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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was cute! A quick and easy, low smut romance with a female main character over the age of 30..
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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:
Complicated
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
This romance, featuring the statue of a medieval knight who comes to life and the museum conservator working to restore him, was somehow both more ridiculous and less ridiculous than I anticipated. š
The author says she took some liberties with āGriffinās speech patterns, because if he really spoke like someone from the early 1400ās, he and Emily would struggle even more to understand each other.ā And thatās all well and goodā¦but I donāt want medieval speech patterns invading my pillow talk (āmeseemsā, āmethinksā, āmy lordā), liberties taken or not! So, the spicy bits didnāt quite work for me (but I think they would have otherwise). Fortunately, the art heist bit really *did* work. I thought it was super fun!
Iād read more by this author. I think sheās funny *and* committed to her research. Iāll be interested to see what she does next!
The author says she took some liberties with āGriffinās speech patterns, because if he really spoke like someone from the early 1400ās, he and Emily would struggle even more to understand each other.ā And thatās all well and goodā¦but I donāt want medieval speech patterns invading my pillow talk (āmeseemsā, āmethinksā, āmy lordā), liberties taken or not! So, the spicy bits didnāt quite work for me (but I think they would have otherwise). Fortunately, the art heist bit really *did* work. I thought it was super fun!
Iād read more by this author. I think sheās funny *and* committed to her research. Iāll be interested to see what she does next!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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:
Complicated
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
OKAY, so! This was a pretty entertaining read, at least initially. The author does a decent job of portraying Griffin as a genuine fish out of water in the modern world, and the details about medieval life that his character tackles seem to align with whatās historically known about the period, so: that partās not half-bad.
As for the rest of the story, wellā¦ Thatās where things fall apart a bit. The love storyās all well and good, of course, but itās all pretty standard for this sort of story, and isnāt all that gripping. Not to say itās a bad love story, itās justā¦bland, I guess? Part of the reason might be that Emily and Griffin just arenāt very intriguing characters, which is kind of a pity because I can easily imagine them being so; they just didnāt feel as fleshed out as I think they could have been in this book. What characterization there is, is enough for a romance to happen between them, and for that romance to be a mildly entertaining read, but aside from that, thereās not a lot there. Even the moments of drama between them arenāt interesting enough for me to linger, so I just glossed over them quickly to get to the next bit in the story, and found I hadnāt missed much by way of plot or detail in doing so.
Which is kind of a pity, to be honest, because I wanted this romance to be interesting. I know I picked it up for a fun bit of escapism but it really isnāt the kind of romance to keep me hooked. I guess thereās a reason I put it aside so easily when Dragon Age: The Veilguard came out and didnāt really think to pick it up again until now: no compelling reason to keep on reading to see how the romance turned out.
As for the rest of the story, wellā¦ Thatās where things fall apart a bit. The love storyās all well and good, of course, but itās all pretty standard for this sort of story, and isnāt all that gripping. Not to say itās a bad love story, itās justā¦bland, I guess? Part of the reason might be that Emily and Griffin just arenāt very intriguing characters, which is kind of a pity because I can easily imagine them being so; they just didnāt feel as fleshed out as I think they could have been in this book. What characterization there is, is enough for a romance to happen between them, and for that romance to be a mildly entertaining read, but aside from that, thereās not a lot there. Even the moments of drama between them arenāt interesting enough for me to linger, so I just glossed over them quickly to get to the next bit in the story, and found I hadnāt missed much by way of plot or detail in doing so.
Which is kind of a pity, to be honest, because I wanted this romance to be interesting. I know I picked it up for a fun bit of escapism but it really isnāt the kind of romance to keep me hooked. I guess thereās a reason I put it aside so easily when Dragon Age: The Veilguard came out and didnāt really think to pick it up again until now: no compelling reason to keep on reading to see how the romance turned out.
Another sad thing about this novel is that everything else around the romance is pretty engaging, but it doesnāt get put front and center or developed beyond a certain point because thatās not the point of this story. Emilyās work at the museum, for instance, was something I read about with interest. I was also fascinated by her co-workers - yes, even surly Laurie. I was also intrigued by her boss, Jason, and the nature of his work. Thereās a whole other story there, Iām sure, and itās the kind of story that Iād enjoy reading. Even Aaron and his work would be fun to read about. But sadly, given that these are all incidental pieces to the main event that is the romance, thereās not a very high chance that those stories will ever get expanded on, which, in my opinion, is a pity.
Overall, this is a story thatās functional, but I wouldnāt call it a story that lingers with the reader. I didnāt get an urge to finish it until very recently, which might not be fair, given that it was competing with a video game from a franchise I absolutely adore, but even before I paused reading it in favor of playing Veilguard it already had a tenuous hold on my attention. As a bit of fluffy fun, itās fine, but isnāt any more demanding than that. Many readers - even ardent readers of romance and romcoms - will likely put this aside once something else genuinely riveting comes their way.
Overall, this is a story thatās functional, but I wouldnāt call it a story that lingers with the reader. I didnāt get an urge to finish it until very recently, which might not be fair, given that it was competing with a video game from a franchise I absolutely adore, but even before I paused reading it in favor of playing Veilguard it already had a tenuous hold on my attention. As a bit of fluffy fun, itās fine, but isnāt any more demanding than that. Many readers - even ardent readers of romance and romcoms - will likely put this aside once something else genuinely riveting comes their way.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced