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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Finished for some reason, was hoping to actually see the hero and heroine be together I guess, at some point, instead of hating each other... this is where he is a duke and pretends to be an idiot but he's really a spy for the government and investigates heroine dad.
Jesus I skipped probably 75% of this book, was just not interested in the all the investigation and Freddy's love story and blah blah blah. So glad I skipped her getting beaten up by her dad though, that should have a trigger warning.
Original thoughts: 164pgs in and it's really not funny at all. I get that the hero is pretending to be stupid, but the act is just annoying. And I have literally skipped like 100full pages of this 'investigation' into paintings and the Uncle and a bunch of other boring stuff, it's just not relevant at all to the romance (it seems). A real dud so far.
Jesus I skipped probably 75% of this book, was just not interested in the all the investigation and Freddy's love story and blah blah blah. So glad I skipped her getting beaten up by her dad though, that should have a trigger warning.
Original thoughts: 164pgs in and it's really not funny at all. I get that the hero is pretending to be stupid, but the act is just annoying. And I have literally skipped like 100full pages of this 'investigation' into paintings and the Uncle and a bunch of other boring stuff, it's just not relevant at all to the romance (it seems). A real dud so far.
This is my first Sherry Thomas book and I'm impressed! It does a bunch of little things in ways I haven't seen before and the plotting is well done. There is dubious consent for nearly every non-closed door sex scene in the book, though, so I'm docking points for that. Not my last Sherry Thomas by any stretch, though.
This historical romance has a bit of a dark edge.
Both protagonists are masters of putting on a perfect mask for the world at large. Ellisande’s mask is her only way of coping with an abusive home-life and Vere’s mask is essential to his work as an undercover covert agent for the crown.
Although rage-tastic heroes are not usually something I’m a fan of, I really loved how angry the hero of this book was. The heroine forces his hand in a way that infuriates him and he is pretty much boiling over with frustration and resentment from that point on. He frequently acts like a complete ass, but I was sympathetic. I loved watching the heroine crack at his armor, with neither one of them realizing it was happening most of the time, and I couldn’t wait to see it all come crashing down.
Both protagonists are masters of putting on a perfect mask for the world at large. Ellisande’s mask is her only way of coping with an abusive home-life and Vere’s mask is essential to his work as an undercover covert agent for the crown.
Although rage-tastic heroes are not usually something I’m a fan of, I really loved how angry the hero of this book was. The heroine forces his hand in a way that infuriates him and he is pretty much boiling over with frustration and resentment from that point on. He frequently acts like a complete ass, but I was sympathetic. I loved watching the heroine crack at his armor, with neither one of them realizing it was happening most of the time, and I couldn’t wait to see it all come crashing down.
I've read a few books with this premise... but Sherry managed to make this book rise above and beyond the others. I loved the interactions and the deceptions and how easily she saw through it. Her dad was atrocious.. but that's expected, so I guess it's okay.
This was fine and cute and all but my main issues with the book lie in the rapey vibes that I got near the beginning of the book. There were a few scenarios in which I found to be questionable and made me pause and go um.... And there were some scenes where Vere was almost abusing the power he had over Elissande out of his bitterness and hatred. I understood why he was so angry, don't misunderstand. But there is a difference between being petty and abusing the power you have over someone else and I found it to lean more towards the latter rather than the former. All of these things combined kind of took away from the pleasure of reading the story and I had to push through them to get to the good stuff.
After Vere meets Mr. Douglas once he marries Elissande, we see the change in him behaving much more decently towards Elissande which really worked to warm me towards him and made the story much more enjoyable.
Another thing that I was ok with but not thrilled about was that there wasn't much interaction between the characters (and I don't mean because there was way less smut in this than the other ones I've read thank you very much). It's just that the characters spend most of their time apart or not speaking so you don't really get to see them grow into each other. So it kind of makes the proclamation of LoVe at the end ok but I also wasn't really buying it. It was just the romantic in me who wants a happy ending.
After Vere meets Mr. Douglas once he marries Elissande, we see the change in him behaving much more decently towards Elissande which really worked to warm me towards him and made the story much more enjoyable.
Another thing that I was ok with but not thrilled about was that there wasn't much interaction between the characters (and I don't mean because there was way less smut in this than the other ones I've read thank you very much). It's just that the characters spend most of their time apart or not speaking so you don't really get to see them grow into each other. So it kind of makes the proclamation of LoVe at the end ok but I also wasn't really buying it. It was just the romantic in me who wants a happy ending.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book captivated me. I couldn't put the book down. Thomas ripped my heart out at one point but then gently put it back together for a lovely, well deserved HEA. There's a mystery/spy element to the book (which I normally don't care for) but it never (rarely) detracted from the romance. Please note the content warnings though. Not as dark as other popular romance writers but the book does have some moments.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Started off promising. Then it fell apart around Chapter 12, and kept getting weird.
Mystery/convert operations element was basically what kept me going. Was not really feeling the romance.
Luckily this is not the first time I've read Sherry Thomas, but the book definitely shows it's age in terms of romance books
Mystery/convert operations element was basically what kept me going. Was not really feeling the romance.
Luckily this is not the first time I've read Sherry Thomas, but the book definitely shows it's age in terms of romance books
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence
Minor: Child death, Self harm, Suicide, Kidnapping
Why it starts to fall apart Doesn't quite fit in the content warnings, but there are scenes that border between noncon and rape.