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isotope_s's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
So inherently, I love the idea of this book. Personally, I felt it was trying to be two things at once. A serious romance with high stakes while also simultaneously trying to be the light hearted romantic comedy with outrageous circumstances and “throw caution to the wind”.
Too much of the book is dedicated to the deception and trying to convince Hugh’s mother they’re in love for comedy, rather than them actually spending time together and accidentally falling in love. Which is what the name of the book implies. There should have been several opportunities in the week prior to Hugh’s mother to arrive for them to have little moments (considering the book only covers about 4 weeks). But instead we’re rushed through it and the most we get is Hugh hating bland soup, and Vee throwing tantrums. Sure we get the physical attraction and admiration, but not really the meat of why these two characters couldn’t be with two other nice people. What we should have got is at least 3-4 more scenes that felt private, intimate, and romantic like the dancing scene where Hugh teaches Minerva to dance the waltz (which is hands down probably the best interaction between them period).
This book has good pacing... if it was 100 or so pages longer. There’s a lot of padding here that should have been reduced and replaced with interactions, dialogue, and moments between Hugh and Minerva. When they set up the night/morning interactions, I figured; "OK, here's where they're going to fall for each other because they're spending several extra hours alone" but nothing comes of those meetings. There's a lot of time jumping in its place. In terms of what these much needed scenes could replace... well I have several ideas:
Removing Vee: too much is centered around her without any of her interactions serving to bring Hugh and Minerva together. Diana is a slight extension to this, as well as Giles.
Clip Giles: replace all his roles and conversations with Payne.
Cut Minerva's father: there’s plenty of circumstances where she and her sisters are impoverished without needing to bring her father back into it (both her parents died, he died in a factory accident, he broke the law and is in jail now, he literally just ran off and they never heard from him again—all of these are common and believable enough). The hammer was already coming down at the end, we didn’t need him to expedite it.
Axing Sarah: she doesn’t serve any plot except to make Minerva jealous and to move along the “you’re like your father Hugh and that’s a good thing!”. Which is not enough of a reason to keep her around. Side note in relation to Sarah: Hugh is supposed to be this generous and liberal person yet can't be enough of an adult to at least be polite to Sarah? It's not like she did anything wrong just by being his father's child out of wedlock. She's there at the end but serves no purpose.
Skip the sex: The sex scene is shoehorned into the book in the last 50 pages and should be skipped altogether in favor of a passionate but <i>short</i> kiss.
And the ending. Oh boy, the ending might be the most disappointing part of the whole thing. Several times I thought, “There’s less than X pages left for them to tie up all the loose ends…”. This is one of the worst ways to write books, the ending hits you like a train—I have whiplash from how quickly things turn from, “I can never have you” to “I’d rather die than hurt you”.
Then there's Hugh.
Hugh is likable at first, when you realize he’s hashtag not like other gentry—he cares about his tenants, he doesn’t want to cheat, he has a conscious! But the most insidious part of his character is not that he uses his lineage as an excuse to avoid commitment. It’s that at his core, like he says several times throughout the book, he’s selfish. And he never learns to not be selfish. He’s selfish several times and apologies, but that’s where it stops. He never reflects and changes, all the way up to the last scene where he proposes in front of everyone right after Minerva’s father makes his grand reentrance and Vee is literally bawling on the couch. This is what I mean when I say "selfish". What exactly was Hugh’s arc? Are we to believe what the character says it is (his ~blood~), or what his actions imply (selfish)?
Random:
Not sure if it’s just me, but whenever I hear the word “nice” in a book, I think of the Into the Woods song, “You’re just nice / you’re not good you’re not bad / you’re just nice.” So much to the point where I don’t consider it a compliment and more saying “you’re just boring” so the whole thing where they consider each other nice was soured for me.
Normally, I love the miscommunication trope. It's funny and exasperating and amps up the tension and angst. But this showcases it at its absolute worst.
All in all, it’s a no from me.
Too much of the book is dedicated to the deception and trying to convince Hugh’s mother they’re in love for comedy, rather than them actually spending time together and accidentally falling in love. Which is what the name of the book implies. There should have been several opportunities in the week prior to Hugh’s mother to arrive for them to have little moments (considering the book only covers about 4 weeks). But instead we’re rushed through it and the most we get is Hugh hating bland soup, and Vee throwing tantrums. Sure we get the physical attraction and admiration, but not really the meat of why these two characters couldn’t be with two other nice people. What we should have got is at least 3-4 more scenes that felt private, intimate, and romantic like the dancing scene where Hugh teaches Minerva to dance the waltz (which is hands down probably the best interaction between them period).
This book has good pacing... if it was 100 or so pages longer. There’s a lot of padding here that should have been reduced and replaced with interactions, dialogue, and moments between Hugh and Minerva. When they set up the night/morning interactions, I figured; "OK, here's where they're going to fall for each other because they're spending several extra hours alone" but nothing comes of those meetings. There's a lot of time jumping in its place. In terms of what these much needed scenes could replace... well I have several ideas:
Removing Vee: too much is centered around her without any of her interactions serving to bring Hugh and Minerva together. Diana is a slight extension to this, as well as Giles.
Clip Giles: replace all his roles and conversations with Payne.
Cut Minerva's father: there’s plenty of circumstances where she and her sisters are impoverished without needing to bring her father back into it (both her parents died, he died in a factory accident, he broke the law and is in jail now, he literally just ran off and they never heard from him again—all of these are common and believable enough). The hammer was already coming down at the end, we didn’t need him to expedite it.
Axing Sarah: she doesn’t serve any plot except to make Minerva jealous and to move along the “you’re like your father Hugh and that’s a good thing!”. Which is not enough of a reason to keep her around. Side note in relation to Sarah: Hugh is supposed to be this generous and liberal person yet can't be enough of an adult to at least be polite to Sarah? It's not like she did anything wrong just by being his father's child out of wedlock. She's there at the end but serves no purpose.
Skip the sex: The sex scene is shoehorned into the book in the last 50 pages and should be skipped altogether in favor of a passionate but <i>short</i> kiss.
And the ending. Oh boy, the ending might be the most disappointing part of the whole thing. Several times I thought, “There’s less than X pages left for them to tie up all the loose ends…”. This is one of the worst ways to write books, the ending hits you like a train—I have whiplash from how quickly things turn from, “I can never have you” to “I’d rather die than hurt you”.
Then there's Hugh.
Hugh is likable at first, when you realize he’s hashtag not like other gentry—he cares about his tenants, he doesn’t want to cheat, he has a conscious! But the most insidious part of his character is not that he uses his lineage as an excuse to avoid commitment. It’s that at his core, like he says several times throughout the book, he’s selfish. And he never learns to not be selfish. He’s selfish several times and apologies, but that’s where it stops. He never reflects and changes, all the way up to the last scene where he proposes in front of everyone right after Minerva’s father makes his grand reentrance and Vee is literally bawling on the couch. This is what I mean when I say "selfish". What exactly was Hugh’s arc? Are we to believe what the character says it is (his ~blood~), or what his actions imply (selfish)?
Random:
Not sure if it’s just me, but whenever I hear the word “nice” in a book, I think of the Into the Woods song, “You’re just nice / you’re not good you’re not bad / you’re just nice.” So much to the point where I don’t consider it a compliment and more saying “you’re just boring” so the whole thing where they consider each other nice was soured for me.
Normally, I love the miscommunication trope. It's funny and exasperating and amps up the tension and angst. But this showcases it at its absolute worst.
All in all, it’s a no from me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
kayyphan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
"What a pointless and wholly avoidable mess."
Unfortunately, I think this quote sums up the book too well. I found it a frustrating slog rather than the intended slow burn.
This fake engagement is based on tall tales and an intricate, fabricated backstory. Hugh hires Minerva to fill the role of his fictional fiancee of the same name, and chaos ensues. I had several general issues with the book:
• There's casual slut-shaming in regards to who is wifely material. Reference is made to a marriageable woman's "pristine sheets" in contrast to the unworthy legion of lovers in Hugh's past.
• It gets worse when Hugh's "primal, wholly male, and visceral" jealousy (a different beast from bargain brand jealousy) causes him to seethe about her potential past with a sweetheart despite his own promiscuous past, particularly dwelling on the question of what degree of physical intimacy they enjoyed.
• A conversation on body image suggests that women know their own "faults" as a ...positive?
• Any comments describing the US as a land of freedom and fairness make me gag.
• The actress hired to play Minerva's mother provides comic relief, and her apparent alcoholism causes her to be characterized as a "drunkard" with her embarrassing, potentially incriminating behavior as the major concern rather than her well-being. All alcohol is removed from the premises with Lucretia as a passive recipient of the decision. Nothing is done to actually support her or treat her with any degree of empathy.
Characterization relied on telling (sometimes repeatedly) more than showing. I also disliked Hugh, both his faults and supposed strengths. Please enjoy my list of Hugh-shaped complaints:
• Philanthropy is used as shorthand for his inherent goodness (lazy).
• Acknowledgment of his rich white man privilege goes no further than discomfort and guilt, and it was exhausting to see it play out in slow motion on the page.
• The man has an actual knight-in-shining-armor complex. Hugh's top-secret (but why?) desire to "rescue" the downtrodden results in his offer to pay Minerva enough to entice her from her clear poverty for her role while knowing it is a pittance in his own terms. Minerva's view of him as her personal knight fans the flames of his instalove for her as he sheds a lifetime of adamant refusals to settle down. That dynamic was cringey.
• I was irritated by his nonsensical fear of biological programming towards infidelity. I shouldn't hate on another's mental health issues, but he goes in circles at a mind-numbingly unproductive pace. He also never actually moves past this block, just rewriting history to be happy with his believed inherited character.
Despite some brief comedic bright spots, I don't think that makes it worth the read. I wouldn't recommend it.
Unfortunately, I think this quote sums up the book too well. I found it a frustrating slog rather than the intended slow burn.
This fake engagement is based on tall tales and an intricate, fabricated backstory. Hugh hires Minerva to fill the role of his fictional fiancee of the same name, and chaos ensues. I had several general issues with the book:
• There's casual slut-shaming in regards to who is wifely material. Reference is made to a marriageable woman's "pristine sheets" in contrast to the unworthy legion of lovers in Hugh's past.
• It gets worse when Hugh's "primal, wholly male, and visceral" jealousy (a different beast from bargain brand jealousy) causes him to seethe about her potential past with a sweetheart despite his own promiscuous past, particularly dwelling on the question of what degree of physical intimacy they enjoyed.
• A conversation on body image suggests that women know their own "faults" as a ...positive?
• Any comments describing the US as a land of freedom and fairness make me gag.
• The actress hired to play Minerva's mother provides comic relief, and her apparent alcoholism causes her to be characterized as a "drunkard" with her embarrassing, potentially incriminating behavior as the major concern rather than her well-being. All alcohol is removed from the premises with Lucretia as a passive recipient of the decision. Nothing is done to actually support her or treat her with any degree of empathy.
Characterization relied on telling (sometimes repeatedly) more than showing. I also disliked Hugh, both his faults and supposed strengths. Please enjoy my list of Hugh-shaped complaints:
• Philanthropy is used as shorthand for his inherent goodness (lazy).
• Acknowledgment of his rich white man privilege goes no further than discomfort and guilt, and it was exhausting to see it play out in slow motion on the page.
• The man has an actual knight-in-shining-armor complex. Hugh's top-secret (but why?) desire to "rescue" the downtrodden results in his offer to pay Minerva enough to entice her from her clear poverty for her role while knowing it is a pittance in his own terms. Minerva's view of him as her personal knight fans the flames of his instalove for her as he sheds a lifetime of adamant refusals to settle down. That dynamic was cringey.
• I was irritated by his nonsensical fear of biological programming towards infidelity. I shouldn't hate on another's mental health issues, but he goes in circles at a mind-numbingly unproductive pace. He also never actually moves past this block, just rewriting history to be happy with his believed inherited character.
Despite some brief comedic bright spots, I don't think that makes it worth the read. I wouldn't recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
decklededgess's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
trigger warnings: sexual content, emotionally abusive parent, negligent parent, alcoholism, phobia of horses, infidelity mention
This book was incredibly cute. I loved the premise, the romance, the cast of characters, and the comedic elements. The resolution was well done but was wrapped up in such a hurried way it felt inauthentic to the characters. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.
This book was incredibly cute. I loved the premise, the romance, the cast of characters, and the comedic elements. The resolution was well done but was wrapped up in such a hurried way it felt inauthentic to the characters. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
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