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ashlaz's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kiwicoral's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars but I'll round up since it was well written and enjoyable.
The heroine and hero were fine. They had great chemistry together. But I didn't enjoy their banter as much as I did the couple in [b:Fool Me Twice|18143986|Fool Me Twice (Rules for the Reckless, #2)|Meredith Duran|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1379585048s/18143986.jpg|25491311]. And with two amazing supporting characters overshadowing the leads, I wanted to read their book, which fortunately is next.
This book took awhile to get going, and I was worried the mystery plot would overwhelm the whole book, but fortunately it didn't remain the focus for too long.
The heroine and hero were fine. They had great chemistry together. But I didn't enjoy their banter as much as I did the couple in [b:Fool Me Twice|18143986|Fool Me Twice (Rules for the Reckless, #2)|Meredith Duran|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1379585048s/18143986.jpg|25491311]. And with two amazing supporting characters overshadowing the leads, I wanted to read their book, which fortunately is next.
This book took awhile to get going, and I was worried the mystery plot would overwhelm the whole book, but fortunately it didn't remain the focus for too long.
noum's review against another edition
4.0
A very melodramatic plot that felt very OTT (yes, I know this is a romance novel, still) but such enjoyable characters, with such chemistry and so many scenes fraught with the best tension, rawwwr. It's too bad the conflict provided wasn't because of internal forces but external ones, and such ridiculous ones too.
A solid read that sadly felt a bit too formulaic in its development, especially since the interesting characters could have easily done without the contrived melodrama of the plot.
I can't see how I'll be reading the next installment however, considering it'll likely feature the mafioso uncle who blackmailed his niece and happily teared down what life she'd built for herself as the hero. Now, I like antiheroes all right, but there's something too repulsive about the possessive, patronizing way he treated his niece, and the way all seemed forgiven and forgotten by the end of the novel, even though he'd done nothing to earn such things.
A solid read that sadly felt a bit too formulaic in its development, especially since the interesting characters could have easily done without the contrived melodrama of the plot.
malin12ccf's review against another edition
4.0
Lily Monroe is trying to make a better life for herself, working hard to acheive the dreams her dead sister had for them about becoming a respectable gentlewoman and rising above their poor backgrounds in London's East End. She now calls herself Lilah Marshall and is one of the hostesses at Everleigh's Auction House, making a decent living. Unfortunately, her uncle needs her to do him one last favour, involving the use of some of her thieving skills to acquire some documents. Lilah's dirty deed is witnessed by one of the auction house's prominent customers, Viscount Palmer, who doesn't hesitate to blackmail her for assistance with his own business.
A lauded war hero, Christian "Kit" Stratton is the toast of London. He is desperate to stop the madman who has sworn to kill each and every member of Christian's family and after discovering a distinctive candlestick at the Everleigh Auction Rooms, it is obvious its owners have a connection with his enemy. Now Palmer needs to get close to Miss Catherine Everleigh, and after discovering that her trusted employee, Miss Marshall has a nefarious past, he is more than willing to use one woman to get close to the other. Tempting Miss Everleigh with a house full of antiquities he needs to have appraised, he insists that the enigmatic Lilah Marshall come with her as her assistant. He wants to Lilah to steal any correspondence of Catherine's and show it to him, or he will reveal her true background and most likely get her fired.
While Catherine initially has little time for Lilah and mostly seems to detest her, certainly complicates matters somewhat. Christian also claims that he intends to propose marriage to Miss Everleigh, but it's Lilah he really seems to be forming a connection with, as she meets him in his office every evening to report on Miss Everleigh's correspondence.
[a:Meredith Duran|1330133|Meredith Duran|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1430846212p2/1330133.jpg] always tends to go for heroes with dark pasts and complicated emotional issues. Kit is celebrated as a war hero wherever he goes, but was captured after a battle, tortured and lives with the knowledge that a madman with a deep personal grudge against him had his older brother murdered. Always meant to be the spare, Kit feels unprepared for the duties of the title and holdings he now possesses and he struggles to keep his mother and his sister safe, without being able to confide in them about his fears.
In Lilah Kit recognises someone else who presents a cheerful and spotless exterior to the world, while all manner of interesting secrets rumble under the surface. He doesn't feel the need to act the hero with her, instead acting in a very underhanded and imperious fashion, hoping to keep her from growing as attached to him as he is getting to her. Knowing that anyone close to him could be his nemesis' next victim makes him cautious, but Lilah's background and experience has made her strong and resourceful, and she refuses to be coddled or protected.
While I occasionally found the plot in turns a bit slow then convoluted, I really enjoyed this book. I didn't love it as much as [b:Fool Me Twice|18143986|Fool Me Twice (Rules for the Reckless, #2)|Meredith Duran|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1379585048s/18143986.jpg|25491311], her last one, but as I consider that one of the best romances I've read in years, it was going to struggle to measure up. Since I'm about a month behind on my reviews, I actually have the sequel to this, featuring the romance between Catherine Everleigh and Lilah's mob boss uncle already lined up on my E-reader. They have an interesting encounter in the latter half of this book, and I'm looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops.
A lauded war hero, Christian "Kit" Stratton is the toast of London. He is desperate to stop the madman who has sworn to kill each and every member of Christian's family and after discovering a distinctive candlestick at the Everleigh Auction Rooms, it is obvious its owners have a connection with his enemy. Now Palmer needs to get close to Miss Catherine Everleigh, and after discovering that her trusted employee, Miss Marshall has a nefarious past, he is more than willing to use one woman to get close to the other. Tempting Miss Everleigh with a house full of antiquities he needs to have appraised, he insists that the enigmatic Lilah Marshall come with her as her assistant. He wants to Lilah to steal any correspondence of Catherine's and show it to him, or he will reveal her true background and most likely get her fired.
While Catherine initially has little time for Lilah and mostly seems to detest her, certainly complicates matters somewhat. Christian also claims that he intends to propose marriage to Miss Everleigh, but it's Lilah he really seems to be forming a connection with, as she meets him in his office every evening to report on Miss Everleigh's correspondence.
[a:Meredith Duran|1330133|Meredith Duran|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1430846212p2/1330133.jpg] always tends to go for heroes with dark pasts and complicated emotional issues. Kit is celebrated as a war hero wherever he goes, but was captured after a battle, tortured and lives with the knowledge that a madman with a deep personal grudge against him had his older brother murdered. Always meant to be the spare, Kit feels unprepared for the duties of the title and holdings he now possesses and he struggles to keep his mother and his sister safe, without being able to confide in them about his fears.
In Lilah Kit recognises someone else who presents a cheerful and spotless exterior to the world, while all manner of interesting secrets rumble under the surface. He doesn't feel the need to act the hero with her, instead acting in a very underhanded and imperious fashion, hoping to keep her from growing as attached to him as he is getting to her. Knowing that anyone close to him could be his nemesis' next victim makes him cautious, but Lilah's background and experience has made her strong and resourceful, and she refuses to be coddled or protected.
While I occasionally found the plot in turns a bit slow then convoluted, I really enjoyed this book. I didn't love it as much as [b:Fool Me Twice|18143986|Fool Me Twice (Rules for the Reckless, #2)|Meredith Duran|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1379585048s/18143986.jpg|25491311], her last one, but as I consider that one of the best romances I've read in years, it was going to struggle to measure up. Since I'm about a month behind on my reviews, I actually have the sequel to this, featuring the romance between Catherine Everleigh and Lilah's mob boss uncle already lined up on my E-reader. They have an interesting encounter in the latter half of this book, and I'm looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops.
thepassionatereader's review against another edition
3.0
This is a hard book for me to rate. I love Ms. Duran's writing and the complexity of her characters. And yet, I kept putting down this book and not feeling an urge to snatch it up again. The leads remained at a remove for me. I liked them but didn't feel them--unlike many of Ms. Duran's other heroes and heroines. I sense I may come back and raise this rating to four stars but now, when the book is in my very recent past, I'm underwhelmed.
rhodered's review against another edition
3.0
Meredith Duran is one of the better historic romance writers, which in turn, unfairly, raises my expectations of her books. This was well enough written from a technical standpoint, but I just didn't buy the characters. A clever, elite, female thief, a clever, elite, female antique appraiser, a clever, elite, former male soldier, and a clever Russian villain all converge for a story of romantic suspense with a hearty side order of feminism a la 1896. All of them, except for the bad guy who looks like a white bearded Napolean, are stunningly attractive, in their mid-20s to very early 30s and single.
I just didn't feel it, even though I actually liked everyone (aside from the villain who is crazy sauce too much). And there were lots of nice bits, plus banter, plus historic notes.
I kept going though because everyone warned me this book is a set up for the next one in the series - far more, in fact, than Duran normally does. They were right, without this one, the next would not have resonated so strongly. And that one kept me up nearly all night reading!
I just didn't feel it, even though I actually liked everyone (aside from the villain who is crazy sauce too much). And there were lots of nice bits, plus banter, plus historic notes.
I kept going though because everyone warned me this book is a set up for the next one in the series - far more, in fact, than Duran normally does. They were right, without this one, the next would not have resonated so strongly. And that one kept me up nearly all night reading!
aditiparashar's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 53%. Something just wasn’t clicking. The pacing might have been off for my taste or the characterizations.
julieputty's review against another edition
3.0
Read a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to review. Not a promising start, but it pulls together into something pretty decent.
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