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rjordan19's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑 (for kisses and partial)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): (There is only an interrupted partial scene)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: almost immediately (chapter 1)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes
Format: listened to audio from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
I would say yes. The events of the series are referenced, there’s character cross over, and this book and book 3 kind of happen concurrently in parts so I think it might flow better to read in order. (Though for a rebel reader, it’s still doable. There’s nothing ongoing in the series that will be confusing without the prior books)
Basic plot:
Rhoda has almost given up on finding a marriage prospect when an awful bet is placed at a men’s club and she starts getting harassed. Justin must marry for money, but his honor calls for him to protect penniless Rhoda...
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- vicar turned Earl hero
- bet made against the heroine’s virtue is a plot point
- compromised heroine
- house party
- low steam – there’s quite a few kisses but only a partial scene and nothing complete for a sex act in this story
Ages:
- I didn’t catch them. If I had to guess, I’d guess Rhoda was around 20, maybe mid 20s and Justin was late 20s?
First line:
“I don’t understand it, Emily.”
My thoughts:
I think what really threw me for a loop with this one was I didn’t realize there was a novella attached to the end of my hoopla audio. So, I was glancing at the percentage and waiting to get to the ‘good part’ where they actually come together, and the book ended. And I was totally unprepared for that and it felt really abrupt to me (but I might have just been deluding myself because of the percentages…)
I did like this one – Rhoda and Justin are both needing to marry for money. Rhoda has hardly any dowry to offer so she is struggling to find a marriage match. Justin never thought he would become an Earl – he lived a simple life as a vicar before all this – but finds he desperately needs money to help his tenants and work on his estate. And they come together rather unexpectedly.
I love compromised heroine. It’s one of my favorite historical tropes. I liked both mains but I found myself not loving them. Rhoda did annoy me a touch, but I’m not sure why – maybe the way she said hurtful things and was prepared to go with another guy. Justin was enjoyable but a bit too wishy washy for me.
I was SO disappointed there wasn’t a full steamy scene. I was ready for it. And it ended without one and I was so confused.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- quite a few scenes of attempted assault
- remembrances of various plot points from prior books that include death and cheating
- remembrance of heroine being basically used and lied to (she gave her prior love her virginity and he ghosted her then died)
- death of prior significant other in a carriage accident
- mention of heroine’s mother having a bad marriage
- brief mention of thoughts of suicide
- mention of hero’s mother having to sell her body to feed them
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: No? There's penetration on page, but not to completion
Hows the consent? It's good
Note that these percentages are OFF from this story as a whole because the audiobook version I was listening to had a novella attached to the ending chapters
23% - house party kiss
41% - kisses
52% - kisses
63% - kisses
68% - kisses and start of a sex scene (sex against a wall maybe?) but the heroine’s mother walks in
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑 (for kisses and partial)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): (There is only an interrupted partial scene)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: almost immediately (chapter 1)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes
Format: listened to audio from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
I would say yes. The events of the series are referenced, there’s character cross over, and this book and book 3 kind of happen concurrently in parts so I think it might flow better to read in order. (Though for a rebel reader, it’s still doable. There’s nothing ongoing in the series that will be confusing without the prior books)
Basic plot:
Rhoda has almost given up on finding a marriage prospect when an awful bet is placed at a men’s club and she starts getting harassed. Justin must marry for money, but his honor calls for him to protect penniless Rhoda...
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- vicar turned Earl hero
- bet made against the heroine’s virtue is a plot point
- compromised heroine
- house party
- low steam – there’s quite a few kisses but only a partial scene and nothing complete for a sex act in this story
Ages:
- I didn’t catch them. If I had to guess, I’d guess Rhoda was around 20, maybe mid 20s and Justin was late 20s?
First line:
“I don’t understand it, Emily.”
My thoughts:
I think what really threw me for a loop with this one was I didn’t realize there was a novella attached to the end of my hoopla audio. So, I was glancing at the percentage and waiting to get to the ‘good part’ where they actually come together, and the book ended. And I was totally unprepared for that and it felt really abrupt to me (but I might have just been deluding myself because of the percentages…)
I did like this one – Rhoda and Justin are both needing to marry for money. Rhoda has hardly any dowry to offer so she is struggling to find a marriage match. Justin never thought he would become an Earl – he lived a simple life as a vicar before all this – but finds he desperately needs money to help his tenants and work on his estate. And they come together rather unexpectedly.
I love compromised heroine. It’s one of my favorite historical tropes. I liked both mains but I found myself not loving them. Rhoda did annoy me a touch, but I’m not sure why – maybe the way she said hurtful things and was prepared to go with another guy. Justin was enjoyable but a bit too wishy washy for me.
I was SO disappointed there wasn’t a full steamy scene. I was ready for it. And it ended without one and I was so confused.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- quite a few scenes of attempted assault
- remembrances of various plot points from prior books that include death and cheating
- remembrance of heroine being basically used and lied to (she gave her prior love her virginity and he ghosted her then died)
- death of prior significant other in a carriage accident
- mention of heroine’s mother having a bad marriage
- brief mention of thoughts of suicide
- mention of hero’s mother having to sell her body to feed them
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
Note that these percentages are OFF from this story as a whole because the audiobook version I was listening to had a novella attached to the ending chapters
23% - house party kiss
41% - kisses
52% - kisses
63% - kisses
68% - kisses and start of a sex scene (sex against a wall maybe?) but the heroine’s mother walks in
sassysmutlover's review
5.0
This book takes place at the same time as Hell's Belle so I was excited to see what happened between these two. I've never seen a story with a Vicar turned Earl so that was definitely something new that I loved. These two clearly have something between them from the start, but they have battles to win first. I loved how much confusion there was between them about everything. There was a couple of times that I was afraid of what a certain person would do. Her father was a total shock and I wanted to wack him. A real surprise was her mother and I loved her for it. There are some fun twists with the ladies and a well-deserved end for one person. The ending left me laughing and happy to see them all happy.
Rhoda is almost a shell of herself, but there is still a fire in her. I loved how she opened up to him and was ready to battle the ton. She needed someone that would understand her and help her get over the past and see she is safe.
Justin had loved her longer than anyone knew and he would do anything for her. He came to her resue in more ways than one. I loved how he always stayed positive and didn't give up.
There are a few scenes that could potentially be triggering to some. There are attempted sexual assaults, but they are brief and not graphic.
Copy provided for an honest and voluntary review
Rhoda is almost a shell of herself, but there is still a fire in her. I loved how she opened up to him and was ready to battle the ton. She needed someone that would understand her and help her get over the past and see she is safe.
Justin had loved her longer than anyone knew and he would do anything for her. He came to her resue in more ways than one. I loved how he always stayed positive and didn't give up.
There are a few scenes that could potentially be triggering to some. There are attempted sexual assaults, but they are brief and not graphic.
Copy provided for an honest and voluntary review
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