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una_macchia's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. The title is kind of silly and misleading because they're both kind of "brooding," but probably the heroine moreso than the hero. Anyway, this is a sweet romance that's mostly about the heroine recovering from trauma with the hero's help. There's a last-minute misunderstanding that felt pretty contrived and unnecessary, but other than that the characters felt pretty believably like (I mean this in a much better way than it probably sounds) normal people muddling along trying to sort themselves out.
words_and_dreams's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Serena makes plans to marry a rake as she doesn't want to end up married to a complete bore. However her plans go awry when she is kidnapped and assaulted by her potential suitor. Lord Quinn, a grumpy introvert comes to her rescue and her reputation is on the line agrees to marry her.
The rest of the story is them getting to know each other, their friendship growing. After the attack Serena withdraws , becoming a faded version of herself. I loved how patient and understanding Quinn was, allowing her time and space to heal. He wants the real spirited her and does what he can to bring her back.
Despite her mistakes Serena learns to trust herself and others again.
Sweet slow burn romance
The rest of the story is them getting to know each other, their friendship growing. After the attack Serena withdraws , becoming a faded version of herself. I loved how patient and understanding Quinn was, allowing her time and space to heal. He wants the real spirited her and does what he can to bring her back.
Despite her mistakes Serena learns to trust herself and others again.
Sweet slow burn romance
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
samd's review against another edition
3.0
This is a low-stakes, well-written romance with two likable main characters where the bad guy gets what he deserves in the end. It also handles PTSD with what I found to be a pretty even hand. It would have been very easy for the hero to be written as a piece of shit for extra drama, but he wasn't, which was nice. He was perfectly pleasant. You'd think that wouldn't be such a tall fuckin order, but here we are.
I've probably read the same book about ten times (with a dash of plot points from Georgette Heyer's Black Sheep--I called this one pretty early on and was not surprised by the reveal--and Venetia thrown in), but that's not really a mark against it, because I keep coming back. Three stars.
I've probably read the same book about ten times (with a dash of plot points from Georgette Heyer's Black Sheep--I called this one pretty early on and was not surprised by the reveal--and Venetia thrown in), but that's not really a mark against it, because I keep coming back. Three stars.
helen's review
3.0
Probably more like 2.5 stars. It was okay. Low bar, but I liked how the hero didn't blame the heroine for what happened to her at the beginning of the story. He cleared the bar with lots of room though because he's considerate, patient and very conscious of consent issues. However, the rest of the story was a bit unremarkable and it was wrapped up too quickly.
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