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katyanaish's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. Honestly, just loved it. I cried at multiple points, which... honestly has become unusual for me with HR. I think they generally seem too formulaic to move me like that.
Anna was just ... so tremendously alone. And if I were to quibble, I wish this book had spent more time growing her relationship with the Haverstons. I understand why we didn't get much time there - the book would have been mammoth - but Anna ... she was so alone, and I was so desperate for her to discover the love of a family, something she has missed her entire life. I just wanted ... I don't know. More than the little nods to their relationships slowly creeping forward. I wanted a concerned-yet-proud brother in the room after she saved the child from drowning. A deep anger that Max was being inappropriate. I wanted to feel them straining to take care of her. She deserved that.
And I wanted them to truly understand how much she was afraid of ... tainting them. Hurting them, just by being present.
These are little beats that we never got, and I feel we should have.
That's not to say I didn't care for Max - I did. Even though I found him to be ... tremendously arrogant - his privileged views of the demimonde, and his resistance to seeing it from her standpoint, really did hurt - he did care for Anna. He just did it in a very arrogant way, as if he knows best regarding everything. I think that's also why I wish there was some family presence - one of her brothers needed to shake some sense into him.
I feel like... this book probably should have been longer. A little more development of this shift would have been awesome.
Another quibble is Madame.
I'm still giving it 4.5 stars though. I have to acknowledge and respect a book that moves me to tears at several points. So despite the quibbles, it's well worth a read.
Anna was just ... so tremendously alone.
Spoiler
I sobbed, quite literally, when she said goodbye to her only friend, Mrs. Culpepper.And I wanted them to truly understand how much she was afraid of ... tainting them. Hurting them, just by being present.
These are little beats that we never got, and I feel we should have.
That's not to say I didn't care for Max - I did. Even though I found him to be ... tremendously arrogant - his privileged views of the demimonde, and his resistance to seeing it from her standpoint, really did hurt - he did care for Anna. He just did it in a very arrogant way, as if he knows best regarding everything. I think that's also why I wish there was some family presence - one of her brothers needed to shake some sense into him.
Spoiler
Max did have a shift in perspective at the very end. Like, in the last 8 pages. But it was like a lightning bolt, it happened so suddenly.Another quibble is Madame.
Spoiler
I don't even know if I can call what happened a wrap up. The attack on Max was very sudden, and out of left field. But it was even more odd that that was the end of it. We get an offhand comment that she's moved to Norway, but ... given that she loomed large in this book - even when she wasn't present, she was discussed almost constantly, as we unwrapped what Anna's life had been like in Anover House - it just wasn't enough to be an emotionally satisfying conclusion of Anna's arc with her mother.I'm still giving it 4.5 stars though. I have to acknowledge and respect a book that moves me to tears at several points. So despite the quibbles, it's well worth a read.
freemajo's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent character development with exceptional and believable growth. Full-bodied story with peaks and valleys.
gonturans's review against another edition
4.0
romance as a genre is, ultimately, about the fantasy of being Seen and appreciated and wanted for who you are (see: the infamous when harry met sally declaration of love). this novel does so beautifully, wherein the heroine is Seen and Accepted by not only the hero but her half-brothers and their wives. anna doesn't trust people's intentions /for good reason/, and her surprise each time that max took moments during arguments to calm down and not wind himself up more was heartbreaking. sometimes she was a /little/ too willing to let things go.
the ending was cinematic. pitch perfect. put that shit on screen.
i have some nitpicks (where did the dog go??? justice for hermia.), but overall this was just a really lovely, quiet, character-driven plot. maybe a little slow for most, but perhaps mary balogh is a good comparison.
the ending was cinematic. pitch perfect. put that shit on screen.
i have some nitpicks (where did the dog go??? justice for hermia.), but overall this was just a really lovely, quiet, character-driven plot. maybe a little slow for most, but perhaps mary balogh is a good comparison.
slc333's review against another edition
3.0
What I particularly liked about this book was that the misunderstanding about him visiting when they first met is resolved quite early and the rest of the book is devoted to the development of their relationship which evolves naturally over the course of the stroy. I like that there was no great misunderstanding them keeping them apart after they had fallen in love (the conflict was there based on there differing positions but they never doubted their feelings). Sometimes there is a risk that a relationship without the usual obstacles can be boring but that was not the case here. I enjoyed the way they got to know one another, their arguments, their mutual attraction and Max's desire to protect her.
sans's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
Sums up my reaction after finishing this awesomesauce book in one day.
Sums up my reaction after finishing this awesomesauce book in one day.
atunah's review against another edition
5.0
Oh that was a good one. Just like the one I read connected to this one "Nearly a Lady".
There is something so real and full of heart about this book.
These 2 are trying to find their way to each other, all the way to the end. Wonderful characters. Emotional and romantic.
There is something so real and full of heart about this book.
These 2 are trying to find their way to each other, all the way to the end. Wonderful characters. Emotional and romantic.
uchenna's review against another edition
4.0
truly wonderful main couple who actually communicated with each other and didn't spend the majority of the book arguing over a simple misunderstanding.
very few romances unfortunately create female characters with as rich and interesting internal lives and the male characters but alissa johnson does. anna had ideas and convictions and called max out when he needed to be.
it's been a while since i read the first 2 books in this series so revisiting old characters wasn't as sweet but i enjoyed what i did remember about the other haverstons. would've liked a bit more time spent building the familial relationships but not a big deal.
also enjoyed that the epilogue wasn't centered around the main couple having 35 children as most epilogues seem to think that shows happily ever after.
very few romances unfortunately create female characters with as rich and interesting internal lives and the male characters but alissa johnson does. anna had ideas and convictions and called max out when he needed to be.
it's been a while since i read the first 2 books in this series so revisiting old characters wasn't as sweet but i enjoyed what i did remember about the other haverstons. would've liked a bit more time spent building the familial relationships but not a big deal.
also enjoyed that the epilogue wasn't centered around the main couple having 35 children as most epilogues seem to think that shows happily ever after.
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