems like maybe this is an early one - perhaps her later writing got better.
pastel_clouds's review
2.0
Re-read in 2020:
Full disclosure, I re-read by accident, not remembering that I’d read it already a couple of years ago.
I adore Fallon as a protagonist, she is the main reason I read this book. Most of the encounters with the male love interest are imo wholly lacking consent on her part and read like sexual assault, which the narrative excuses throughout the book. That is mainly why I don’t particularly like the story, despite me liking some aspects of the book. The hero is pretty much portrayed as a bully, showing glimpses of being a good person to other people, while being utterly horrible to Fallon most of the time even if you manage to ignore the dubious- to pretty much non-consensual nature of some scenes. There’s also lots of victim-blaming with the hero repeatedly accusing the protagonist of being at fault for his actions as well as the actions of others towards her.
My rating of 2 stars still stands.
Full disclosure, I re-read by accident, not remembering that I’d read it already a couple of years ago.
I adore Fallon as a protagonist, she is the main reason I read this book. Most of the encounters with the male love interest are imo wholly lacking consent on her part and read like sexual assault, which the narrative excuses throughout the book. That is mainly why I don’t particularly like the story, despite me liking some aspects of the book. The hero is pretty much portrayed as a bully, showing glimpses of being a good person to other people, while being utterly horrible to Fallon most of the time even if you manage to ignore the dubious- to pretty much non-consensual nature of some scenes. There’s also lots of victim-blaming with the hero repeatedly accusing the protagonist of being at fault for his actions as well as the actions of others towards her.
My rating of 2 stars still stands.
janesaysb2850's review
3.0
The writing was good, but I just didn’t see anything deep between Fallon and Dominic. There was a lot of being smushed together with, quite frankly, dubious consent. To make his character redeemable, Dominic helps street urchins. But that is only briefly touched upon, and mostly in an indirect way (people talking about it, not showing him do it, even if he did walk the kid to the shop).
And it wasn’t realistic at all in terms of a character arc that explained how his feelings had changed - being able to feel and express love, deciding that he would marry Fallon even though she was of lower social rank. He literally showed up and said, “Let’s get married” and they did. No fuss anywhere.
Also, it was 100% unclear in what time period this book took place. There was some reference to the footmen’s livery being “straight out of 1810,” so I figured that was at some earlier point. But there was no indication of industrial technology (train, etc.), wars (Napoleonic, etc.), royal era (Prince Regent or otherwise)... it just sort of sat there undefined.
Bummer.
And it wasn’t realistic at all in terms of a character arc that explained how his feelings had changed - being able to feel and express love, deciding that he would marry Fallon even though she was of lower social rank. He literally showed up and said, “Let’s get married” and they did. No fuss anywhere.
Also, it was 100% unclear in what time period this book took place. There was some reference to the footmen’s livery being “straight out of 1810,” so I figured that was at some earlier point. But there was no indication of industrial technology (train, etc.), wars (Napoleonic, etc.), royal era (Prince Regent or otherwise)... it just sort of sat there undefined.
Bummer.
karend's review
4.0
I'm getting lots of recommendations from the Fated Mates podcast, which I'm slowly catching up on as I re-read the Immortals After Dark series. This was one of those recommendations, and I enjoyed it. Yes, when examined in the cold light of time to write something about it, I can see it has problems, but at the time I was reading it, I didn't notice them, I just enjoyed the story.
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