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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It’s strange – I didn’t enjoy reading this book, but I couldn’t DNF it either. So I have to give it some credit: it was somewhat engaging. The writing is fine, and the premise sounded interesting.
But the characters felt so surface-level, and there was zero chemistry – not just between the couple, but among all the characters. Every interaction felt flat.
My first major ick was how they discussed the heroine’s late husband’s sexual prowess – twenty minutes into knowing each other, and that’s the topic of conversation? As foreplay? Please put that away.
And honestly, I’m so tired of this double standard: in so many romance novels, the man is allowed to have a rich sexual past, while the woman is either inexperienced or—if she has had partners—those experiences are somehow always dissatisfying. Why? What kind of message is that? That women only get one shot at satisfaction, and it has to be with the love interest?
I know it’s a historical romance, but it’s not realistic history – so why incorporate so much sexism? If we’re already bending the rules, can we please stop recycling these tropes?
2.5? 2.75? I'm rounding up. I don't know about this one. There were some things I really enjoyed, like Leela's Arab culture, and the fact that she traveled and wrote. I also really felt Leela and Hunt's anguish at being beholden to societal expectations, although the difficulty really isn't about their social differences and is more about the fact that these two people don't know each other beyond the bedroom. For most of the book, they really don't spend much time together. They don't do anything but fuck and argue, and the arguing isn't healthy. Hunt gets mad, doesn't honor Leela with a conversation, and then storms off. Leela tells hunt it won't work and then succumbs to his seducing. I know there's a level of suspension of disbelief, but I really don't see how a couple will stand the test of time when they argue like that.
Also, Hunt just kinda sucks. Near the very end, he still doesn't get what Leela wants out of life. He offers marriage and wants her to be a duchess. She wants to travel and have independence and he's all, "but being a duchess will elevate you" as if she gives a fuck.
When Hunt finally gets his shit together and chases after Leela, she's been moping about thinking of him constantly while she's in all these cool places. Is the D really that good that she'd be hung up on him like that?
Finally, there's a throwaway line about Leela not having children with her first husband. Hunt suggests that it was the dead husband's fault that Leela didn't ever become pregnant. Ok sure maybe, but
I didn't have a problem with the writing style, and I still think I have the potential to really enjoy another one of Diana Quincy's books, so I'm not writing her off entirely. This book in particular just didn't do it for me.
Random musing: page 82 references The Shining, which is something I never thought I'd see in a historical romance.
Also, Hunt just kinda sucks. Near the very end, he still doesn't get what Leela wants out of life. He offers marriage and wants her to be a duchess. She wants to travel and have independence and he's all, "but being a duchess will elevate you" as if she gives a fuck.
When Hunt finally gets his shit together and chases after Leela, she's been moping about thinking of him constantly while she's in all these cool places. Is the D really that good that she'd be hung up on him like that?
Finally, there's a throwaway line about Leela not having children with her first husband. Hunt suggests that it was the dead husband's fault that Leela didn't ever become pregnant. Ok sure maybe, but
Spoiler
the whole book they've been having unprotected sex with no consequences, and then in the epilogue they have a couple kids. This feels very adjacent to "pregnancy issues are magically gone in the epilogue" which is something I know a lot of people get frustrated with.I didn't have a problem with the writing style, and I still think I have the potential to really enjoy another one of Diana Quincy's books, so I'm not writing her off entirely. This book in particular just didn't do it for me.
Random musing: page 82 references The Shining, which is something I never thought I'd see in a historical romance.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
medium-paced
i eat UP a post hook-up trope, and this time the pair discovers that he's about to be betrothed to her stepdaughter 🤭
ok that sounds like it can be SUCH a messy situation, which yeah a bit, but 1. the stepdaughter is not actually that into him besides his being a duke and 2. the fmc married her father very young so they're close in age (not a big age gap).
leela is also palestinian (as is the author) who has travelled, wears pants, and secretly has written successful travel books, she is goals af.
fortunately the engagement stuff isn't too dragged out and the plot keeps moving. overall i really enjoyed this, my only complaint is that i didn't love the narrator's voice for male characters (specifically for the mmc) but otherwise enjoyed it!
ok that sounds like it can be SUCH a messy situation, which yeah a bit, but 1. the stepdaughter is not actually that into him besides his being a duke and 2. the fmc married her father very young so they're close in age (not a big age gap).
leela is also palestinian (as is the author) who has travelled, wears pants, and secretly has written successful travel books, she is goals af.
fortunately the engagement stuff isn't too dragged out and the plot keeps moving. overall i really enjoyed this, my only complaint is that i didn't love the narrator's voice for male characters (specifically for the mmc) but otherwise enjoyed it!
2 stars. The plot had so much potential be something so fun and dramatic. Instead it was boring and the characters were wooden and unlikable. The writing was fine but the dialogue was stilted and felt unnatural. Leela was annoying and there was nothing to her personality except she’s a bit of a bitch. She’s unlikable. Hunt was boring and seemed to only think with his dick. He kept getting upset and pushing Leela away like a child and it was so irritating. He was unlikable as well. The romance didn’t work for me because I didn’t believe in it. There was no chemistry and the whole situation of Hunt being betrothed to Leela’s stepdaughter is handled really quickly and with no drama so that felt pointless. This was just a really dull read.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I honestly wasn't sure how this one could possibly work out - and yet, it did. It helped significantly that Leela and her stepdaughter (whose name is escaping me) are close-ish in age, and that Elliot isn't too far apart in age from Leela, either. I loved that Leela and Elliot were so focused on their own problem to see that other things were happening right under their noses.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia
Moderate: Infertility, Sexual assault, Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
We need more authors and main characters of color in romance! The chapter where Leela grapples with her mixed identity and questions where she fits in made me surprisingly emotional.
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
My first by this author and i really liked the writing style and the diverse representation, it was never the main focus but was sprinkled throughout and felt like a breath of fresh air for the historical romance genre.
Ugh Leela you have my heart, i loved you throughout this book and your perseverance for what you wanted. Hunt you annoyed me sometimes but i still Iike you…. i guess.
Ugh Leela you have my heart, i loved you throughout this book and your perseverance for what you wanted. Hunt you annoyed me sometimes but i still Iike you…. i guess.
emotional
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
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
My first romance by Diana Quincy. Thank goodness romance promises a Happily Ever After because Leela and Hunt really take a bit to get there. They’re great together and the (first) reason they might not get to be is very valid and serious.