Reviews with content warning for Vomit - A Husband for Hartwell

Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

A Husband for Hartwell by Lisa Henry, J.A. Rock

6 reviews

uvglopanda's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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? No

3.75

I desperately needed something to fill my time with while awaiting the release of season 3 part 2 of Bridgerton on Netflix. What better way than to seek out Regency books surrounding the Ton?

I breezed through this book with ease, it's speed much quicker than the books I usually enjoy but it filled the desire to find something spicy, queer and still within the era I am enjoying in other media.

On occasion I found that the emotional development of our main men was quick and almost akin to whiplash at times. You have to understand that these gentlemen have known eachothe for years and we are merely seeing the culmination of that time together.

The intrigue was honestly well thought out and kept me feeling invested and sympathetic to poor Warry.

A good quick read if you, like me, needed a fix of the Ton while you wait.

Content Warnings

tuhkasirius's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

fishreads's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

William, Marquess of Hartwell, is the only son of the Duke of Ancaster. Considering his advanced age of 23, he is expected to marry soon. In this regency universe, men are allowed to marry men and women are allowed to marry women. However, William, being the only son and therefore his father's heir, is expected to marry a woman, despite being gay. William's best friend, Rebecca Warrington, who is a lesbian herself, proposes that they marry each other, as both their parents pretty much expect anyway, considering their close friendship since childhood.

Rebecca's 19-year-old brother, Joseph Warrington, better known as Warry to his family, has problems of his own, trying to pay off a blackmailer

and retrieve a scandalous letter his sister wrote to a woman below their station

. When Warry gets mugged on his way to meet with the blackmailer, Hartwell takes him in and proposes Warry help him woo Rebecca while his bruises heal.

Warry and Hartwell's relationship is not easy; when they were children, Hartwell considered Warry an annoying pest in the form of a younger brother who always followed him and Rebecca around. Now that Warry is grown up, Hartwell doesn't know what to make of the sullen and silent man.

Things take a turn for the worse when Warry's blackmailer

turns out to be one of their peers, Lord Balfour, an older man who wants to marry Warry in order to claim a family inheritance

. Having no one to confide in, Warry is forced to be at the man's beck and call and pretend to enjoy being courted by him.

While I don't think this story deserves a low rating, I can't say it was an enjoyable reading experience. Both the plot and the characters made this story quite challenging. One thing I did like was Warry's character, who, being young and inexperienced, made it impossible not to sympathize with him. He did make some stupid decisions, such as not telling anybody he was being blackmailed

and stealing his sister's letter in the first place

, but his actions were understandable. Hartwell, on the other hand, I found quite unlikable. He was self-centered in general and quite cruel to Warry in particular. There was absolutely no excuse

for the comment he made about Warry and the horses

, and if I were in Warry's place, I would behave as if Hartwell were made of air from then on. To be fair to Warry, he did stand up to Hartwell on multiple occasions, but the sad fact is he still ends up with Hartwell in the end when he deserved so much better.

This story was supposed to be a romance, but with Warry being forced to endure

Balfour's

advances and Hartwell behaving like an oblivious, yet jealous, ass for the majority of the story, it didn't exactly read as romance for the ages. The Warrington siblings were the only enjoyable thing in this story; as for Hartwell, he made for quite a disappointing main character.

Themes: dual POV, regency, best friend's younger brother, marriage of convenience, blackmail

Content Warnings

chantelbecky's review

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was a bit disappointed with this book. It was fun, but the plot was a bit bland and felt a tad rushed. However, It was a fun read if you're looking for something light and easy.

I did appreciate the concept of queer relationships being relatively normal in a historical piece, but that was the only new and thrilling thing that kept me reading. The characters are likeable but not loveable.

Content Warnings

kit_carmichael's review

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I have very mixed feelings about this book. There’s much to like: it is quite funny in parts, and the chemistry between the MCs is good. But, to me, the AU premise of the book had too many logical inconsistencies, which other reviewers have enumerated. The thing with an AU is that it has to make sense within the universe it occupies, and this just didn’t. Also, I love dumbasses but Hartwell and Warry, for most of this book, bring it to an extreme level, to the point where I think it undermines the plot. Although I did have issues with this book, I probably will read the next in the series because I do need to see Lord Christmas Gale in luurve.

Content Warnings

redheadorganist's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

More...