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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
All of Balogh's sentences have the same cadence and all her characters have the same (anachronistic) sense of morality, but possibly because of this she can be strangely soothing to read when I have a headache.
I don't really like any of her books except the ones I imprinted on as a teenager/college student, though.
I don't really like any of her books except the ones I imprinted on as a teenager/college student, though.
It went from not that bad to incredibly boring, despite flurries of plot toward the end (all too obviously manufactured to keep our interest.) this is a book that would have been far better had it lost 150 pages. Yet, I suppose the author had a contract so she fluffed it out as well as she could.
That said, it is a triumph in two distinct ways:
1. A blow against insta-love:
In fact it read very much like an author's RANT against the idea of insta love as well as love based mainly on lust, i.e. about 75% of romances when it was written. The characters endlessly discuss and define the progress of their feelings, both agreeing vehemently that just brief friendship and strong sexual chemistry does not automatically equal love or assure it in the future.
In fact, on at least two occasions the hero wonders if he will come to hate the heroine in the future, due to her strong character.
2. The heroine's strong character:
It's talked about a bit more than its demonstrated (in fact, infuriatingly, her kid brother who she raised tries to boss her on occasion, which she bears affectionately. I would have bonked him.) But, she does get some good solid banter in and generally pulls her weight versus the hero.
I don't understand why her past experience had to leave her so naive and terrible at kissing though. Why does she have to be terribly pure?
Anyhow, there's some good stuff in here. I'd love to sit down and chat with the author about this book. On the other hand, it's not worth a re-read. The bad or boring stuff was just too dull.
That said, it is a triumph in two distinct ways:
1. A blow against insta-love:
In fact it read very much like an author's RANT against the idea of insta love as well as love based mainly on lust, i.e. about 75% of romances when it was written. The characters endlessly discuss and define the progress of their feelings, both agreeing vehemently that just brief friendship and strong sexual chemistry does not automatically equal love or assure it in the future.
In fact, on at least two occasions the hero wonders if he will come to hate the heroine in the future, due to her strong character.
2. The heroine's strong character:
It's talked about a bit more than its demonstrated (in fact, infuriatingly, her kid brother who she raised tries to boss her on occasion, which she bears affectionately. I would have bonked him.) But, she does get some good solid banter in and generally pulls her weight versus the hero.
I don't understand why her past experience had to leave her so naive and terrible at kissing though. Why does she have to be terribly pure?
Anyhow, there's some good stuff in here. I'd love to sit down and chat with the author about this book. On the other hand, it's not worth a re-read. The bad or boring stuff was just too dull.
I thought this was going to be 5 stars but the last 2 chapters are so dramatic I wanted to tell Meg to Get Out. I loved the first 80% of the soft, slow romance. Both characters are very kind, despite dramatic circumstances. The end ups the drama to truly crazy levels, but I still enjoyed it.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a delightful read for an afternoon - I particularly appreciated that they were both upfront and honest with each other about their feelings and their reasons for marriage, and worked from there to a satisfying and loving relationship.
This was fine. The conflict seemed to get sorted much more easily than I believed, but aside from that it was a fine book with some good character development.
Oddly enough, I liked the female more than the male in this romance novel. However, her reactions were often a little over the top, and didn't always seem to fit her characterization.
Still, I enjoyed this book quite a bit.
Still, I enjoyed this book quite a bit.
1.5
Bored me to tears. Repetitive. Historical inaccuracies. Heroine was a complete Mary Sue and hero was her Gary Stue and EVERYbloodyONE sang her praises. Can two fictional characters, main ones at that, be more bland? Nay.
I kept waiting for things to get better, for the writing to not drag, for the author to not repeat every freaking detail ad nauseam. Never happened. Good god, the hero was freaking boring. How that's possible with such an interesting backstory, I'll never know.
Bored me to tears. Repetitive. Historical inaccuracies. Heroine was a complete Mary Sue and hero was her Gary Stue and EVERYbloodyONE sang her praises. Can two fictional characters, main ones at that, be more bland? Nay.
I kept waiting for things to get better, for the writing to not drag, for the author to not repeat every freaking detail ad nauseam. Never happened. Good god, the hero was freaking boring. How that's possible with such an interesting backstory, I'll never know.