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aswirlgirl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked this one, though Alice got on my nerves just a tad at the end. Jeremiah and Joshua were delightful!
jackiehorne's review against another edition
3.0
A bastard son of an Earl, exiled as a teen from his father's family, and wounded by a bad marriage, hires a new governess for his two young sons, and finds himself gradually falling in lust, then in love, with the woman. Ditto the latter for the governess, who is conveniently the daughter of a nobleman herself, but because of past scandal has taken up governessing. Ethan, too, has major scandal and trauma in his past, so the two make a good couple. Yet in character they act like pretty much any other Burrowes' hero and heroine. So if you don't mind the repetitiveness of character from book to book, you should be fine. But if you're looking for something different, you won't find it here.
ilaurin's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite so far in this interesting serie. 2 damaged souls find love and redemption with each other. The 2 little boys, sons of the hero, are really lovable and rambunctious as little boys usually are. Grace Burrowes does not disappoint.
kathflynn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bettybumpkins's review against another edition
3.5
A tough yet beautiful read. I liked the representation of anxiety, pain, lingering illness ect. Could have used a bit more sympathy from the Ethan over her past trama. He kinda just pushes her to "get back on the horse" after she expresses the fear and pain she has. The end was rather cute for a governess/employer story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Violence
jen286's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
After reading Nicholas I was interested in getting to know Ethan, the estranged brother, more. Ethan: Lord of Scandals was another great read. Ethan and Alice both have their secrets, both have dark times in their past, and both are so kind and caring with each other that they are great.
Ethan was sent off to school when his father found him in bed with his brother during one of their late night chats. The boys were not doing anything wrong, but Ethan's father thought he was corrupting Nicholas so he sent Ethan away. Only he gets sent to a not very nice place, where boys can do what they want and no one really stops them. Ethan doesn't have an easy go of it, some things happened there that still haunt him, and he won't talk about it with anyone. He is embarrassed by what happened and doesn't want anyone to know. Even though it was a long time ago, it is still affecting him. That and his marriage to his late wife which I was really curious to see what that was all about.
Alice is so sweet and kind with the children. When Ethan hires her to be his sons governess he is not very active in their lives. Alice quickly changes that and gets Ethan to see how he should spend more time with his boys. She gets him to see how they are really good boys, how much he loves them and how much he loves spending time with them. He hasn't been very active in their lives until this point, didn't know how other people have hurt them, and he really just grows into this great father in this story. He would do anything for his boys, and their governess, by the end.
Alice has her own secrets she is keeping. Ethan knows something happened to her, something that makes her hip hurt and causes her trouble at times. Something involving her sister and the reason why she is hiding out as a governess instead of being with her own family. Really when you find out what happened to the both of them, and the situations that arise at the end, you just feel for them. They are both still trying to deal with their past, but together they can be even better. Together they can be a happy family. Really a great read.
After reading Nicholas I was interested in getting to know Ethan, the estranged brother, more. Ethan: Lord of Scandals was another great read. Ethan and Alice both have their secrets, both have dark times in their past, and both are so kind and caring with each other that they are great.
Ethan was sent off to school when his father found him in bed with his brother during one of their late night chats. The boys were not doing anything wrong, but Ethan's father thought he was corrupting Nicholas so he sent Ethan away. Only he gets sent to a not very nice place, where boys can do what they want and no one really stops them. Ethan doesn't have an easy go of it, some things happened there that still haunt him, and he won't talk about it with anyone. He is embarrassed by what happened and doesn't want anyone to know. Even though it was a long time ago, it is still affecting him. That and his marriage to his late wife which I was really curious to see what that was all about.
Alice is so sweet and kind with the children. When Ethan hires her to be his sons governess he is not very active in their lives. Alice quickly changes that and gets Ethan to see how he should spend more time with his boys. She gets him to see how they are really good boys, how much he loves them and how much he loves spending time with them. He hasn't been very active in their lives until this point, didn't know how other people have hurt them, and he really just grows into this great father in this story. He would do anything for his boys, and their governess, by the end.
Alice has her own secrets she is keeping. Ethan knows something happened to her, something that makes her hip hurt and causes her trouble at times. Something involving her sister and the reason why she is hiding out as a governess instead of being with her own family. Really when you find out what happened to the both of them, and the situations that arise at the end, you just feel for them. They are both still trying to deal with their past, but together they can be even better. Together they can be a happy family. Really a great read.
language_loving_amateur's review against another edition
1.5
Content warnings for several topics, and the subject matter is NOT written well. I finished this book more out of stubbornness than enjoyment. This book is in the Lonely Lords Series, so if a person has read Lonely Lords 1 and 2, it is reasonable to expect that they will have all the information they need. However, for Burrows' books, each series is so intertwined with all the other series that no matter where you start or if you go in order, you never have the full picture or understand why this random characters is sticking their nose in other people's business, what the shared history is, or if the long pronouncements they make are referencing something the MC of this book had said in a previous book, or if Burrows' is just using a random side character (Gareth Marquess of Heathgate) to read Ethan's mind so that it can quickly be laid out for the reader to accept as fact because Heathgate said it rather than gradually having Ethan share his emotional state via conversations or via narration. The behavior of the neighbors makes leaps and jumps forward without reason. Ethan does not socialize with his neighbors for years, though he knows their names and one is an acquaintance from school. They arrive at a picnic, and instead of gradually building on acquaintanceship the neighbors are like "Great you're here! Now we will start arranging your life in ways we think will make you happy. Because we care about you so much!" Most of these neighbors are friends or acquaintances of Nick. All of these neighbors knew that Ethan was married and had two sons, and it wasn't like she was a secret prisoner in an attic so why wouldn't they mention her to Nick, even in passing? Because he didn't know for years. "My dear close friend Nick, How is your brother and his family faring?"
This is a reoccurring problem with Grace Burrows' romance novels, and the randomly important but only vaguely characterized side characters are off putting.
There is physical disability that shows up when convenient and disappears with some exercise and happiness. It is like a shadow by the end of the book. When it comes to Alice asking for accommodations so she can get places in relative physical and emotional comfort, Ethan has his own ideas. In the beginning he makes arrangements for her transportation without consulting her. Later he does consult her, but then over rules her. She's like "ANY other means of transport than riding a horse, no." Ethan: "I'll teach you to ride and I'll keep you safe." Alice: "no I don't want that." Ethan: "we can stop any time you say."
DUMBASS she already declined like 3 times by this point. And the book frames his handling of her disabilities as if they were thoughtful and necessary. BULLSHIT. But because Burrows wants his methods to be effective, they are. As someone who has hip pain like Alice how poorly it was written really pulled me out of the story.
Whether is is a physical injury or an emotional scar like Ethan has, I think recovery is more successful is it is lead by the survivor.
Imagine a rescue cat that you bring home from the shelter and it immediately hides under the bed or couch and only comes out to eat after all the humans have gone to bed. Several months pass, and the cat gradually allows itself to be seen by humans, and then will sit in the same room, but far away from the humans. A few more months pass, and the cat will now sit on the couch only a few feet away from a person and even enjoys a gentle ear scratch. Now imagine those humans grabbing the cat, shoving it into a harness and leash and dragging it outside because they insist that this is what it needs to heal and move on with its life.
That is how Gareth Marquess of Heathgate treats Ethan. He deserves better. I think it can be helpful to face trauma, and to try and hold perpetrators accountable, but let survivors do it at their own pace and on their own terms.
CW: discussions of rape, pedophilia, children in danger, falling from a horse, survivor's guilt, discussions of physical child abuse, manipulation into marriage.
This is a reoccurring problem with Grace Burrows' romance novels, and the randomly important but only vaguely characterized side characters are off putting.
There is physical disability that shows up when convenient and disappears with some exercise and happiness. It is like a shadow by the end of the book. When it comes to Alice asking for accommodations so she can get places in relative physical and emotional comfort, Ethan has his own ideas. In the beginning he makes arrangements for her transportation without consulting her. Later he does consult her, but then over rules her. She's like "ANY other means of transport than riding a horse, no." Ethan: "I'll teach you to ride and I'll keep you safe." Alice: "no I don't want that." Ethan: "we can stop any time you say."
DUMBASS she already declined like 3 times by this point. And the book frames his handling of her disabilities as if they were thoughtful and necessary. BULLSHIT. But because Burrows wants his methods to be effective, they are. As someone who has hip pain like Alice how poorly it was written really pulled me out of the story.
Whether is is a physical injury or an emotional scar like Ethan has, I think recovery is more successful is it is lead by the survivor.
Imagine a rescue cat that you bring home from the shelter and it immediately hides under the bed or couch and only comes out to eat after all the humans have gone to bed. Several months pass, and the cat gradually allows itself to be seen by humans, and then will sit in the same room, but far away from the humans. A few more months pass, and the cat will now sit on the couch only a few feet away from a person and even enjoys a gentle ear scratch. Now imagine those humans grabbing the cat, shoving it into a harness and leash and dragging it outside because they insist that this is what it needs to heal and move on with its life.
That is how Gareth Marquess of Heathgate treats Ethan. He deserves better. I think it can be helpful to face trauma, and to try and hold perpetrators accountable, but let survivors do it at their own pace and on their own terms.
CW: discussions of rape, pedophilia, children in danger, falling from a horse, survivor's guilt, discussions of physical child abuse, manipulation into marriage.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
gasoline_allie's review against another edition
4.0
I love Grace Burrowes. She excels at emotional romances, heavy on the hurt/comfort, that just tug at my heartstrings.
planetarypan's review against another edition
5.0
This novel is one of Burrowes's best so far. We first met Ethan in the story of Nicholas, as the older, bastard brother who was sent off to "public" school away from the rest of the family. We finally learn what happened that made him the man he is today -- dead wife he hated, two kids he barely knows, no interactions with anyone really. That story is awful and tragic, but no less so than that of the female protagonist, Alice. You end up aching for them, not just as a couple with the requisite misunderstanding, but particularly for Ethan's relationship with his brother. So not only do you see the HEA coming, you NEED it to come -- for everyone involved. Such a gorgeous story.