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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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:
Complicated
Where do I start?
It's safe to ask myself first what I did like about this book. Not a lot, really. As for what I didn't like..
* The 2 main characters. Miranda and Turner were annoying to a A. Miranda was a stupid naive girl equipped with a smart mouth to inspire a witty dialogue but not the backbone to back it up and Turner was a selfish asshole with a very unconvincing reason why he was such an asshole. Former wife cheated on him and broke his heart. Sad backstory but doesn't mean he gets a green card to act like a professional jerk.
* The romance was non-existence. It was mostly lust on Turner's part and infatuation/unrequited love on Miranda's.
*My god the cliches. This book is a study in cliche. It feels inspired by 90s Mexican melodrama.
I do not recommend. I was so disappointed. I'm a fan of the Bridgertons series and I love it a lot. I had expectation for any other book by Julia Quinn but this was a train wreck. I will however give another chance to the second book.
It's safe to ask myself first what I did like about this book. Not a lot, really. As for what I didn't like..
* The 2 main characters. Miranda and Turner were annoying to a A. Miranda was a stupid naive girl equipped with a smart mouth to inspire a witty dialogue but not the backbone to back it up and Turner was a selfish asshole with a very unconvincing reason why he was such an asshole. Former wife cheated on him and broke his heart. Sad backstory but doesn't mean he gets a green card to act like a professional jerk.
* The romance was non-existence. It was mostly lust on Turner's part and infatuation/unrequited love on Miranda's.
*My god the cliches. This book is a study in cliche. It feels inspired by 90s Mexican melodrama.
I do not recommend. I was so disappointed. I'm a fan of the Bridgertons series and I love it a lot. I had expectation for any other book by Julia Quinn but this was a train wreck. I will however give another chance to the second book.
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The number of times he did a variation on "watch what you say to me wife" was deeply disturbing.
Adorable. Read this on the way to ALA, and was charmed.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Review - I loved how, in this book, you get Miranda's diary entries. It's cleverly written and the characters are well-rounded, setting them up for the other books in the series. I love how you see the entire progression of Turner from rakish teen through the aftermath of his first marriage and into his second marriage to Miranda. Olivia Bevelstoke really captured my interest so I was excited when I found out the second book What Happens in London was about her. It is a pity that Miranda and Turner don't really appear in the later books in the series, as it would have been good to see how they interacted with the new characters introduced (Harry Valentine in What Happens in London and Annabelle Winslow in Ten Things I Love About You).
Genre? - Historical Fiction / Romance
Characters? - Miranda Cheever / Olivia Bevelstoke / Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner
Setting? - England
Series? - Bevelstoke #1
Recommend? - Yes
Rating - 18/20
Genre? - Historical Fiction / Romance
Characters? - Miranda Cheever / Olivia Bevelstoke / Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner
Setting? - England
Series? - Bevelstoke #1
Recommend? - Yes
Rating - 18/20
RANT REVIEW AHEAD WITH SPOILERS
Ok this book was...yikes...
I was truly enjoying this book for the first, I don't know, 150, 200 pages? But after the main characters slept together, this book went tremendously downhill. Our "hero" is an abusive, manipulative, ass who literally cares 0 about our heroine. Not saying Miranda is a saint either, in fact, if I were putting it lightly, she's stupid. If I'm being blunt (which I am), she's a dumb bitch.
Turner, our hero, hears our heroine Miranda say I love you at least 4 times throughout the book, but decides that he does not love her, until she almost dies in childbirth (he explained it differently, but I wasn't fooled.) He also claims he will marry Miranda after he sleeps with her, because he knew if he didn't, she would be ruined by society. And you probably think, aww, right? So caring and sweet. LMAO, WRONG! My guy leaves her because he says he needs to "think", which is fine, ok, understandable, but he leaves for almost 2 MONTHS, because he doesn't want to marry her. He then only goes back to her, because she's pregnant with his child. Then she loses the baby, and mind you, my dude doesn't even care an ounce that his child is dead. And he demands that she has to marry him, or else he'll ruin her, by telling everyone they slept together before marriage. He also threatens her, numerous times throughout the book, and doesn't realize, like I said, that he's in love with her till she almost dies. Turner also, forces himself on Miranda more than once, continues to feel her up even as she explicitly states NO, which, if someone says NO IT MEANS, NO. I don't care if this is written in the regency time period, it was written in 2007, and consent was a legal thing in 2007. Everything about Turner is a RED FLAG. He's abusive, he drinks so much that he forces himself onto women and doesn't realize he's doing it, he's manipulative, and arrogant beyond belief (and usually we all swoon over this, because the male hero "changes''. Yeah that didn't happen) He's so romantic *rolls eyes*
Ok, I'm not saying that Miranda is entirely innocent because really, she's just plain...dumb. She's been in love with Turner since she was 10 (we see why in the prologue), which is cute I guess. But she's just stupid. She expects Turner to love her, when he doesn't even know her feelings. And then when he does, he gives 0, nada, no shits about her feelings, like at all. And she mopes and cries, and whines because he doesn't love her, and sobs about it in her stupid diary, and pities herself. And yet, SHE KEEPS GOING BACK TO HIM!!!??? She is so immacuatley dumb, I just can't even fathom it. He obviously doesn't love you, and if it takes him so much as you almost dying for him to realize it, I don't think he's worth keeping around.
Overall, this book was a mess. The main characters were SOOOO annoying, and the side characters weren't any better. Olivia was ok, but she never considered Miranda's feelings at all. I mean the girl keeps trying to force her other brother on Miranda, and demands that she marry him, so they can officially be sisters. God. I will still continue on with the next book, because it sounds funny, and maybe try to read The Duke, and I, but as of now, I have very low hopes for Julia Quinn as an author.
Ok this book was...yikes...
I was truly enjoying this book for the first, I don't know, 150, 200 pages? But after the main characters slept together, this book went tremendously downhill. Our "hero" is an abusive, manipulative, ass who literally cares 0 about our heroine. Not saying Miranda is a saint either, in fact, if I were putting it lightly, she's stupid. If I'm being blunt (which I am), she's a dumb bitch.
Turner, our hero, hears our heroine Miranda say I love you at least 4 times throughout the book, but decides that he does not love her, until she almost dies in childbirth (he explained it differently, but I wasn't fooled.) He also claims he will marry Miranda after he sleeps with her, because he knew if he didn't, she would be ruined by society. And you probably think, aww, right? So caring and sweet. LMAO, WRONG! My guy leaves her because he says he needs to "think", which is fine, ok, understandable, but he leaves for almost 2 MONTHS, because he doesn't want to marry her. He then only goes back to her, because she's pregnant with his child. Then she loses the baby, and mind you, my dude doesn't even care an ounce that his child is dead. And he demands that she has to marry him, or else he'll ruin her, by telling everyone they slept together before marriage. He also threatens her, numerous times throughout the book, and doesn't realize, like I said, that he's in love with her till she almost dies. Turner also, forces himself on Miranda more than once, continues to feel her up even as she explicitly states NO, which, if someone says NO IT MEANS, NO. I don't care if this is written in the regency time period, it was written in 2007, and consent was a legal thing in 2007. Everything about Turner is a RED FLAG. He's abusive, he drinks so much that he forces himself onto women and doesn't realize he's doing it, he's manipulative, and arrogant beyond belief (and usually we all swoon over this, because the male hero "changes''. Yeah that didn't happen) He's so romantic *rolls eyes*
Ok, I'm not saying that Miranda is entirely innocent because really, she's just plain...dumb. She's been in love with Turner since she was 10 (we see why in the prologue), which is cute I guess. But she's just stupid. She expects Turner to love her, when he doesn't even know her feelings. And then when he does, he gives 0, nada, no shits about her feelings, like at all. And she mopes and cries, and whines because he doesn't love her, and sobs about it in her stupid diary, and pities herself. And yet, SHE KEEPS GOING BACK TO HIM!!!??? She is so immacuatley dumb, I just can't even fathom it. He obviously doesn't love you, and if it takes him so much as you almost dying for him to realize it, I don't think he's worth keeping around.
Overall, this book was a mess. The main characters were SOOOO annoying, and the side characters weren't any better. Olivia was ok, but she never considered Miranda's feelings at all. I mean the girl keeps trying to force her other brother on Miranda, and demands that she marry him, so they can officially be sisters. God. I will still continue on with the next book, because it sounds funny, and maybe try to read The Duke, and I, but as of now, I have very low hopes for Julia Quinn as an author.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced