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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fun story with "Shop Around the Corner" vibes, but with an enemies to lovers trope.
Goofy title ... goofy premise. But ... I kind of liked this little romance. It had a touch of Romeo and Juliet vibe to it. Two families with generations of hatred separating them, but sometimes the heart doesn't always pay attention to such things. This was really more of a 3.5 star read. It was pretty conventional as far as stories such as this one can be, but I found the two main characters to be sort of sweet and fairly honorable, and I rooted for them to find their HEA. Of course, things would have been a lot easier if they could have been honest right from the start with each other, but it would have been a much shorter book, I guess. I'm still not totally sure what started the families feuding, and if it is what I gathered ... well, that's a dumb reason to hold onto a huge feud for years. But I guess that's happened before, so it makes sense that people would be ridiculous over ridiculous things. I liked how the innkeepers and patrons along the road to Scotland worked to help this couple find their happiness, and I loved how they made Henry pay for it for the rest of his life. Loved the epilogue! Rounded up to 4 stars for that reason. I really liked this story.
adventurous
lighthearted
A fun, if dragged out, story of two character with hidden identities that try to resist each other due to family drama.
While I like the concept of a You've Got Mail plot in corsets, this story was too long. It seemed like the author had to make a certain page target and to she kept repeating variants of the same thing over and over.
Loved them. My only issue is that they're classist. It's weird how often Boyle chose to use that as a fault against someone in this book instead of coming up with valid flaws.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
I'm not really a fan of the trope, but this one is good. I do like this author a lot.
I give this book 2 stars because I finished it, but it was really closer to a one for me. My criticisms start with the title (what were they thinking?) and continue from there. Henry and Daphne are 2 supposedly intelligent and sensible people who fall in love through letters using nom de plumes. After making plans to meet at a ball, we know that their love has a long road to HEA because the Seldons and Dales do NOT mix. Ever. Here was my biggest source of disgruntlement with the tale.
Where Boyle could have allowed the characters to recognize the truth of who they were at the ball and have the tale concentrate on the Shakespearean feud of the families and finding a way to be together, she spends the entirety of the book having Henry and Daphne insist that there is no way the other could possibly be their love. And these are supposedly intelligent, sensible people who are unable to see the clues staring them in the face. There were WAY to many coincidences and to brush them off, without even asking testing your suspicions? Ridiculous. Dragging that mystery on stunted the relationship growth and made them both seem shallow and oblivious.
The second issue really stems from the terrible title. In addition to being unusually long, it refers to a mere blimp in the action of the tale that was rushed at best and undeveloped at worst. Deeply disappointed.
Where Boyle could have allowed the characters to recognize the truth of who they were at the ball and have the tale concentrate on the Shakespearean feud of the families and finding a way to be together, she spends the entirety of the book having Henry and Daphne insist that there is no way the other could possibly be their love. And these are supposedly intelligent, sensible people who are unable to see the clues staring them in the face. There were WAY to many coincidences and to brush them off, without even asking testing your suspicions? Ridiculous. Dragging that mystery on stunted the relationship growth and made them both seem shallow and oblivious.
The second issue really stems from the terrible title. In addition to being unusually long, it refers to a mere blimp in the action of the tale that was rushed at best and undeveloped at worst. Deeply disappointed.
So far this series has been fantastic -- lots of humor. I cannot wait to start the next one in this series.