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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Had to DNF at the 30% mark. She is grossly insulted in a "men's only" bookstore and although the hero comes to her aid, he then grabs her roughly and hisses at her, basically calls her a hysterical ninny for being insulted. I'm like ... ok wait, first you assault-kiss her crudely, then barely apologize, then tell her you don't like her anyway, THEN treat her like sh*t in this bookstore? No, sorry, I can already tell you're an idiot and not worth reading about any further. It's a shame because I normally love may-december, older brother of a close friend, etc etc but gads this guy is a douche.
I think I'm of the opinion of a lot of the other reviewers here. For about 200 pages or so I was really enjoying it, loved the heroine, and really liked the main hero - I just think their relationship was great to read. But then for some reason in the next 100 pages, it felt like angst was put in for the sake of drama and not much else. I didn't get the whole I can't say I'm in love with you thing when he made it so clear that he knew that Miranda was nothing like his ex-wife. I still read the whole book cover to cover none the less but I wish the conflict hadn't been so forced - it just didn't seem to make much sense tbh. Was a 4 star book by half way but I think the second half let it down and for that reason this was a 3 star for me.
DNF’d at 30% because I felt no sympathy for Turner, nor a desire for Miranda and him to get together already. It was all going fine until she wanted a book, they went to the shop and instead of buying her the book regardless of her behavior, he makes her apologize for acting rashly? Fuck off with that.
Meh. They picked at each other more than I liked. Not a bad book, but their relationship was not what I was expecting
I found this story boring and the narration was really bad.
Sorry not sorry, I can not get over Turner's attitude and treatment of all the people around him.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay, like I liked it fine. But I didn’t like how Turner was randomly an asshole in Scotland for no reason (I mean he’d thoughtlessly acted that way before but always realized and felt bad and made amends for it) but in this case he just … never felt bad about it. And it was just swept over. And I wish the whole “first marriage wrecked his ability to recognize and articulate love” thing was more naturally integrated in the story, because it felt like it only came up in a very heavy handed way in key parts as an excuse for his behavior. Like I forgot that was meant to be a thing for him til he explained it again. So those things annoyed me and brought the score down. And all the randomly physical aggression - why was JQ so into that lolol.
This might be an unpopular opinion but overall I liked this story. Is it perfect? No. Is Turner a complete man child stuck in the memory of his dead wife? Yes. Is Miranda completely hopeless and stuck on a toxic man and idea of a relationship? Yes.
This is a trend I've seen with Quinn's historical romances. Bridgerton, for example, does this very thing. The woman is smart, independent, and more but they fixate on a man that is absolutely abhorrent.
Turner is no walk in the park. He's manipulating (as is Miranda), broken, aggressive and completely stuck in his feels about a woman who did him dirty while they were married. He was a man scorned. Bright eyed and bushy tailed as a young man, so very sweet. The man he was before his wife was the man Miranda fell for. That was the man she was looking for when she started her advances towards him.
We spend so much time blaming Turner in this book (I know I did.) But it's Miranda who starts it. He wants to be left alone. He wants to wallow in his misery. She could have left him be but she was so stuck on reaching him. Fixing him despite his attempts at showing her how much of an asshole he really is. She decided to stay. She pushed aside all the warnings and kept on. He was no saint in the matter and he could have tried a little harder to keep her away.
He could have also let go of all that anger and accepted that Miranda actually loved him and wasn't trying to cause him harm.
This is a trend I've seen with Quinn's historical romances. Bridgerton, for example, does this very thing. The woman is smart, independent, and more but they fixate on a man that is absolutely abhorrent.
Turner is no walk in the park. He's manipulating (as is Miranda), broken, aggressive and completely stuck in his feels about a woman who did him dirty while they were married. He was a man scorned. Bright eyed and bushy tailed as a young man, so very sweet. The man he was before his wife was the man Miranda fell for. That was the man she was looking for when she started her advances towards him.
We spend so much time blaming Turner in this book (I know I did.) But it's Miranda who starts it. He wants to be left alone. He wants to wallow in his misery. She could have left him be but she was so stuck on reaching him. Fixing him despite his attempts at showing her how much of an asshole he really is. She decided to stay. She pushed aside all the warnings and kept on. He was no saint in the matter and he could have tried a little harder to keep her away.
He could have also let go of all that anger and accepted that Miranda actually loved him and wasn't trying to cause him harm.