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winterreader40's review
3.0
Mallory has been in mourning for over a year and when family friend Adam shows up at a house party he makes it his mission to make her smile again. Adam has been pining for Mallory for 6 years, but he didn't want to push his way in when she was in mourning for her fiancée, now it's been long enough and she's starting to worry her family and friends.
I liked this friends to lovers/compromised sort of marriage, right up till the last chapter when she gives good grovel and his is just kind of meh, when he was the bigger ass of the 2 of them.
Even so this was still better than book 3 was in the fact that I didn't want to slap both characters for the majority of the story.
I liked this friends to lovers/compromised sort of marriage, right up till the last chapter when she gives good grovel and his is just kind of meh, when he was the bigger ass of the 2 of them.
Even so this was still better than book 3 was in the fact that I didn't want to slap both characters for the majority of the story.
baileams22's review
1.0
*MAJOR SPOILER* Can we start a petition asking historical romance authors to stop bringing soldiers who die at war back from the dead? The whole “I was found gravely wounded by our enemies and kept as a prisoner of war for years but I have finally returned to England” thing has been really played out.
I was really hoping to love this book because unrequited love is my all time favourite trope. This is a new to me author so I kept my expectations low and man did she limbo right under them. Let’s talk about Adam. When there’s an unrequited love plot I expect loads of pining, and Mallory’s grief over her dead fiancé was a perfect opportunity for some top notch pining. Instead, Adam decides that Mallory has been grieving too long (only a year for a man she loved and hoped to spend the rest of her life with) and is going to insert himself in all her free time and convince her to stop caring entirely for her dead fiancé and love him instead. I HATED how insensitive Adam was. I also hated that he fell in love with Mallory when she was a teenager and he was a grown ass adult. Like, he was just off to a really bad start.
And then a bunch of nothing happened. They were caught in a scandal and forced to marry. This whole book lacked direction and the pacing really dragged but the start of their marriage, which should be filled with delightful falling in love moments, was so boring. This was in part because nothing really happened, and also because these characters had zero chemistry.
But the absolute worst is when Mallory’s fiancé returns to London, not dead, and seeks out Mallory at her family home that her and Adam are visiting. Adam shows no sensitivity in telling Michael, the fiancé, that Mallory is now married. And to make matters worse, after Michael leaves Adam forbids Mallory from ever seeing him again, and refuses her when she asks if she can just reach out and explain the situation since Michael is surely confused and heartbroken. I don’t mind a little jealousy and possessiveness in a romance novel but I hate when the hero thinks he has the right to dictate what a heroine can and cannot do. And Mallory is so weak and boring that she just accepts this! She waits months before reaching out to the man she once loved to explain why she married and that they can’t see each other anymore. When Michael replies Adam intercepts the letter, reads it, and burns it! What a piece of shit! He also plans to have the butler intercept all of Mallory’s future letters so that she can no longer have any contact with Michael. When the third act breakup finally happens I honestly didn’t want Mallory to go back to Adam because he’s such a possessive and domineering piece of shit. You know the hero is bad when you hope the heroine runs off with her ex. But no, Mallory actually apologizes to him which was the defining moment when I decided not to read any more from this author because I cannot stand stupid women who think men are allowed to do abusive things so long as their doing it out of passion or whatever.
All in all, absolute trash book.
I was really hoping to love this book because unrequited love is my all time favourite trope. This is a new to me author so I kept my expectations low and man did she limbo right under them. Let’s talk about Adam. When there’s an unrequited love plot I expect loads of pining, and Mallory’s grief over her dead fiancé was a perfect opportunity for some top notch pining. Instead, Adam decides that Mallory has been grieving too long (only a year for a man she loved and hoped to spend the rest of her life with) and is going to insert himself in all her free time and convince her to stop caring entirely for her dead fiancé and love him instead. I HATED how insensitive Adam was. I also hated that he fell in love with Mallory when she was a teenager and he was a grown ass adult. Like, he was just off to a really bad start.
And then a bunch of nothing happened. They were caught in a scandal and forced to marry. This whole book lacked direction and the pacing really dragged but the start of their marriage, which should be filled with delightful falling in love moments, was so boring. This was in part because nothing really happened, and also because these characters had zero chemistry.
But the absolute worst is when Mallory’s fiancé returns to London, not dead, and seeks out Mallory at her family home that her and Adam are visiting. Adam shows no sensitivity in telling Michael, the fiancé, that Mallory is now married. And to make matters worse, after Michael leaves Adam forbids Mallory from ever seeing him again, and refuses her when she asks if she can just reach out and explain the situation since Michael is surely confused and heartbroken. I don’t mind a little jealousy and possessiveness in a romance novel but I hate when the hero thinks he has the right to dictate what a heroine can and cannot do. And Mallory is so weak and boring that she just accepts this! She waits months before reaching out to the man she once loved to explain why she married and that they can’t see each other anymore. When Michael replies Adam intercepts the letter, reads it, and burns it! What a piece of shit! He also plans to have the butler intercept all of Mallory’s future letters so that she can no longer have any contact with Michael. When the third act breakup finally happens I honestly didn’t want Mallory to go back to Adam because he’s such a possessive and domineering piece of shit. You know the hero is bad when you hope the heroine runs off with her ex. But no, Mallory actually apologizes to him which was the defining moment when I decided not to read any more from this author because I cannot stand stupid women who think men are allowed to do abusive things so long as their doing it out of passion or whatever.
All in all, absolute trash book.
zenithharpink's review
3.0
This one was a tiny bit better than others in the series, but still disappointing. I love Tracy Anne Warren, and this series just wasn't good!
As a generic romance novel if you have low expectations this won't disappoint.
As a generic romance novel if you have low expectations this won't disappoint.
heyhaley17's review
2.0
As usual I enjoyed the characters but I skimmed alot out of boredom. Nothing interesting ever happened and when it did it didn't make much sense and really ruined the development of the characters.
encyclopediabritanika's review
2.0
What a disappointing turn for a character I quite liked. Things were going so well and then we have a return from the dead and insane jealousy that made me quite uncomfortable ever forgiving. Just turned all on its head and went downhill so fast. What a disappointment
romantically_swept_away's review
4.0
*all of my reviews contain possible spoilers*
**NOTE: This review is written using my old process. Which is just me chatting about the book. All new reviews starting in 2022 will be written with my easy to read, easy to understand, review layout!
This was another great addition to The Byrons of Braebourne series. Only one book left! I'm feeling slightly forlorn. I can't say it is my favorite series ever, but it's a very memorable and lovely series none-the-less. With an amazing family and characters!
In this book we have Adam Gresham (uh, love that name!) who has been in love with Mallory Byron for years. Mallory once harbored a love for Adam but quickly put it aside due to his lack of interest and his treatment of her as a "child". This was due to the fact that, yes, she was yet a child, a young girl, in many ways, and also the fact that he did not want to be seen as a fortune hunter due to his current financial situation. All of this, on top of the fact that he was best friends with her brother, and friends with his other brothers, essentially a part of their family, he quickly pushed his feelings deep down and did an amazing job at hiding them over the years.
During the first few books we get little slivers where we see Adam looking at Mallory from afar, slight glances and very obvious insinuations that there is something more there on Adam's behalf, than just friendly emotions for Mallory. Surprisingly no one ever really realizes it or says anything.
Mallory is engaged during this time, to Michael Hargreaves. Who goes off to war and dies. We come into this book about a year later, Mallory has done much grieving and still grieves, just in a less tearful way than the beginning. Adam comes and visits with Mallory and her family and helps Mallory start to find happiness again. Mallory slowly developes feelings for Adam, and they grow and evolve the more their story goes on. Eventually Mallory realizes her love for him was always there, and that even though she had loved Michael it was a different kind of love. And that her love for Adam was the kind that Michael deserved from a wife. The kind that she did not truly have for him. In the end she realized she would always care for Michael, but only as a friend.
BIG SPOILER --
Adam struggles with his love for Mallory. Feeling as if he has to fight with a ghost for her love. He begins to hope that her feelings may be becoming more, and both him and Mallory are finding true happiness together, when Michael returns. He shows up one day and explains how he had been wounded on the battlefield. His clothing and possessions had been stolen, and the thief had died with them on his person. Thus Michael had been announced as dead, all the while he was in a French prison. (I do not lie when I say that I called this at the beginning! I didn't know it would actually happen but I had told myself "Watch he's not actually dead" and low-and-behold, he wasn't!
**NOTE: This review is written using my old process. Which is just me chatting about the book. All new reviews starting in 2022 will be written with my easy to read, easy to understand, review layout!
This was another great addition to The Byrons of Braebourne series. Only one book left! I'm feeling slightly forlorn. I can't say it is my favorite series ever, but it's a very memorable and lovely series none-the-less. With an amazing family and characters!
In this book we have Adam Gresham (uh, love that name!) who has been in love with Mallory Byron for years. Mallory once harbored a love for Adam but quickly put it aside due to his lack of interest and his treatment of her as a "child". This was due to the fact that, yes, she was yet a child, a young girl, in many ways, and also the fact that he did not want to be seen as a fortune hunter due to his current financial situation. All of this, on top of the fact that he was best friends with her brother, and friends with his other brothers, essentially a part of their family, he quickly pushed his feelings deep down and did an amazing job at hiding them over the years.
During the first few books we get little slivers where we see Adam looking at Mallory from afar, slight glances and very obvious insinuations that there is something more there on Adam's behalf, than just friendly emotions for Mallory. Surprisingly no one ever really realizes it or says anything.
Mallory is engaged during this time, to Michael Hargreaves. Who goes off to war and dies. We come into this book about a year later, Mallory has done much grieving and still grieves, just in a less tearful way than the beginning. Adam comes and visits with Mallory and her family and helps Mallory start to find happiness again. Mallory slowly developes feelings for Adam, and they grow and evolve the more their story goes on. Eventually Mallory realizes her love for him was always there, and that even though she had loved Michael it was a different kind of love. And that her love for Adam was the kind that Michael deserved from a wife. The kind that she did not truly have for him. In the end she realized she would always care for Michael, but only as a friend.
BIG SPOILER --
Adam struggles with his love for Mallory. Feeling as if he has to fight with a ghost for her love. He begins to hope that her feelings may be becoming more, and both him and Mallory are finding true happiness together, when Michael returns. He shows up one day and explains how he had been wounded on the battlefield. His clothing and possessions had been stolen, and the thief had died with them on his person. Thus Michael had been announced as dead, all the while he was in a French prison. (I do not lie when I say that I called this at the beginning! I didn't know it would actually happen but I had told myself "Watch he's not actually dead" and low-and-behold, he wasn't!
librarydanielle's review
3.0
it was good until the "twist" inserted at the end. which I found annoying.
ssejig's review
3.0
Mallory Byron lost her fiancé and has been in a deep depression ever since. Her family, including the "mad, bad, dangerous" Byron brothers, are worried. The only one who seems to be able to even drag a small smile from her is a friend of her brother's, Adam, the Earl of Gresham. He's comforting her one night and falls asleep. Totally innocent but it causes a big brouhaha and the two are wed. Of course, Adam isn't that upset because he's been in love with Mallory forever.
Fun story, will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
Fun story, will definitely be reading the rest of the series.