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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
I loved this book! The heroine was amazing and relatable, the hero was sometimes an ass but aware of it and sincerely contrite, and they both handled things with realistic levels of maturity based on their relative ages and life experiences. I'm smitten.
Great characters, great side characters and really believable conflict that wasn't just "oh my god why won't they use their words" I really wanted Portia to have more time to herself to figure things out and just have a break. Also, the ending wrapped up a bit too quickly for my tastes. Still great and I'm looking forward to the next one already!
A lass apprenticing as a swordsmith in my favourite city?! Sign me up!
Laughing at home I know very little about the British Monarchy and even I know that Phillip is the Duke of Edinburgh? Princeless.
Laughing at home I know very little about the British Monarchy and even I know that Phillip is the Duke of Edinburgh? Princeless.
Fantastic!
Portia is everything you could want in a heroine - fairy tale or otherwise. Tavish is exactly the grumpy beast that anyone would expect from a Scottish sword maker - mean and squishy and good with kids.
My only complaint is that after getting so invested in the characters, in that constant fight to redesign yourself, the story ended too soon. I wanted an epilogue or at least another chapter where they finally do the relationship thing without cameras or peerage or even family looking on.
But, the best books always end too soon. I’m looking forward to the next installment.
Portia is everything you could want in a heroine - fairy tale or otherwise. Tavish is exactly the grumpy beast that anyone would expect from a Scottish sword maker - mean and squishy and good with kids.
My only complaint is that after getting so invested in the characters, in that constant fight to redesign yourself, the story ended too soon. I wanted an epilogue or at least another chapter where they finally do the relationship thing without cameras or peerage or even family looking on.
But, the best books always end too soon. I’m looking forward to the next installment.
I am really enjoying this series. It’s very fun and funny and full of likeable characters. I am always excited to read books that feature characters with ADHD, but Portia didn’t seem like someone who actually had it. She was super organized and proactive and could juggle a lot of tasks at once. It just didn’t seem like someone with untreated ADHD. But other than that I liked this book a lot and love Alyssa Cole’s writing in general. I’m looking forward to Johan’s book!
Oh my gosh, this is everything! Immigration, ADHD, family expectations, and so much more is discussed on this novel, giving it such depth. It's brilliant. Also the romance is really nice, although I wanted to punch the main characters sometimes. But it's not a romance without some misunderstandings, so it's fine. Also I love that this is set in Scotland and there is sword fighting and a sexy Scottish guy.
Also my girl Ledi shows up and I was fangirling over that but no one at my workplace cared.
Also my girl Ledi shows up and I was fangirling over that but no one at my workplace cared.
With references to Doctor Who, immigration reform, and a #metoo savvy hero, this book certainly puts the “contemporary” in “contemporary romance.” Didn’t love the end but appreciated the interracial international romance.
In brief: Portia Hobbs is finally getting her life together, and a sword-making apprenticeship in Scotland is the perfect place to reinvent herself away from her disapproving family. Two problems: Tavish McKenzie doesn’t want an apprentice, and he’s smoking hot. Second in a series.
Thoughts: While I didn’t like this quite as much as A Princess in Theory, that’s entirely, one hundred percent a personal taste thing. Ledi was just a bit more relatable to me, and her book hit a few more of my favourite romance tropes. (Growly Scots are great but mistaken identity is better.) A Duke by Default is just as solid though, still a great romance, and still tackling issues of race and class. And this time, it’s adding neurodiversity too, because Portia has ADHD.
Things in this book I enjoyed, in no particular order: the meet-ugly, Tavish’s brother and sister-in-law, the Tardis restaurant, the diversity of modern Scotland, biceps, Youtube comments about biceps, Portia’s energy and determination, swordplay, jokes about the other kind of swordplay, discussion of gentrification, the anxiety and self-esteem issues surrounding Portia’s ADHD, active use of therapists, the Queen, Tavish’s impressive grumbling, the actual logistics of claiming a noble title, the random aroace character, sticking it to the man, seeing Ledi and Thabiso and being set up some for Johan in the next book, seeing Tavish grow into his new role, the kids, the ending.
Things in this book I did not enjoy: jerkish aristocrats and equally jerkish paparazzi, but who ever does; the lack of information about sword-making.
So yeah, despite not liking this as much as the first in the series, from the last two paragraphs, I think it’s obvious I still really liked this and don’t really have anything to complain about either. If I didn’t already have Cole on my list of authors to follow, she would be now.
To bear in mind: Female lead has anxiety, so if yours liable to be triggered by someone else’s fears, however slight, now you’re warned. She also has parents who don’t understand her and push her to be their idea of a good daughter. The villain, if there is such a thing here, is an entitled white man with some old-fashioned ideas about women and people of colour. A dose of rohypnol, but not actual date-rape.
8.5/10
Thoughts: While I didn’t like this quite as much as A Princess in Theory, that’s entirely, one hundred percent a personal taste thing. Ledi was just a bit more relatable to me, and her book hit a few more of my favourite romance tropes. (Growly Scots are great but mistaken identity is better.) A Duke by Default is just as solid though, still a great romance, and still tackling issues of race and class. And this time, it’s adding neurodiversity too, because Portia has ADHD.
Things in this book I enjoyed, in no particular order: the meet-ugly, Tavish’s brother and sister-in-law, the Tardis restaurant, the diversity of modern Scotland, biceps, Youtube comments about biceps, Portia’s energy and determination, swordplay, jokes about the other kind of swordplay, discussion of gentrification, the anxiety and self-esteem issues surrounding Portia’s ADHD, active use of therapists, the Queen, Tavish’s impressive grumbling, the actual logistics of claiming a noble title, the random aroace character, sticking it to the man, seeing Ledi and Thabiso and being set up some for Johan in the next book, seeing Tavish grow into his new role, the kids, the ending.
Things in this book I did not enjoy: jerkish aristocrats and equally jerkish paparazzi, but who ever does; the lack of information about sword-making.
So yeah, despite not liking this as much as the first in the series, from the last two paragraphs, I think it’s obvious I still really liked this and don’t really have anything to complain about either. If I didn’t already have Cole on my list of authors to follow, she would be now.
To bear in mind: Female lead has anxiety, so if yours liable to be triggered by someone else’s fears, however slight, now you’re warned. She also has parents who don’t understand her and push her to be their idea of a good daughter. The villain, if there is such a thing here, is an entitled white man with some old-fashioned ideas about women and people of colour. A dose of rohypnol, but not actual date-rape.
8.5/10
Alyssa Cole's diverse fairytale romance universe is a touch formulaic but in some ways I think it is meant to be that way. We get the rich girl with self-esteem problems from the highly successful African-American family who falls in love with a cranky Scot who ends up being a duke (as well as half Chilean immigrant). And it's all happily ever after.