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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
I forced myself to finish and am sorry I wasted the time. Too cutesy, too predictable, lots of repeated metaphors, and the number of God references were awkward and just plain weird.
This will be a long one because I am so torn! It was an entertaining and uplifting read but there were a lot of things that bothered me.
Grace, Lillias and their father travel together to meet Lillias’s new fiancé. The wedding is planned for the following week but when Lillias’s secrets come to light the marriage contract is in jeopardy. Luckily Lillias’s father has a second daughter, Grace, who is maybe slightly unorthodox but brave enough to step in.
At the beginning I adored that Grace was so much like Anne Shirley. Who doesn’t love an intelligent, well-read eleven year old with boundless imagination? And isn’t it entertaining that she always says the wrong thing? Well, yeah, but only if it’s an eleven year old. Grace was nineteen and quirks of an eleven year old unfortunately didn’t suit her well. Her positive attitude and cheerful personality were inspiring enough and could have done without the verbal diarrhea.
Instead of charming she looked silly and naïve and just not like other girls. Anne Shirley was way more polished at nineteen. If you then add her patronizing fiancé referring to her as “child” the love story becomes cringy if not outright creepy.
I needed a moment to recover from that thought but after that I liked how enthusiastic and accepting both Grace and Frederick were about their union. Despite the circumstances they were determined to make the best out of it and it was very refreshing and comforting. On top of that this book has a rare and my absolutely favorite quality which is NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP
Grace, Lillias and their father travel together to meet Lillias’s new fiancé. The wedding is planned for the following week but when Lillias’s secrets come to light the marriage contract is in jeopardy. Luckily Lillias’s father has a second daughter, Grace, who is maybe slightly unorthodox but brave enough to step in.
At the beginning I adored that Grace was so much like Anne Shirley. Who doesn’t love an intelligent, well-read eleven year old with boundless imagination? And isn’t it entertaining that she always says the wrong thing? Well, yeah, but only if it’s an eleven year old. Grace was nineteen and quirks of an eleven year old unfortunately didn’t suit her well. Her positive attitude and cheerful personality were inspiring enough and could have done without the verbal diarrhea.
Instead of charming she looked silly and naïve and just not like other girls. Anne Shirley was way more polished at nineteen. If you then add her patronizing fiancé referring to her as “child” the love story becomes cringy if not outright creepy.
I needed a moment to recover from that thought but after that I liked how enthusiastic and accepting both Grace and Frederick were about their union. Despite the circumstances they were determined to make the best out of it and it was very refreshing and comforting. On top of that this book has a rare and my absolutely favorite quality which is NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP
I really wanted to like this book after hearing so many good reviews from a Christian fiction group I'm in, but I had such a hard time finishing. In fact, once I started reading it I realized that I had already started once before and apparently didn't finish the first time. That should have told me something!
The overall plot was good. An arranged marriage goes awry and a younger sister has to take the place of the older sister, marry an (almost) complete stranger, and move away from everyone she knows in America to an old English estate. Not a bad beginning. Throw in a few mysterious deaths, a bitter and horribly mean new mother-in-law, and a conniving former duchess, and you have all the elements of a really intriguing story. Until you start reading it and meet the main characters. They just didn't come through for me the way the author intended them to, I don't think. I realize that Grace was young and inexperienced, but she was portrayed as extremely childlike and ditzy, seeing everything through the eyes of a fictional character from whatever book came to mind in any given situation. Even handsome Lord Frederick grated on my nerves at times. Was he a little bit too perfect? Not sure what it was, but something didn't sit right with me.
But the element I disliked the most was all of the kissing, talk of tempting lips, and bedroom innuendos. While the scenes always ended before anything got started in the bedroom, there was still way too much talk of it. My teen daughter and I like passing good books back and forth, and this genre is our favorite, but I won't be suggesting this one as a read for her because of some of this content. Prudish of me? Maybe. Maybe not. But I do think there was plenty of content in this vein that could have been left out of the book and it would have been much more of an enjoyable read for me.
Not sure if I will read the rest of the series.
The overall plot was good. An arranged marriage goes awry and a younger sister has to take the place of the older sister, marry an (almost) complete stranger, and move away from everyone she knows in America to an old English estate. Not a bad beginning. Throw in a few mysterious deaths, a bitter and horribly mean new mother-in-law, and a conniving former duchess, and you have all the elements of a really intriguing story. Until you start reading it and meet the main characters. They just didn't come through for me the way the author intended them to, I don't think. I realize that Grace was young and inexperienced, but she was portrayed as extremely childlike and ditzy, seeing everything through the eyes of a fictional character from whatever book came to mind in any given situation. Even handsome Lord Frederick grated on my nerves at times. Was he a little bit too perfect? Not sure what it was, but something didn't sit right with me.
But the element I disliked the most was all of the kissing, talk of tempting lips, and bedroom innuendos. While the scenes always ended before anything got started in the bedroom, there was still way too much talk of it. My teen daughter and I like passing good books back and forth, and this genre is our favorite, but I won't be suggesting this one as a read for her because of some of this content. Prudish of me? Maybe. Maybe not. But I do think there was plenty of content in this vein that could have been left out of the book and it would have been much more of an enjoyable read for me.
Not sure if I will read the rest of the series.
As I was reading this, I found myself again asking myself why it took so long for me to discover this author......and why it took so long for me to get to this book. This book is a masterpiece of fiction. Seriously. I tend to like the hero of the story more, but in this case Grace was such a fascinating and interesting character that Fredrick took a backseat to her...as likable as he was.
I found myself laughing out loud so often in this book, often wiping tears of laughter from my eyes. It had everything: mystery, a great and likable hero and heroine, humor, great plot and setting...I am extremely happy that there is a sequel coming out in a few months, and I cannot wait to read more about Grace and Frederick. If you have never read anything by this author, this is a great book to start with.
I found myself laughing out loud so often in this book, often wiping tears of laughter from my eyes. It had everything: mystery, a great and likable hero and heroine, humor, great plot and setting...I am extremely happy that there is a sequel coming out in a few months, and I cannot wait to read more about Grace and Frederick. If you have never read anything by this author, this is a great book to start with.
*1 Star = A book I did not enjoy for one reason or another, almost DNF’d, would not be able to recommend.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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:
Yes
I love Freddie and Grace together! They are an adorable fictional couple and I look forward to many more of their adventures.
I didn’t realize this was Christian fiction when I picked it up. I liked the characters but I found a little too much religion for my liking.
I tried. I really tried. The main character was someone I would find incredibly annoying in real life. There’s supposed to be an element of mystery in the book but so much of it is drowned out by the descriptions of how the male lead smells like amber— over. and. over. I just could not get with it.
I'll read another in this series, in the hopes that the truly uncomfortable wide-eyed, newlywed naïveté will be done with. The mystery and British-countryside-at-Christmas setting were all that kept me reading. The way the author wrote Grace as a simpering, innocent, humble new wife completely contradicted her outrageous, free-thinking character the story started with. It gave me whiplash.