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merdenerde's review against another edition
Opening chapter was a mess of over-explanation. Life's too short.
scoutmomskf's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story of Catriona, Jean's sister from A Scandalous Scot. In that book we saw her as selfish, lazy, and with the morals of an alley cat. In this book she has suffered a horrible injury that has left her badly scarred and hiding from the world. She is quite bitter, feeling that if she doesn't have her beauty she has nothing at all to offer the world or a man. She's pretty much given up on life, though the aunt she lives with refuses to give up on her.
Mark is a doctor who has become friends with Catriona's aunt through their work with the poor of Edinburgh. He is the wealthy grandson of an earl, but medicine is his life. He also remembers Catriona from years earlier when he used to work with her father who had also been a doctor. He listens to Aunt Dina's fears about Caitriona and agrees to examine her and see if he can help. When he goes to her room to do so, she mistakes him for a footman and is incredibly rude to him. He sees that approaching her as a doctor isn't going to work, and goes along with her misconception. He tells her that he has been assigned by her aunt to make sure she eats and won't be leaving the room until she does so. He doesn't understand why he's so drawn to her and determined to help her, but he does succeed at irritating her into compliance.
Meanwhile Catriona is attracted to him, but doesn't see being able to do anything about it because of her scarring. Her arguments with him are beating back the feelings of darkness that she had been experiencing. She goes from wanting him gone, to missing him when he isn't there, though she won't admit that. He has a tremendous influence on her because he pretty much forces her to start living her life again. He wants her to overcome her focus on her looks and see that she can have true value in her life. She doesn't miraculously turn into a kind and loving woman, but she develops an empathy for others that shows a basic change in her character. Meanwhile, Mark's growing fascination with her has him focusing on something other than just his work. He begins to see that she brings some balance to his life. He realizes pretty quickly that his deception probably wasn't the best thing to do, but doesn't know how to fix it. When the truth comes out, he's definitely in trouble, but at least they've gotten to know each other a little. He does take the opportunity to drag her out of her limited world to show her that she's not the only one who has it bad.
Catriona is in danger from an ex-lover who is furious at her rejection of him. He wants revenge and is behind the accident that caused her injuries, only he wanted her dead not injured. He is determined to finish what he started and we see the lengths to which he will go. His actions end up drawing Mark and Catriona closer together. The final confrontation was good and actually pretty realistic.
Mark is a doctor who has become friends with Catriona's aunt through their work with the poor of Edinburgh. He is the wealthy grandson of an earl, but medicine is his life. He also remembers Catriona from years earlier when he used to work with her father who had also been a doctor. He listens to Aunt Dina's fears about Caitriona and agrees to examine her and see if he can help. When he goes to her room to do so, she mistakes him for a footman and is incredibly rude to him. He sees that approaching her as a doctor isn't going to work, and goes along with her misconception. He tells her that he has been assigned by her aunt to make sure she eats and won't be leaving the room until she does so. He doesn't understand why he's so drawn to her and determined to help her, but he does succeed at irritating her into compliance.
Meanwhile Catriona is attracted to him, but doesn't see being able to do anything about it because of her scarring. Her arguments with him are beating back the feelings of darkness that she had been experiencing. She goes from wanting him gone, to missing him when he isn't there, though she won't admit that. He has a tremendous influence on her because he pretty much forces her to start living her life again. He wants her to overcome her focus on her looks and see that she can have true value in her life. She doesn't miraculously turn into a kind and loving woman, but she develops an empathy for others that shows a basic change in her character. Meanwhile, Mark's growing fascination with her has him focusing on something other than just his work. He begins to see that she brings some balance to his life. He realizes pretty quickly that his deception probably wasn't the best thing to do, but doesn't know how to fix it. When the truth comes out, he's definitely in trouble, but at least they've gotten to know each other a little. He does take the opportunity to drag her out of her limited world to show her that she's not the only one who has it bad.
Catriona is in danger from an ex-lover who is furious at her rejection of him. He wants revenge and is behind the accident that caused her injuries, only he wanted her dead not injured. He is determined to finish what he started and we see the lengths to which he will go. His actions end up drawing Mark and Catriona closer together. The final confrontation was good and actually pretty realistic.
jcmbank's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.0
elllzzaa's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my god, what a beautiful story! Ranney did amazingly in bringing her characters to life and writing such an excellent book! I have so many things I want to say.
The only value Catriona thought she had was her beauty and so of course she would be absolutely devastated to lose that. It upset me how little she believed in herself and the way Catriona mourned for the things she thought she had lost made my chest hurt.
Her character development is probably the best I’ve ever read. I LOVED how flawed she was! From the very beginning we see that she isn’t the greatest person, she’s selfish, thinks herself above others, vain, and entitled, but experiencing the way she recognised that she hadn’t been the best person was very fulfilling. It didn’t happen right away and it took time for her to correct her behaviour and I loved how realistic that was. I loved how Catriona worked towards bettering herself and giving others who needed it a better chance at life, She was such an amazing character.
Mark was also an incredible character. He was a good man who genuinely cared about everyone, from the people less fortunate, Catriona’s stubborn and unappealing self, the rich who truly had no need for his services but he humoured them anyway, his grandfather who he looked up too, and even to his nasty father and even nastier brothers. He loved being a physician and he was good at his job. I also really liked how witty Mark was, I found his conversations with everyone, especially Catriona, very amusing.
One of my favourite things about him was the way he was able to see through Catriona’s act, that she was lashing out and being difficult because she was afraid due to losing everything she knew. And the way he genuinely cared about her injuries, her limp and her poor left arm.
Dina was easily my favourite side character. Her love for Catriona, her determination, and her stubborn care for her was so sweet, and the way Dina treated others, her compassion, and charity work, she was such an amazing character and I really admired her.
I was incredibly sad to finish the story, I would read several books about Cat, Mark, and their relationship! I can’t wait to read more from Ranney, she executed The Lass Wore Black so exceptionally well and I’m excited to see what more she has in store!
The only value Catriona thought she had was her beauty and so of course she would be absolutely devastated to lose that. It upset me how little she believed in herself and the way Catriona mourned for the things she thought she had lost made my chest hurt.
Her character development is probably the best I’ve ever read. I LOVED how flawed she was! From the very beginning we see that she isn’t the greatest person, she’s selfish, thinks herself above others, vain, and entitled, but experiencing the way she recognised that she hadn’t been the best person was very fulfilling. It didn’t happen right away and it took time for her to correct her behaviour and I loved how realistic that was. I loved how Catriona worked towards bettering herself and giving others who needed it a better chance at life, She was such an amazing character.
Mark was also an incredible character. He was a good man who genuinely cared about everyone, from the people less fortunate, Catriona’s stubborn and unappealing self, the rich who truly had no need for his services but he humoured them anyway, his grandfather who he looked up too, and even to his nasty father and even nastier brothers. He loved being a physician and he was good at his job. I also really liked how witty Mark was, I found his conversations with everyone, especially Catriona, very amusing.
One of my favourite things about him was the way he was able to see through Catriona’s act, that she was lashing out and being difficult because she was afraid due to losing everything she knew. And the way he genuinely cared about her injuries, her limp and her poor left arm.
Dina was easily my favourite side character. Her love for Catriona, her determination, and her stubborn care for her was so sweet, and the way Dina treated others, her compassion, and charity work, she was such an amazing character and I really admired her.
I was incredibly sad to finish the story, I would read several books about Cat, Mark, and their relationship! I can’t wait to read more from Ranney, she executed The Lass Wore Black so exceptionally well and I’m excited to see what more she has in store!
librarydanielle's review against another edition
4.0
it's nice to see a truly flawed heroine who isn't a spectacular beauty or perfect in some way. Catriona (the name annoyed me most of the book for some reason) was a stunning, spoiled, terrible brat until she's horribly scarred. afterwards, she's still a spoiled brat, but in a coddled way. a spoiled brat who's found her world ripped out from her isn't going to change immediatley. she spends a good amount of time trying to find her new place, in her head as well as life. after all, in Society if you aren't pretty you don't matter. I liked that she isn't magically redeemed into a wonderful person, but keeps her personality. she's still spoiled, but also learns that she isn't the center of the universe and so achieves the label of 'interesting main character'. I got the impression that she was still "growing" as well, which I quite liked since so many end with "and they all had lots of beautiful babies and lived happily ever after, the end!" which I don't mind, but this was a refreshing change.
threadybeeps's review against another edition
2.0
I was very intrigued by the idea of a disfigured heroine. It just...failed to deliver the goods. The dialog and interactions between characters sounded anachronistic and unnatural to my ear a lot of the time, and that was very jarring. Neat idea, meh execution.
atunah's review
5.0
This hit all the right spots with me.
The beauty and the beast like story where we have the heroine and not the hero badly scarred. Her face now a mess, she hides behind a veil and the world. And she is confronted with the fact that she really just wasn't a very nice person and everyone just knew her by her beauty.
The hero just keeps poking at her through all her sharp spikes until she is forced to look beyond the scars and really look at herself.
I just couldn't stop reading this one. Bought and read basically in one day. The interactions between the h/H are so rich, so meaningful, I just loved it.
Looking at the books I read so far by Ranney, I guess I like all of them.
I am glad I can still find newly written historicals that are this well done.
The beauty and the beast like story where we have the heroine and not the hero badly scarred. Her face now a mess, she hides behind a veil and the world. And she is confronted with the fact that she really just wasn't a very nice person and everyone just knew her by her beauty.
The hero just keeps poking at her through all her sharp spikes until she is forced to look beyond the scars and really look at herself.
I just couldn't stop reading this one. Bought and read basically in one day. The interactions between the h/H are so rich, so meaningful, I just loved it.
Looking at the books I read so far by Ranney, I guess I like all of them.
I am glad I can still find newly written historicals that are this well done.
prationality's review
3.0
Prelim Review: I'm a bit torn on this book honestly. On the one hand I think its great that Ranney wrote a heroine who is truly disfigured, who had a realistic reaction to that disfigurement and the guy didn't turn into a gibbering nodcock about it.
On the other hand Catriona is SO unlikeable for SO much of the book. I didn't read the preceding books (of which some events are eluded to and her sister's happy marriage is written about), but I can't think Catriona is very much more likeable BEFORE the accident. She even says she wasn't likeable.
That said she manages to find a way to be selfless even while still making it all about herself. That takes some true talent right there.
Full review to be posted
On the other hand Catriona is SO unlikeable for SO much of the book. I didn't read the preceding books (of which some events are eluded to and her sister's happy marriage is written about), but I can't think Catriona is very much more likeable BEFORE the accident. She even says she wasn't likeable.
That said she manages to find a way to be selfless even while still making it all about herself. That takes some true talent right there.
Full review to be posted
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