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carryontae's review
3.0
I thought this book was going to go in a different direction than it did, but I still liked it well enough. Lynette was my favourite kind of female lead--tough and independent and empathetic. She didn't take any shit, but she didn't stoop to being petty with people for no reason. Even when she thought she had cause [like with the other Marlock brides and with Jenny] she didn't stop being kind. Or badass. Her interactions with Dunworth and Adrian and the baroness were lovely solely because of how intuitive she was. Also, she embraced her sexuality which was a huge bonus. There was the usual "what is happening to me, this is a sin" thing, but she came to terms with it fairly easily. Plus all her questions were kinda hilarious. [I haven't taken notes, but everything she said to Adrian at Jenny's brothel was amazing.]
Not gonna lie, Adrian made my heart break a lot. Yeah, what he does to get paid is despicable. There's no way to argue that. But you also got to see his side of things, and even though it doesn't reduce how appalling his chosen "profession" is, you do end up feeling bad for him. Or at the very least, you're sad about his circumstances and what led him to his really awful path in life. And it helped that he was pretty much constantly miserable with what he'd been doing. You don't get too many instances with male leads and genuine remorse, and in this book, there was a decent amount of the male lead crying, which I LOVED. [Toxic masculinity is the worst and needs to die in a fire.]
The ending was kinda rushed IMO, especially given how evenly paced the rest of the book was. We went from "I can't marry you because of reasons" to "I'm marrying you, to hell with reasons" in like one chapter [which, okay, is pretty typical of romance novels so I'll give it a pass.] The rushed part came into play with how the whole situation was resolved. It didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but it was pretty close. I mean, obviously I'm happy everything worked out, but it did blindside me just a bit.
Things I didn't like:
- previous Marlock brides' jealousy/the baroness' jealousy at the end of the book [come on, Agatha, she's literally being sold to the supposed man of your dreams and you're sitting there being envious of where she is in life? Your dreamboat paid for her and your nephew likes her and that's somehow a thing to be jealous of? Nope.]
- the whole Agatha for Lynette thing that happened at the end.
- also, the way Lynette and Adrian ended up together. I was hoping we'd see her marry the guy she was sold to, live out her Marlock bride life and wind up with Adrian after she'd become a widow and he'd put his estate back to rights. Maybe it's the angst lover in me, but that would have been a really upsetting turn of events. More dramatic, yeah, but we wouldn't have had all the jealousy from the other women.
- seriously, I did not like all the woman-hating that seemed to come out of nowhere in certain scenes, it made me very uncomfortable, especially given that all the hate was because of (the lack of) a man.
- the way Lynette went from not wanting kids because she didn't like children in general to wanting kids because "Adrian's children will be different." There's nothing wrong with women who don't want kids. And the logic at play here makes no sense. Especially in this book where kids didn't seem to be a priority for Adrian either.
Total rating: 3.5/5 stars
Not gonna lie, Adrian made my heart break a lot. Yeah, what he does to get paid is despicable. There's no way to argue that. But you also got to see his side of things, and even though it doesn't reduce how appalling his chosen "profession" is, you do end up feeling bad for him. Or at the very least, you're sad about his circumstances and what led him to his really awful path in life. And it helped that he was pretty much constantly miserable with what he'd been doing. You don't get too many instances with male leads and genuine remorse, and in this book, there was a decent amount of the male lead crying, which I LOVED. [Toxic masculinity is the worst and needs to die in a fire.]
The ending was kinda rushed IMO, especially given how evenly paced the rest of the book was. We went from "I can't marry you because of reasons" to "I'm marrying you, to hell with reasons" in like one chapter [which, okay, is pretty typical of romance novels so I'll give it a pass.] The rushed part came into play with how the whole situation was resolved. It didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but it was pretty close. I mean, obviously I'm happy everything worked out, but it did blindside me just a bit.
Things I didn't like:
- previous Marlock brides' jealousy/the baroness' jealousy at the end of the book [come on, Agatha, she's literally being sold to the supposed man of your dreams and you're sitting there being envious of where she is in life? Your dreamboat paid for her and your nephew likes her and that's somehow a thing to be jealous of? Nope.]
- the whole Agatha for Lynette thing that happened at the end.
- also, the way Lynette and Adrian ended up together. I was hoping we'd see her marry the guy she was sold to, live out her Marlock bride life and wind up with Adrian after she'd become a widow and he'd put his estate back to rights. Maybe it's the angst lover in me, but that would have been a really upsetting turn of events. More dramatic, yeah, but we wouldn't have had all the jealousy from the other women.
- seriously, I did not like all the woman-hating that seemed to come out of nowhere in certain scenes, it made me very uncomfortable, especially given that all the hate was because of (the lack of) a man.
- the way Lynette went from not wanting kids because she didn't like children in general to wanting kids because "Adrian's children will be different." There's nothing wrong with women who don't want kids. And the logic at play here makes no sense. Especially in this book where kids didn't seem to be a priority for Adrian either.
Total rating: 3.5/5 stars
dumblydore's review
3.0
There's something a bit rigid and hollow about the characters and the writing—it's like they're forced into being what they are and if they do change it seems farcical or out of character (!). I can't articulate my impression... Needless to say, I was glad when the novel was over. I've enjoyed Lee's Tigress series a lot more.
Rating: 2.5/5
Rating: 2.5/5
circe813's review
3.0
Take one desperate woman, add an impoverished rake who thinks he knows the marriage mart, and throw in some family drama. Stir vigorously. Pour a non-surprise twist in at the end. Bake for about an hour and 22 minutes. Serve with a side of cynical sarcasm.
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