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codexmendoza's review
2.0
So actually the heroine of the novel has an amazing personality (like many of Long's heroines) and of the ones I've read this is the only one with a POC lead (the hero is half-Native American) but unfortunately this book is just full of unremitting white people fuckery. There are a lot of reviews praising the good parts of this book and I agree with many of them, I think if aforementioned fuckery hadn't happened I would have rated this like a 4ish. Unfortunately, in a parallel to this election some fuckshit happens in this book and I can't wait for people to tell me I'm overreacting. Details under the spoiler.
So the hero has a former mistress who is nonwhite and the heroine has never met her, but mentally refers to the woman as being "dusky" multiple times. Because apparently being brown means it has to be constantly brought up as her only character trait and also there exists only one adjective to describe her. This woman never shows up, is discarded and also has no characterization. Also she's a courtesan because of course.
Also uhh it turned out that the entire time the brother she's looking for is trying to squash a slave ring literally for fucking personal development. (He actually cites something his True Love says about how he's never done anything meaningful in his life as his reason for embarking on this quest.) And also because his True Love is against slavery (she hands out pamphlets because lmao white allies) but her father is one of the investors and apparently instead of just exposing him and having him fucking ARRESTED BECAUSE THIS MAN ENSLAVED PEOPLE, he's like "I'm just going to sink all the slave ships so she never knows." It makes me so furious that the actual historical pain and suffering of black people is used in this way while there are no black characters except for the aforementioned mistress who really deserves reparations. (Also, I refuse to read the last book about this guy, but according to reviews, none of this stops him for like, fucking his way through the high seas while his True Love awaits him chastely.)
I like Julie Ann Long, I like her characters and generally the most troubling thing about her books is that there's a marked lack of female friendship, but what the fuck.
Spoiler
So the hero is half native and she calls him a savage more than one time. She claims to not know that he's biracial but come on, people don't whip out coded language like "savage" after seeing a milky white dude, no matter how tan he is or buff his thighs. Caveat: she later backpedals (but never really apologizes). But like the whole vibe I got from this is that he became human to her after she decided she was attracted to him. To quote Bim Adewunmi: "We can't fuck ourselves to equality."So the hero has a former mistress who is nonwhite and the heroine has never met her, but mentally refers to the woman as being "dusky" multiple times. Because apparently being brown means it has to be constantly brought up as her only character trait and also there exists only one adjective to describe her. This woman never shows up, is discarded and also has no characterization. Also she's a courtesan because of course.
Also uhh it turned out that the entire time the brother she's looking for is trying to squash a slave ring literally for fucking personal development. (He actually cites something his True Love says about how he's never done anything meaningful in his life as his reason for embarking on this quest.) And also because his True Love is against slavery (she hands out pamphlets because lmao white allies) but her father is one of the investors and apparently instead of just exposing him and having him fucking ARRESTED BECAUSE THIS MAN ENSLAVED PEOPLE, he's like "I'm just going to sink all the slave ships so she never knows." It makes me so furious that the actual historical pain and suffering of black people is used in this way while there are no black characters except for the aforementioned mistress who really deserves reparations. (Also, I refuse to read the last book about this guy, but according to reviews, none of this stops him for like, fucking his way through the high seas while his True Love awaits him chastely.)
I like Julie Ann Long, I like her characters and generally the most troubling thing about her books is that there's a marked lack of female friendship, but what the fuck.
lausol's review
5.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I thought the relationship between both characters was really well developed and felt organic and well paced. I could feel their care, love and RESPECT for each other so vividly. I loved both characters. I loved how honest they were with each other and how they admitted and accepted they had to take harsh decitions but respected each other even through them and tried to hurt the other in the less possible way they could. I also liked that they understood each other so well and understood parts of the other nobody else had ever taken the time and work to see and shine a light on. They really felt like they were the perfect match for each other. I really, really loved this book.
2021 re-read: I love this book so much, Julie Anne Long is such a good writer and books 4 and 5 of this series are my favourite books (even though I do love books 6 and 8 A LOT). I'm still super into Violet and Asher's dynamic and the way they just understand each other and are so protective and in awe of the other while just seeing the other person so clearly. The only thing I can sort of complain about is that I liked Lyon way more in this book that on his own book.
2021 re-read: I love this book so much, Julie Anne Long is such a good writer and books 4 and 5 of this series are my favourite books (even though I do love books 6 and 8 A LOT). I'm still super into Violet and Asher's dynamic and the way they just understand each other and are so protective and in awe of the other while just seeing the other person so clearly. The only thing I can sort of complain about is that I liked Lyon way more in this book that on his own book.
sungmemoonstruck's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I love Long's evocative writing style and her balance of wit and drama but I felt like the characters in this one weren't quite as memorable as in the other books I've read by her. While I mostly really liked Violet, despite her occasional disastrous (if very in character) decisions, the hero veered dangerously close to the somewhat tired self-made alpha male type, despite his redeeming moment at the end of the book.
I love Long's evocative writing style and her balance of wit and drama but I felt like the characters in this one weren't quite as memorable as in the other books I've read by her. While I mostly really liked Violet, despite her occasional disastrous (if very in character) decisions, the hero veered dangerously close to the somewhat tired self-made alpha male type, despite his redeeming moment at the end of the book.
mskennedyreads's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
VERY angsty. I liked the premise and the second half a lot.
winterseige's review
4.0
I didn't read this series in order so its nice to finally read who is violet and who is asher, i like this book, quick to set them two and i am jealous of how the redmond siblings fiercely love eachother, how did they end up like that btw when they have isaih for a dad?lol
rjordan19's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-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
5.0
Reread October 2023
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I think this time for me it was a 4 – during my initial read through I rated it a 5 so I’m going to keep it as that on the ratings)
Readability: 3.5 rounded to 📖📖📖📖 - I really struggled with the slowness of the beginning.
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (There’s 4 scenes but 2 are close together and I combined)
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine (I felt like it was more the heroine’s POV)
When mains are first on page together: Pretty much first page
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: listened to an audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
Ideally, yes? Pennyroyal Green features mains from two feuding families and has a bit of mystery running through them all about Lyon Redmond’s disappearance which really takes off in this book. Though, I think if you didn’t mind some prior events and characters mentioned, you could pick this one up alone (when I first read this one, I read it alone and really enjoyed it!)
Basic plot:
Violet is bored with society and longs for her missing brother, Lyon. When the opportunity comes to steal aboard a ship, Violet takes it to find her brother and prove his innocence.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- ship setting with a road trip feel
- English/American hero (English born, American raised) and English heroine pairing
- Captain hero – he’s been sailing for 20 years
- hero has dimples!
- Earl hero
- bit of opposites attract – Violet is more of a society butterfly, emotional and a bit vain while Asher is quiet, steady and strong. He keeps his emotions under lock and key
- slow burn
- medium steam – 4 full scenes but two were close together so I combined them
Ages:
- Hero is 32, didn’t catch heroine but would guess early to mid 20s?
First line:
He looks like a bored lion lounging amidst a flock of geese.
My thoughts:
So, I did really like this one! But not as much as my initial read a few years ago. I really struggled with the slowness this time around, even though I was expecting it. Maybe because I knew it was going to be like that I turned it into a thing in my head, I don’t know 😂
I adored Violet. Even though she’s a bit of a society snob, I just fell in love with her. She’s bored and a bit dramatic for attention...but with Asher I feel like they were really perfect for each other. He calms her, she shakes him out his shell. It really is a perfect opposites attract between them.
I didn’t quite love Asher as much in this go around. Maybe he was just a bit too quiet for me? A bit too reserved. Though when he does show his emotion, it’s so rewarding. It really grabbed my heart during the scenes he feared for her safety – the storm and the pirates.
I did have a fun time reading this one. It’s my favorite of the series so far.
Quotes Any typos/mistakes are my own
But still, he didn’t blink. As though he wouldn’t dream of wasting a second on blinking, when he could be looking at her instead.
---
He brought a fingertip to her lips, slowly enough to allow her to turn her head if she so chose. She watched it riveted, her eyes nearly crossing at the bridge of her nose. He wasn’t coy. He wasn’t a green lad. He intended to touch her.
“Don’t toy with me, Miss Redmond.” His finger landed on her lips and as though it had found the road home, reverently trembling a little, followed the line of them.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- racism – there is language by side characters using words like ‘Indian’ and ‘savage’ to describe Indigenous Americans and the American bred hero
- some Romani stereotypes (flirtatious) as well as the word ‘gypsy’ used (not negatively for the characters in the setting)
- at the beginning of the book there’s mention of the hero visiting brothels and having a mistress
- brief mention of the hero wanting to buy a plantation (a free one – he’s against slavery)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: I don’t believe so
76% - 🔥kisses, fingering for her
She wanted it, as much as she feared it. He knew, and something shifted that knee infinitesimally closer and pleasure burned through her like that whiskey.
“Where do you want me to touch you?” his demanded, voice low and taut
Everywhere.
86% - 🔥thank god you’re alive sex
This time something at the very core of him, something never before stirred was found and blissfully incinerated. He groaned. Need wracked him. He shook with it, with a force of desire for this woman, only this woman.
89% - oral for her, followed by missionary – this is quite close to the prior scene and with how long you wait for it, it really feels like one longer scene
”Will the crew be wondering where you are?”
“The crew knows where I am. They assume I’m comforting you.”
93% - 🔥missionary with her legs over his shoulders and pinning her hands back
His lips impatiently found hers, which welcomed him, as his hands impatiently pushed up her nightdress. Waited while it snagged on her chin. Pulled it off with an oath and flung it to the ground as though it attacked him first.
100% - kiss
Original Review - February 2019
I ended up totally loving this book. I give 4.5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The beginning was rather slow. In fact it was a good 200 pages until things started picking up (you won’t get a kiss until after the 200 page mark either.) The tension to me wasn’t really strong, and yes I would have preferred more in the beginning of the book. Once ‘The Potato Incident’ happened, it all started getting much better 😉Yet the writing to me was so good. I feel like Julie Anne Long has a unique writing style. It just felt like I was being wrapped in poetry, I just loved it. So it wasn’t boring to me, although I can see how some people might find it so. Something about her writing reminded me of Sarah Maclean, just so detailed and rich, the way things are explained just suck you in. I found a lot of that in Sarah Macleans Wicked and the Wallflower and I know people felt that book was slow.
Once the tension cracked between them it was so amazing. You know when a book just squeezes your heart? Your heart is burning for the characters in the story. The kisses and sex were so amazing and rich in detail, exactly like I love them.
The problem of the story (the hero and heroine are both hunting the heroines brother for very different reasons) drives along the plot but the two of them are together for the whole book and it is about their relationship.
There was some humor in the book I just adored and found quite witty and delicious. It’s not your laugh out loud ridiculousness of Julia Quinn or Tessa Dare, it’s more subtle and something I absolutely love in my books.
This is book 4 in a series. It’s my first by this author. I would 100% try basically all of her other books at this point to get those feels again.😍
My complaints are rather small, the lack of full tension in the beginning of the book, the ending felt rather quick and I would have preferred more time spent on their reunion and of course I want an epilogue.
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I think this time for me it was a 4 – during my initial read through I rated it a 5 so I’m going to keep it as that on the ratings)
Readability: 3.5 rounded to 📖📖📖📖 - I really struggled with the slowness of the beginning.
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (There’s 4 scenes but 2 are close together and I combined)
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine (I felt like it was more the heroine’s POV)
When mains are first on page together: Pretty much first page
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: listened to an audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
Ideally, yes? Pennyroyal Green features mains from two feuding families and has a bit of mystery running through them all about Lyon Redmond’s disappearance which really takes off in this book. Though, I think if you didn’t mind some prior events and characters mentioned, you could pick this one up alone (when I first read this one, I read it alone and really enjoyed it!)
Basic plot:
Violet is bored with society and longs for her missing brother, Lyon. When the opportunity comes to steal aboard a ship, Violet takes it to find her brother and prove his innocence.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- ship setting with a road trip feel
- English/American hero (English born, American raised) and English heroine pairing
- Captain hero – he’s been sailing for 20 years
- hero has dimples!
- Earl hero
- bit of opposites attract – Violet is more of a society butterfly, emotional and a bit vain while Asher is quiet, steady and strong. He keeps his emotions under lock and key
- slow burn
- medium steam – 4 full scenes but two were close together so I combined them
Ages:
- Hero is 32, didn’t catch heroine but would guess early to mid 20s?
First line:
He looks like a bored lion lounging amidst a flock of geese.
My thoughts:
So, I did really like this one! But not as much as my initial read a few years ago. I really struggled with the slowness this time around, even though I was expecting it. Maybe because I knew it was going to be like that I turned it into a thing in my head, I don’t know 😂
I adored Violet. Even though she’s a bit of a society snob, I just fell in love with her. She’s bored and a bit dramatic for attention...but with Asher I feel like they were really perfect for each other. He calms her, she shakes him out his shell. It really is a perfect opposites attract between them.
I didn’t quite love Asher as much in this go around. Maybe he was just a bit too quiet for me? A bit too reserved. Though when he does show his emotion, it’s so rewarding. It really grabbed my heart during the scenes he feared for her safety – the storm and the pirates.
I did have a fun time reading this one. It’s my favorite of the series so far.
Quotes Any typos/mistakes are my own
But still, he didn’t blink. As though he wouldn’t dream of wasting a second on blinking, when he could be looking at her instead.
---
He brought a fingertip to her lips, slowly enough to allow her to turn her head if she so chose. She watched it riveted, her eyes nearly crossing at the bridge of her nose. He wasn’t coy. He wasn’t a green lad. He intended to touch her.
“Don’t toy with me, Miss Redmond.” His finger landed on her lips and as though it had found the road home, reverently trembling a little, followed the line of them.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- racism – there is language by side characters using words like ‘Indian’ and ‘savage’ to describe Indigenous Americans and the American bred hero
- some Romani stereotypes (flirtatious) as well as the word ‘gypsy’ used (not negatively for the characters in the setting)
- at the beginning of the book there’s mention of the hero visiting brothels and having a mistress
- brief mention of the hero wanting to buy a plantation (a free one – he’s against slavery)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
76% - 🔥kisses, fingering for her
She wanted it, as much as she feared it. He knew, and something shifted that knee infinitesimally closer and pleasure burned through her like that whiskey.
“Where do you want me to touch you?” his demanded, voice low and taut
Everywhere.
86% - 🔥thank god you’re alive sex
This time something at the very core of him, something never before stirred was found and blissfully incinerated. He groaned. Need wracked him. He shook with it, with a force of desire for this woman, only this woman.
89% - oral for her, followed by missionary – this is quite close to the prior scene and with how long you wait for it, it really feels like one longer scene
”Will the crew be wondering where you are?”
“The crew knows where I am. They assume I’m comforting you.”
93% - 🔥missionary with her legs over his shoulders and pinning her hands back
His lips impatiently found hers, which welcomed him, as his hands impatiently pushed up her nightdress. Waited while it snagged on her chin. Pulled it off with an oath and flung it to the ground as though it attacked him first.
100% - kiss
Original Review - February 2019
I ended up totally loving this book. I give 4.5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The beginning was rather slow. In fact it was a good 200 pages until things started picking up (you won’t get a kiss until after the 200 page mark either.) The tension to me wasn’t really strong, and yes I would have preferred more in the beginning of the book. Once ‘The Potato Incident’ happened, it all started getting much better 😉Yet the writing to me was so good. I feel like Julie Anne Long has a unique writing style. It just felt like I was being wrapped in poetry, I just loved it. So it wasn’t boring to me, although I can see how some people might find it so. Something about her writing reminded me of Sarah Maclean, just so detailed and rich, the way things are explained just suck you in. I found a lot of that in Sarah Macleans Wicked and the Wallflower and I know people felt that book was slow.
Once the tension cracked between them it was so amazing. You know when a book just squeezes your heart? Your heart is burning for the characters in the story. The kisses and sex were so amazing and rich in detail, exactly like I love them.
The problem of the story (the hero and heroine are both hunting the heroines brother for very different reasons) drives along the plot but the two of them are together for the whole book and it is about their relationship.
There was some humor in the book I just adored and found quite witty and delicious. It’s not your laugh out loud ridiculousness of Julia Quinn or Tessa Dare, it’s more subtle and something I absolutely love in my books.
This is book 4 in a series. It’s my first by this author. I would 100% try basically all of her other books at this point to get those feels again.😍
My complaints are rather small, the lack of full tension in the beginning of the book, the ending felt rather quick and I would have preferred more time spent on their reunion and of course I want an epilogue.
cranberrytarts's review
4.0
The story was wonderful and absolutely what I've come to expect from Long. She always manages to just skirt the TSTL line with her heroines, but never quite cross it. Violet was no exception.
The editing was terrible. Seriously terrible. There were typos every few pages - bad ones - and the hero said and did everything ironically. Every.single.thing. If he made a gesture, it was made ironically. If he made a statement, it was made ironically. It drove me batty.
The editing was terrible. Seriously terrible. There were typos every few pages - bad ones - and the hero said and did everything ironically. Every.single.thing. If he made a gesture, it was made ironically. If he made a statement, it was made ironically. It drove me batty.
ssejig's review
3.0
Once again, I wish I could do half stars. This was a weird story with Violet Redmond (known as the most risqué debutant in society)secreting herself on a the ship of the Earl of Born. See, the earl was only recently granted his title if he agreed to get the notorious pirate known as Le Chat. While on the dance floor with Violet, he thinks her younger brother is the pirate. It makes Violet realize that Le Chat is really her missing brother Lyon so she steals away on the Earl's boat. At least it is a new trope where she hides in his cabin until they are too far gone to let her out and not the usual "I'm pretending to be the cabin boy." Enforced proximity, emotions running high, and two young and healthy people. What are they going to do?
mskyle's review
3.0
Another fun Pennyroyal Green book but like the previous book in the series, it is plagued by INAPPROPRIATELY-TIMED SEX. Crude and spoilery details:
Spoiler
I totally see the appeal of sexy shipboard encounters during sexy storms, but the hero is the CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP! During a major weather event he should be, you know, running the ship! Not fingerbanging stowaways in his cabin! When they do finally get around to the PIV, it's after the heroine shoots a pirate who was about to kill the hero; I heartily approve of this, because if a classy Regency lady can't lose her virginity after successfully repelling a pirate attack, when, indeed, can she?melissad75's review
2.0
As with the other Julie Anne Long novel I've read, Like No Other Lover, I was about 50% of the way through I Kissed an Earl before I got very interested in it. Once the story kicked into gear, though, it was fairly entertaining. The mystery of where Lyon Redmond was and what he was up to did pique my interest, and I eventually cared about what happened to Violet and Captain Flint. I just feel like while these stories and characters have potential, there's something lacking in the execution.
Also, I have a hard time with careless point-of-view head-hopping, telling instead of showing, and editorial sloppiness. One of many examples of the latter: "Gullickson half stood and performed an awkward nodded to her." There were quite a few sentences where something was clearly an editing error like that one. Describing a saucy waitress: "She had flare." Poor dear. Also, I've never seen the words "untenably" or "untenable" used so often in anything I've read. A better editor would've slashed 90% of them and given the author a thesaurus.
Overall, it was just so-so. Not the worst, but not the best.
Also, I have a hard time with careless point-of-view head-hopping, telling instead of showing, and editorial sloppiness. One of many examples of the latter: "Gullickson half stood and performed an awkward nodded to her." There were quite a few sentences where something was clearly an editing error like that one. Describing a saucy waitress: "She had flare." Poor dear. Also, I've never seen the words "untenably" or "untenable" used so often in anything I've read. A better editor would've slashed 90% of them and given the author a thesaurus.
Overall, it was just so-so. Not the worst, but not the best.