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ipomoea's review
4.0
The usual heaping helping of Thomas AAAAANGST, with a side of iffy consent issues. That being said, I love the Fitzhugh family and of course devoured this.
winterreader40's review
4.5
David and Helena have had an antagonistic relationship with each other since they first met as teenagers when he fell in love and she really didn't.
David has been pining for Helena for half their lives and she's the only one who doesn't know it. Helena is pining for Andrew the sweet openhearted boy she met 5 years ago, but he's married (unhappily) but she convinces him to have an affair with her, David is constantly warning her she will be ruined when she's caught and he'll be forced to marry her to save her family and her reputation.
Helena doesn't think she'll be caught or ruined if she is because she's to caught up in nostalgically swooning for Andrew to really think about the consequences until they happen.
When David saves the day, starting the rumor that they had eloped, but then there is a carriage accident and she doesn't remember anything after her 14th year, just before she would have met David, giving him a second chance to get it right.
I loved this story, she has amnesia but he never lies to her which was probably my favorite part of this story. I loved watching him admit all the twit like things he'd done over the years.
David has been pining for Helena for half their lives and she's the only one who doesn't know it. Helena is pining for Andrew the sweet openhearted boy she met 5 years ago, but he's married (unhappily) but she convinces him to have an affair with her, David is constantly warning her she will be ruined when she's caught and he'll be forced to marry her to save her family and her reputation.
Helena doesn't think she'll be caught or ruined if she is because she's to caught up in nostalgically swooning for Andrew to really think about the consequences until they happen.
When David saves the day, starting the rumor that they had eloped, but then there is a carriage accident and she doesn't remember anything after her 14th year, just before she would have met David, giving him a second chance to get it right.
I loved this story, she has amnesia but he never lies to her which was probably my favorite part of this story. I loved watching him admit all the twit like things he'd done over the years.
halfpintreads's review
4.0
Sherry Thomas is a genius at making me love things that I normally dislike. In the first two books in the series, she made me sob over Millie and want to shake Fitz in Ravishing the Heiress and in Beguiling the Beauty made me love another trope I usually can’t stand (no spoilers though).
Then we get to this book! I absolutely hate the “he’s mean because he likes you” trope as a big sign of toxic masculinity and will usually nope out. BUT somehow, she takes this, adds some secrets (usually another thing I hate) and amnesia, stirs it all together and makes a masterpiece.
You’ve seen Hastings and Helena bicker and fight and insult each other throughout the first two books so you know the stakes are already high. They keep getting higher after a fake elopement to protect Helena from scandal and just when things might be turning around, she is in an accident and gets amnesia! And then you really get to see how Hastings has been head over heels and pining for her from the beginning. It is wonderful!
Sherry Thomas = pain. She knows how to bring the emotional anguish and angst! But also deliver you a swoony love story and hea that you think shouldn’t work but somehow absolutely does.
I really appreciated how the secrets and Helena getting her memory back were handled. In other books, that would have been a main conflict and the secrets would have been revealed only when she regained her memory. But Hastings tells Helena everything before her memory returns which I thought was a great choice.
While you could probably read this as a stand alone, I wouldn’t recommend it. You really should read the first 2 so that you have all the backstory and build up. I’m planning to read the novellas soon and starting the Lady Sherlock series this weekend!
Then we get to this book! I absolutely hate the “he’s mean because he likes you” trope as a big sign of toxic masculinity and will usually nope out. BUT somehow, she takes this, adds some secrets (usually another thing I hate) and amnesia, stirs it all together and makes a masterpiece.
You’ve seen Hastings and Helena bicker and fight and insult each other throughout the first two books so you know the stakes are already high. They keep getting higher after a fake elopement to protect Helena from scandal and just when things might be turning around, she is in an accident and gets amnesia! And then you really get to see how Hastings has been head over heels and pining for her from the beginning. It is wonderful!
Sherry Thomas = pain. She knows how to bring the emotional anguish and angst! But also deliver you a swoony love story and hea that you think shouldn’t work but somehow absolutely does.
I really appreciated how the secrets and Helena getting her memory back were handled. In other books, that would have been a main conflict and the secrets would have been revealed only when she regained her memory. But Hastings tells Helena everything before her memory returns which I thought was a great choice.
While you could probably read this as a stand alone, I wouldn’t recommend it. You really should read the first 2 so that you have all the backstory and build up. I’m planning to read the novellas soon and starting the Lady Sherlock series this weekend!
sarahcophagus's review
3.0
Strange application of the amnesia trope. It’s always going to be silly but in this specific case it felt like a weird shortcut to sidestep groveling/character growth. I could be wrong, but think some of this book was set up in another book series and I felt like I never got a full sense of these characters and why they are behaving so irrationally - throwing away their reputations to have a liaison with a married man and pulling pigtails and making suggestive comments to get any attention from a lady…like a child. To do a full reset could have been interesting, but they basically just decide to let it all go without examining much of why they’d ended up in that place to treat each other so disrespectfully and I didn’t find that endearing.
seeinghowitgoes's review
4.0
How did she do it? When I first started reading snippets of Helena and David's story I felt for sure I was going to hate their novel, not only did I have no sympathy for Helena, David just seemed like a brute.
And indeed their story started off quite typically with a forced marriage and an unhappy couple. Then, the most overused trope of then all - amnesia. But somehow she made this WORK. Suddenly I was hanging onto every word wanting to know what happens next!
I wish the conclusion was a little more fleshed out and strangely wanted just a bit more conflict. It's all happily ever after (this is a romance novel after all), and rounds off the series neatly.
And indeed their story started off quite typically with a forced marriage and an unhappy couple. Then, the most overused trope of then all - amnesia. But somehow she made this WORK. Suddenly I was hanging onto every word wanting to know what happens next!
I wish the conclusion was a little more fleshed out and strangely wanted just a bit more conflict. It's all happily ever after (this is a romance novel after all), and rounds off the series neatly.
andrearaereads's review
3.0
everyone is their own worst enemy and no one is happy until like the last five pages of the book
heydebigale's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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
5.0
BRB, off to read THE BRIDE OF LARKSPEAR.
This is one of the best amnesia romances that I have read. I loved it SO much.
Notes: takes place in London, England. Hastings is a blonde white man and Helena is a redhead white woman.
This is one of the best amnesia romances that I have read. I loved it SO much.
Notes: takes place in London, England. Hastings is a blonde white man and Helena is a redhead white woman.
willa's review
2.0
I found Helena a bit too obstinate to be a charming lead. She was very resistant to taking good advice. David has to learn to sacrifice his pride to win her over, but she definitely needed to as well.
readerpants's review
2.0
Fast, page-turning read.... I read it straight through instead of cleaning my house as intended. But I'm not a fan of how the issues of consent played out, not to mention his "protective" nastiness (which felt like abuse more than banter), and I'm left feeling icky.