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vezza's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
kyeruhh's review
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? Yes
4.0
Hattie was a super fun character and Whit was the perfect amount of sad without it being annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Child abuse
haley49's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Was any of this realistic?
No.
Was it an entertaining read and a believable romance?
Yes, and that’s exactly what I wanted.
I liked this one even more than the last. Interpersonal relationships were explored, everyone felt well developed and the chemistry was real. I will read the next book asap.
No.
Was it an entertaining read and a believable romance?
Yes, and that’s exactly what I wanted.
I liked this one even more than the last. Interpersonal relationships were explored, everyone felt well developed and the chemistry was real. I will read the next book asap.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny and Violence
livruther's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
this was INCREDIBLE
she👏saves👏him👏right👏back
nik + nora = <3333
i LOVE whit. he is SO. PRECIOUS.
this is easily my fav sarah maclean so far
one thing i love SO. MUCH. is long emotional speeches & conversations, and this FREAKING DELIVERED !!!!!!!
also the shoutout to jen in the acknowledgments🥺🥺🥺
she👏saves👏him👏right👏back
nik + nora = <3333
i LOVE whit. he is SO. PRECIOUS.
this is easily my fav sarah maclean so far
one thing i love SO. MUCH. is long emotional speeches & conversations, and this FREAKING DELIVERED !!!!!!!
also the shoutout to jen in the acknowledgments🥺🥺🥺
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse
thatfabchick's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a fun book, I liked it. There were times that things did not make sense which made the book go down to four stars. I did like the heroine and the hero.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Child abuse
sydapel's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
3.75
my favorite MacLean so far??? Idk this was fun and this series in general feels very comforting to me for some reason. Yes, the pacing in the third act is a little off, and I wish we'd been a little more direct about Hattie and Whit's individual vulnerabilities, BUT I'm okay with it overall.
If I had a nickel for everytime MacLean used the word "pleasure" though...
If I had a nickel for everytime MacLean used the word "pleasure" though...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
sarah_thebooknerd's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
4.25
I enjoyed this historical romance a lot. There was my first Sarah Maclean book and it will not be my last.
The FMC is strong and wants to determine her own fate and sets up to have the Year of Hattie where she loses her virginity, runs her family shipyard and becomes her own powerhouse.
Beast is one of the Barenuckle Bastards and agrees to help Hattie with her virginity. Beast is a dirty talker!
4.25 ⭐️
2.5 🌶
TW: fire, violence, sexual content, injury
The FMC is strong and wants to determine her own fate and sets up to have the Year of Hattie where she loses her virginity, runs her family shipyard and becomes her own powerhouse.
Beast is one of the Barenuckle Bastards and agrees to help Hattie with her virginity. Beast is a dirty talker!
4.25 ⭐️
2.5 🌶
TW: fire, violence, sexual content, injury
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, and Medical content
carbs666's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
Another solid romance by Sarah MacLean!
I've stated many times before that I am a sucker for the heroine who can't see how special she is and hardened hero who melts in her presence combo, and this book turns it up the 11.
Who could fail to love Hattie? She smart and daring and determined and independent, a truly dashing character. I love how the book is laid upon the foundation of the Year of Hattie, a year where she is dedicated to getting what she wants. Beast/Whit is a truly perfect foil for her - his loyalty and determination are just what Hattie needs, and their instant fascination with each other makes complete sense.
I love the contrast between a heroine who never stops talking and a hero who never talks at all (except for when he's talking dirty 😈). As always with MacLean, the sex is supremely sexy and the balance of internal and external conflict is 👌. Best book of the trilogy!!
I've stated many times before that I am a sucker for the heroine who can't see how special she is and hardened hero who melts in her presence combo, and this book turns it up the 11.
Who could fail to love Hattie? She smart and daring and determined and independent, a truly dashing character. I love how the book is laid upon the foundation of the Year of Hattie, a year where she is dedicated to getting what she wants. Beast/Whit is a truly perfect foil for her - his loyalty and determination are just what Hattie needs, and their instant fascination with each other makes complete sense.
I love the contrast between a heroine who never stops talking and a hero who never talks at all (except for when he's talking dirty 😈). As always with MacLean, the sex is supremely sexy and the balance of internal and external conflict is 👌. Best book of the trilogy!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
weelasswithabook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm not gonna lie, I didn't love this as much as I thought I was going to. Honestly, Hattie carried pretty much the whole story for me. Yet another badass heroine who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go get it, no matter what "polite society" might think.
I felt the pacing was weird in this one. One minute things were moving a smidge too fast then there were sections I felt dragged a little. I don't feel like we got enough of the hero's character/personality (or it could just be how I've read it).
I felt the pacing was weird in this one. One minute things were moving a smidge too fast then there were sections I felt dragged a little. I don't feel like we got enough of the hero's character/personality (or it could just be how I've read it).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Violence
friends2lovers's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Well, it’s clear now that MacLean is an author I do not resonate with. It seems I had mistakenly attributed many of the things that bothered me about Wicked and the Wallflower to the narrator, when my issues lie with the writer.
The writing and dialogue are dull, repetitive, choppy, and hard to follow. There were several times a character said something and then instead of responding right away, the point-of-view character went off on a tangent to recall a relevant memory or think through their emotions. So by the time the POV character spoke, I’d forgotten what they were responding to and had to flip back and reread the last bit of dialogue. Frequently, extraneous inner thoughts are tacked on at the end of or in the middle of dialogue. All that plus an overuse of incomplete sentences made me sympathize with the difficult job of the audiobook narrator. Overall, the writing lacked a pleasing cadence and so the pacing seemed to drag.
In my review of Wicked and the Wallflower, I mentioned MacLean’s intent and failure to “pay homage to the working class.” Again, I don’t see how Brazen accomplishes this objective. Hattie’s main conflict for the entire book is whether or not she will inherit her father’s shipping business, which she thinks she’s earned simply by not being a complete fuckup like her brother. Rival capitalists fighting over who gets to own all the ships is not a working class-centered story arc. I think Romancelandia tends to wrongly define ‘working class’ as anyone who isn’t part of the titled aristocracy (in historicals); or anyone who isn’t a billionaire or doesn’t work in an office (in contemporaries). I'm tempted to expand on the depiction of class politics in romance novels, but I’ll save it for another time and place.
Everything I don’t like about #girlboss heroines is encompassed in the character of Hattie. Her characterization is limited to ‘curvaceous aspiring businesswoman’. Physical traits and goals alone don’t make a well-rounded and interesting character. In comparison to Devil in Spring's Pandora Ravenel, another business-minded historical romance heroine who’s not interested in marriage, Hattie is boring and one-dimensional. As much as I complained about Pandora's determination to become an entrepreneur, at least she had a personality and charisma.
Whit is a similarly flat character who fails to live up to his beastly reputation. Associating with Whit or being on his turf, Covent Garden, hardly ever poses a unique or exciting danger to Hattie except when his brother, Ewan, shows up. (And even then, nothing really happens!) So far, Ewan is the only character in this series with any apparent flaws or a willingness to live in the gray area; which almost makes me want to read Daring and the Duke, despite how disappointing the first two books have been. I’m genuinely curious to see how MacLean will redeem him.
Finally, what was up with all the ‘deals’ between Hattie and Whit? With the dialogue being so awkward and disjointed, I couldn’t keep up with what conditions must be met, who had fulfilled their end of the bargain, and what new deals had been struck. Deals are not inherently sexy or exciting—they have to be written into the plot in a sensible way! I stg if I ever read Daring and the Duke and Grace and Ewan start making deals with each other, I will dnf it so hard.
The writing and dialogue are dull, repetitive, choppy, and hard to follow. There were several times a character said something and then instead of responding right away, the point-of-view character went off on a tangent to recall a relevant memory or think through their emotions. So by the time the POV character spoke, I’d forgotten what they were responding to and had to flip back and reread the last bit of dialogue. Frequently, extraneous inner thoughts are tacked on at the end of or in the middle of dialogue. All that plus an overuse of incomplete sentences made me sympathize with the difficult job of the audiobook narrator. Overall, the writing lacked a pleasing cadence and so the pacing seemed to drag.
In my review of Wicked and the Wallflower, I mentioned MacLean’s intent and failure to “pay homage to the working class.” Again, I don’t see how Brazen accomplishes this objective. Hattie’s main conflict for the entire book is whether or not she will inherit her father’s shipping business, which she thinks she’s earned simply by not being a complete fuckup like her brother. Rival capitalists fighting over who gets to own all the ships is not a working class-centered story arc. I think Romancelandia tends to wrongly define ‘working class’ as anyone who isn’t part of the titled aristocracy (in historicals); or anyone who isn’t a billionaire or doesn’t work in an office (in contemporaries). I'm tempted to expand on the depiction of class politics in romance novels, but I’ll save it for another time and place.
Everything I don’t like about #girlboss heroines is encompassed in the character of Hattie. Her characterization is limited to ‘curvaceous aspiring businesswoman’. Physical traits and goals alone don’t make a well-rounded and interesting character. In comparison to Devil in Spring's Pandora Ravenel, another business-minded historical romance heroine who’s not interested in marriage, Hattie is boring and one-dimensional. As much as I complained about Pandora's determination to become an entrepreneur, at least she had a personality and charisma.
Whit is a similarly flat character who fails to live up to his beastly reputation. Associating with Whit or being on his turf, Covent Garden, hardly ever poses a unique or exciting danger to Hattie except when his brother, Ewan, shows up. (And even then, nothing really happens!) So far, Ewan is the only character in this series with any apparent flaws or a willingness to live in the gray area; which almost makes me want to read Daring and the Duke, despite how disappointing the first two books have been. I’m genuinely curious to see how MacLean will redeem him.
Finally, what was up with all the ‘deals’ between Hattie and Whit? With the dialogue being so awkward and disjointed, I couldn’t keep up with what conditions must be met, who had fulfilled their end of the bargain, and what new deals had been struck. Deals are not inherently sexy or exciting—they have to be written into the plot in a sensible way! I stg if I ever read Daring and the Duke and Grace and Ewan start making deals with each other, I will dnf it so hard.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content