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earthboundcutie's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
Rounding it up to a 4 because I really do love Courtney Milan. However I didn't completely love the progression of the love story. The pacing just felt off, fairly slow for the whole book and then rushed at the end. I didn't fully believe all the emotions.
That being said it was really fun and I wasn't disappointed after waiting so long for this one to come out.
Rounding it up to a 4 because I really do love Courtney Milan. However I didn't completely love the progression of the love story. The pacing just felt off, fairly slow for the whole book and then rushed at the end. I didn't fully believe all the emotions.
That being said it was really fun and I wasn't disappointed after waiting so long for this one to come out.
yourbookishbff's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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? No
4.5
Once again, the social and political commentary in this is so expertly done and so nuanced. Our biracial and Black male main character navigates (and even explains) code switching on page, and provides a unique contrast to the code switching of our female main character, who is white and formerly of the nobility, but now must navigate life in the servant/working class. The intersections of race, class difference and gender are explicitly examined through the story.
I struggled with the third-act conflict and wished for a bit more apology/grovel in one scene, but ultimately these two characters navigate a rocky path to a truly beautiful happily ever after. And the resolution of the family separation was heart wrenching in the best way.
I loved the audio production, but will note that Milan's author note is not included in narration and well worth reading, as she reflects on her lived experiences that informed key plot points. It is available on her website to read in full.
I struggled with the third-act conflict and wished for a bit more apology/grovel in one scene, but ultimately these two characters navigate a rocky path to a truly beautiful happily ever after. And the resolution of the family separation was heart wrenching in the best way.
I loved the audio production, but will note that Milan's author note is not included in narration and well worth reading, as she reflects on her lived experiences that informed key plot points. It is available on her website to read in full.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual assault
jess_justmaybeperfect's review
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Slavery and War
ipomoea's review against another edition
4.0
I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It's been a while, so if you haven't recently read Once Upon A Marquess, go reread it to refresh yourself for this one.
While I'm always game for one of the zillions of dukes lying around historical romance's England, Courtney Milan's ability to write about the everyday people is refreshing. Camilla is that poor relation that gets passed around- first to distant family, then as a "companion", and finally, as a fallen woman/maid. She carries her family's secret close to her heart, that her father was executed for treason and her sister has married into a title. After all, when she turned her back on her family at 12 for dresses and tarts, why would they want her back?
Adrian is the child of abolitionists, a black man in England, and runs a ceramics/pottery factory on his family's land. His uncle is a (I think ) bishop and, in hopes of being recognized as his family, Adrian poses as a rival bishop's valet, where of course he meets Camilla, and then there's a wedding... at gunpoint (and nobody is pregnant!).
Camilla's story and character made me cry, like maybe more than usual, because Milan is so good at writing characters that life kicks down, yet they never stop believing in their worth (har har). At points I felt like the conflict about her family was a little forced, but I'm willing to roll with it for this level of skill in writing.
I wanted to know a LOT more about Adrian, his parents, and his family-- "child of abolitionists, brothers dead in the civil war" is not a lot, and felt like it could use a whole book on its own.
I'm going to recommend this book, but only if people have read the first in the series, because I don't feel it could stand on its own otherwise, which I hate to say about any of Milan's books.
It's been a while, so if you haven't recently read Once Upon A Marquess, go reread it to refresh yourself for this one.
While I'm always game for one of the zillions of dukes lying around historical romance's England, Courtney Milan's ability to write about the everyday people is refreshing. Camilla is that poor relation that gets passed around- first to distant family, then as a "companion", and finally, as a fallen woman/maid. She carries her family's secret close to her heart, that her father was executed for treason and her sister has married into a title. After all, when she turned her back on her family at 12 for dresses and tarts, why would they want her back?
Adrian is the child of abolitionists, a black man in England, and runs a ceramics/pottery factory on his family's land. His uncle is a (I think ) bishop and, in hopes of being recognized as his family, Adrian poses as a rival bishop's valet, where of course he meets Camilla, and then there's a wedding... at gunpoint (and nobody is pregnant!).
Camilla's story and character made me cry, like maybe more than usual, because Milan is so good at writing characters that life kicks down, yet they never stop believing in their worth (har har). At points I felt like the conflict about her family was a little forced, but I'm willing to roll with it for this level of skill in writing.
I wanted to know a LOT more about Adrian, his parents, and his family-- "child of abolitionists, brothers dead in the civil war" is not a lot, and felt like it could use a whole book on its own.
I'm going to recommend this book, but only if people have read the first in the series, because I don't feel it could stand on its own otherwise, which I hate to say about any of Milan's books.
tessanne's review against another edition
2.0
This just is not up to the Courtney Milan level I’ve come to know and love. The story was interesting as were the characters, but it was super repetitive. The heroine’s thoughts were all the same, over and over again. Was an editor missing? And the hero was mostly lovely, but he sure made some idiotic—and really shocking—decisions.
I did like that the bad guys got their comeuppance.
I did like that the bad guys got their comeuppance.
readingwithstardust's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars? I feel like this book could've used a trim. Because it's Courtney Milan, I absolutely adored the characters and the central tension of the novel was -chefs kiss- however it was... repetitive. Too many internal monologues from both of the MCs repeating the same thoughts over and over again which isn't unrealistic but gets less interesting to read the more times you have to read thru a near identical thought spiral. Has me a little concerned about continuing on to book 3 but we're gonna give it a shot anyway.
anna_23's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cmf11's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
This was way too long. I didn’t really care about the characters and a lot of things kept getting repeated a bunch of times to the point where one statement was the characters whole personality.
This was way too long. I didn’t really care about the characters and a lot of things kept getting repeated a bunch of times to the point where one statement was the characters whole personality.
falulatonks's review against another edition
5.0
4 stars on the romance, but 5 for everything surrounding it that knocked it all up a notch - as almost always with Milan, I guess. But man, I loved this - it starts a little slow, but I couldn't stop reading it after I hit Chapter 4 or so.
I really loved Camilla; as miserable as parts of her backstory were, and as much as you could see certain parts of it shaping her, you could see the exact aspects of her character that kept her afloat. I really loved Adrian, and how good and loving and trusting he is, and how his emotional clumsiness can lead him to both good and bad. And I adored them together - the honesty, the push and pull, the fact that the climax of their romance had her ask things of him in a way I don't always see in romances!
I felt myself being weighed down by the plot in places, in that I was asked to keep track of things I wasn't really interested in pursuing, but the little spirals that the story took me down were wonderful and detailed in a really careful, loving way. I especially dug the way Milan drew attention to these little support structures that exist outside of white, high-ranking men - the women, the artists, the workers. It's also really cool to see the choice being made to start within peerage but for each character to shift further and further out, especially because the dynamics and navigation of class presents themselves really clearly in this specific story, with this specific family. (The other great historical romance writer I can think of who writes about romances outside of the norm is Rose Lerner!!)
Finally, and the most important, most score-defining thing thing: I get so snippy about books in romance series that linger around characters that aren't the two leads, but every bit of time spent with the other Worth siblings in this was gutting to me. What I loved most, I think(, and maybe what made the difference to me from other family series), is how readily Milan framed points of friction between them - there is really difficult, stubborn love here, for sure, but underneath that they also don't always like one another much, and I...love it? The closest I was brought to tears in this was actually across three scenes, all sibling-focused, and they were all super messy and I felt awful for all of them for getting one another so wrong. They all try so hard, but so badly, and so loathsomely! I LOVED IT.
Anyway, I just clicked through to see the covers of the other books in this series and I know who's going where and whom is going to be what and I'm so fucking excited. Back to the thing about centring on London society and then kind of unspooling from it - I really love how boundary-less you can tell the rest of the series will be. It feels like the whole world is ready to be trampled around in by these characters I really like already. I'm so excited!
I really loved Camilla; as miserable as parts of her backstory were, and as much as you could see certain parts of it shaping her, you could see the exact aspects of her character that kept her afloat. I really loved Adrian, and how good and loving and trusting he is, and how his emotional clumsiness can lead him to both good and bad. And I adored them together - the honesty, the push and pull, the fact that the climax of their romance had her ask things of him in a way I don't always see in romances!
I felt myself being weighed down by the plot in places, in that I was asked to keep track of things I wasn't really interested in pursuing, but the little spirals that the story took me down were wonderful and detailed in a really careful, loving way. I especially dug the way Milan drew attention to these little support structures that exist outside of white, high-ranking men - the women, the artists, the workers. It's also really cool to see the choice being made to start within peerage but for each character to shift further and further out, especially because the dynamics and navigation of class presents themselves really clearly in this specific story, with this specific family. (The other great historical romance writer I can think of who writes about romances outside of the norm is Rose Lerner!!)
Finally, and the most important, most score-defining thing thing: I get so snippy about books in romance series that linger around characters that aren't the two leads, but every bit of time spent with the other Worth siblings in this was gutting to me. What I loved most, I think(, and maybe what made the difference to me from other family series), is how readily Milan framed points of friction between them - there is really difficult, stubborn love here, for sure, but underneath that they also don't always like one another much, and I...love it? The closest I was brought to tears in this was actually across three scenes, all sibling-focused, and they were all super messy and I felt awful for all of them for getting one another so wrong. They all try so hard, but so badly, and so loathsomely! I LOVED IT.
Anyway, I just clicked through to see the covers of the other books in this series and I know who's going where and whom is going to be what and I'm so fucking excited. Back to the thing about centring on London society and then kind of unspooling from it - I really love how boundary-less you can tell the rest of the series will be. It feels like the whole world is ready to be trampled around in by these characters I really like already. I'm so excited!