Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is not a romance. A saga of sadness and foolishness that I could not believe. I will write a better review when I have taken the time to reflect on it further.
I'm on the fence with these books... On one hand, they engage me and I tend to finish them in less than a day. On the other hand, they kind of vex me. The characters seem kind of transparent and not well thought out... They repeat things and hold onto ridiculous thoughts / values / ideas until the last couple of chapters. It's frustrating, yet a little addicting? I'll move onto the next book now...
If you enjoy angsty, drawn out tales of forbidden love complete with greedy, self-absorbed siblings and abusive husbands then this is the tale for you. The problem for me wasn't the fact that the heroine is married, because very little happens between them beyond a kiss and their rising feelings. The problem was for a romance, Olivia, Harrison, and Alexa (the sister) spent more time looking hopelessly at their situations and whining about the unfairness of it but striving to be stoic for the sake of Alexa's impending scandal.While I liked Harrison, I couldn't accept Olivia's passivity. Yes, she attempts to stand up to the husband who rapes and beats her. But when she had the opportunity to be free and with Harrison, she didn't take it. For the unspeakable brat she calls a sister! Ugh, it made my blood pressure rise. Then the ending, which wrapped everyone's HEA up in a pretty bow felt false. So disappointing. The one highlight for me was that I could look past the adulterous thoughts to care more about their relationship than the vows Olivia honored. Since that has turned me off books in the past, London's done a great job of creating a sympathetic situation of the hero and heroine.
Well now I’m sad. And mad. Thanks for nothing, Julia.
Content tags: abusive husband (physical, verbal, sexual, etc), the worst sister of all time, poorly kept secrets, no seduction despite the title, HEA at 95% in, emotional cheating, engaged to the sister of the woman you love who is married, not your baby, sad boi hours 24/7
Content tags: abusive husband (physical, verbal, sexual, etc), the worst sister of all time, poorly kept secrets, no seduction despite the title, HEA at 95% in, emotional cheating, engaged to the sister of the woman you love who is married, not your baby, sad boi hours 24/7
3.75 solid stars... a lot of drama and angst created by the noble actions of the characters. i kept waiting for one of them to finally own up to their feelings and desires and just grab what they wanted. Finally thankfully they all pulled their heads out of the sand and were able to earn their HEAs.
I liked how much angst there was in this book. Harrison was steadfast and noble, and the conflicts seemed very real and not just fluffed up misunderstandings as some books have. It wasn't a perfect book, but at least a four and a half star. Stayed up way to late to finish it!
I remember Julia London very fondly as the writer of a book I really loved. Sadly, this one did not work very well for me. There was no one thing I did not like, and I did finish the book. But no big feelings of happiness ensued ;-)