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boundbyemily's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“I would lay the world at your feet if I could, Katherine.”
“I do not need the whole world. Just a little bit of you, Alexander,”
The angst in this one was so good — the disability rep was written well but the pacing of this book was what stopped it from being really good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, and Ableism
Moderate: Sexual content
ivegotyourpaperback's review against another edition
3.75
I quite enjoyed this story, mostly due to the hero, Alexander. While he could play the part of the brash and crass Duke, this seemed to mostly be a mask that he put on for society, hiding his sweet and adoring nature beneath. He was an emotionally complex character whose POV I loved being in.
Our heroine, Kitty, seemed to fall a bit flat in comparison. She didn’t feel as fully fleshed out. I would have liked a heroine who would have challenged him a bit more rather than the Little Miss Prim & Proper.
And then came the narrator. Good god, I could barely stand her. I almost DNF’d the audiobook at 4% because of her strange over-pronunciation of words (I wouldn’t be surprised if she was an American putting on a British accent) and the melodramatic performance of the text which constantly brought me out of the story.
But I forced myself to keep going through her weird breathless tone, the sound akin to someone trying, unsuccessfully, to whistle but only able to blow air out of their mouth. The only character whose voice I enjoyed was the minor Russian side character
Content warnings:
⚠️implication of SA
⚠️physical impairment due to injury
⚠️mention of impotence
⚠️mention of past drug addiction
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Infertility
Minor: Drug abuse and Sexual assault
ynp16's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Infertility
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
martamae77's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Moderate: Infertility
maeverose's review against another edition
Despite the interesting plot, this could not keep my attention. It was very slow and repetitive. Every time Kitty and Alexander interact they have the same thoughts about each other over and over: Kitty is horny for him but convinces herself she isn’t, Alexander is bewildered by how unique and unlike other girls Kitty is.
I feel unsure about the disability rep. As far as I read (39%) there was nothing outright offensive, but some things gave me pause. I am disabled but not in the way that Alexander is so I’m no authority on this, but it annoyed me somewhat that (even though I know plenty of wheelchair users can walk) he seemed to be able to do pretty much anything an able bodied person could (walk almost whenever he wanted, dance,swim in rushing water to rescue two people plus horses ), even if it was always clearly accompanied by pain. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I don’t want to discredit his pain, but it feels like his disability was at least partially written away when convenient. He was described as having muscular legs despite supposedly needing a wheelchair for the past seven years (though considering he seems to rarely use it, maybe that does make sense). It feels like he was written to be ‘palatably disabled’. He’s very stubborn about not using the wheelchair despite how it would help him and I assume that is addressed later in the book, but I never got that far.
There was one scene in particular that bothered me as well. (Mild spoilers) In chapter seven after the dance when Kitty goes to find him on the bench, instead of strictly being concerned for him, Kitty’s mostly thinking about how sweet he was to endure the pain to dance with her, how attractive he is, how her reputation could be affected if anyone found them alone, and how ‘admirable’ he is for being able to hide his pain so well (why is that admirable? Hiding his pain to ‘appear normal’? He shouldn’t have to grin and bear it). I felt like that scene would’ve been great if she had just wanted to make sure he was okay, then helped him, then they had the romantic moment. Rather than her clearly seeing him in pain and distress but being horny for him in that moment. It felt so off.
Also, in the book it says the left side of his face/body is scarred, but on the front cover it isn’t at all…. 🤨
I feel unsure about the disability rep. As far as I read (39%) there was nothing outright offensive, but some things gave me pause. I am disabled but not in the way that Alexander is so I’m no authority on this, but it annoyed me somewhat that (even though I know plenty of wheelchair users can walk) he seemed to be able to do pretty much anything an able bodied person could (walk almost whenever he wanted, dance,
There was one scene in particular that bothered me as well. (Mild spoilers) In chapter seven after the dance when Kitty goes to find him on the bench, instead of strictly being concerned for him, Kitty’s mostly thinking about how sweet he was to endure the pain to dance with her, how attractive he is, how her reputation could be affected if anyone found them alone, and how ‘admirable’ he is for being able to hide his pain so well (why is that admirable? Hiding his pain to ‘appear normal’? He shouldn’t have to grin and bear it). I felt like that scene would’ve been great if she had just wanted to make sure he was okay, then helped him, then they had the romantic moment. Rather than her clearly seeing him in pain and distress but being horny for him in that moment. It felt so off.
Also, in the book it says the left side of his face/body is scarred, but on the front cover it isn’t at all…. 🤨
I don’t know if any of these things are corrected later in the book, they could be, but it’s not holding my attention enough to read the rest of it to find out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infertility and Colonisation
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
Ableist slurs, near drowningcepbreed's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The first half of this book give or take had me in a chokehold. I loved Kitty's brash actions, her devotion to her family, but I also had many complaints. There was a lot of unnecessary exposition, like, I get it's the first book in a series but all the descriptions of her friends felt out of place. It was weird to mention so many names when readers would have absolutely no recall when they were mentioned again. I was like "who tf is Ophelia?" Also the duke's personality in the beginning felt so far removed from who he was at the end, not even, at the 3/4 mark. I understand he is hurt and too prideful to allow others to perceive his hurt or even help him, but how did that manifest so differently so quickly? Character development is a thing, but the key word here is development, which Alexander was evidently lacking. His indecisiveness was so frustrating, I did really end up liking Kitty though. She embarrassed me a bit, but she felt like a friend almost. At the end of the day this is a histrom so I can't expect something revolutionary, but somethings really ruined the reading experience, the immersion, for me....(I get it was supposed to be an unexpected moment but him literally collapsing mid stroke???? I was so cringed out I had to detox on TikTok for a couple minutes).
Song:
Song:
- cowboy like me - Taylor Swift
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Medical content, and Sexual content
Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
chrisljm's review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation, Ableism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Alcohol, Infertility, and Medical content
Minor: Grief, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
emilyharmonica's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“You are the only person I’ve ever wanted to share my silence.”
There’s little I love more than a quality Beauty and the Beast retelling, and this one was just… *swoon*
In a desperate attempt to save her family from poverty, Katherine Danvers announces her engagement to Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton, a man she has never met and who hasn’t been seen in society circles for nearly a decade. The duke, meanwhile, has shut himself away in his Scotland estate after a tragic accident left him brutally scarred and confined to a wheelchair. When he gets wind of rumors that a young lady has announced their engagement to the society pages, he travels to London to get to the bottom of her deception. And the rest, as they say, is history.
I’m a sucker for stories where the love interests find healing and redemption in one another. I loved how self-aware these characters were, how honest they were with themselves and each other in spite of their stubborn resistance to their chemistry. The strongest moments of the book were in the protagonists’ quiet moments together, sharing bites of an apple alone in an abandoned cottage, or spending time in the Duke’s library, or admiring the Scottish countryside from high up in a tree. It’s not the spiciest romance novel out there, but the sexual tension and romantic angst were off the charts.
I’d recommend this book to all readers of historical romance, as well as any reader who enjoys leaning into a tad bit of melodrama. I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series, as well as others from Stacy Reid’s backlist!
Bonus quote just because:
“You make me hope,” he snarled low and dangerous. “Like a goddamn idiot, you make me pray, you make my throat burn with the need to scream and beg God to give you to me, to treasure, to worship…to love until the end of my days.” He had to close his eyes to control his ragged breathing.
Overall rating: 4/5
Spice level: 2/5
There’s little I love more than a quality Beauty and the Beast retelling, and this one was just… *swoon*
In a desperate attempt to save her family from poverty, Katherine Danvers announces her engagement to Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton, a man she has never met and who hasn’t been seen in society circles for nearly a decade. The duke, meanwhile, has shut himself away in his Scotland estate after a tragic accident left him brutally scarred and confined to a wheelchair. When he gets wind of rumors that a young lady has announced their engagement to the society pages, he travels to London to get to the bottom of her deception. And the rest, as they say, is history.
I’m a sucker for stories where the love interests find healing and redemption in one another. I loved how self-aware these characters were, how honest they were with themselves and each other in spite of their stubborn resistance to their chemistry. The strongest moments of the book were in the protagonists’ quiet moments together, sharing bites of an apple alone in an abandoned cottage, or spending time in the Duke’s library, or admiring the Scottish countryside from high up in a tree. It’s not the spiciest romance novel out there, but the sexual tension and romantic angst were off the charts.
I’d recommend this book to all readers of historical romance, as well as any reader who enjoys leaning into a tad bit of melodrama. I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series, as well as others from Stacy Reid’s backlist!
Bonus quote just because:
“You make me hope,” he snarled low and dangerous. “Like a goddamn idiot, you make me pray, you make my throat burn with the need to scream and beg God to give you to me, to treasure, to worship…to love until the end of my days.” He had to close his eyes to control his ragged breathing.
Overall rating: 4/5
Spice level: 2/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Infertility
Moderate: Ableism
ellie_murdock's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, Addiction, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexism
cup_of_rosie's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It was a good easy read, i wished there would be more though as I usually do with these types of books. It was a very good retelling of beauty and the beast, and I enjoyed their romance and the disability representation. Overall good read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Infertility, Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, Sexual content, and Chronic illness
Minor: Pregnancy and Medical content