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wildfaeriecaps's review
4.0
Loved the mystery in this and the sibling relationship between the twins. Surprisingly action-y for what I was expecting, which is not at all a bad thing. Enjoyable and exciting. Definitely checking out more by this author!
winterreader40's review
4.0
3.5 stars
Alethea and Declan are childhood friends who, after Declan returns after a 12 year banishment to take up the mantle of Duke, fall for each other hard and fast. Declan's half brother was murdered leaving the title to him and he won't rest till he finds the culprits. Alethea's father was a part of the scandal that lead to Dec's father's suicide and Declan's banishment and he suspects that he is still up to no good.
I never really understood why Dec had to be banished, there really didn't seem to be a need for it, but it does give our MC's time to grow up without the other constantly around and becoming immune to any charms they possess. Lots of secrets and lies come out in this story but never between the MC's, making for a bit of a twisty plot line. This was fun, but I still think I prefer book 4, we'll see if that holds after books 2 & 3 as well.
Alethea and Declan are childhood friends who, after Declan returns after a 12 year banishment to take up the mantle of Duke, fall for each other hard and fast. Declan's half brother was murdered leaving the title to him and he won't rest till he finds the culprits. Alethea's father was a part of the scandal that lead to Dec's father's suicide and Declan's banishment and he suspects that he is still up to no good.
I never really understood why Dec had to be banished, there really didn't seem to be a need for it, but it does give our MC's time to grow up without the other constantly around and becoming immune to any charms they possess. Lots of secrets and lies come out in this story but never between the MC's, making for a bit of a twisty plot line. This was fun, but I still think I prefer book 4, we'll see if that holds after books 2 & 3 as well.
hayleyde's review
2.0
DNF’ing the audiobook at 56% after over a month of slogging through it. This book has a lot of issues but the biggest is I just don’t care about the couple and their instalove.
readingwithhippos's review
3.0
This book would be perfect for someone who likes their historicals with a hefty side of mystery. Declan has returned to England after a scandal sent him into exile for years, only to discover his brother has died under suspicious circumstances and the dukedom is now his. As you might imagine, Declan’s focus is on solving his brother’s possible murder and less on his budding romance with his childhood friend Alethea, which I think is why I read this one much slower than most historicals. I live for the romantic development, and it was overshadowed here by the drama and intrigue. Still, I enjoyed it enough that I’ll check out more of de la Rosa’s books.
bianca_rodriguez's review
2.0
this felt half baked? like the plot, characters, conflict was there but the author just couldn’t get there. It’s been a bit since I’ve wanted to fight an MC but if I see Althea on the streets consider us dueling at dawn
awishman's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
what_karla_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4/5 stars
2/5 spice
Tropes:
Childhood friends to lovers
Biracial MMC
Headstrong FMC
Scandal & mystery
Family secrets
Dual POV
I enjoyed this story with its bit of mystery and the building romance between Alethea and Declan. The relationship moves fast but still has the right amount of tension. Their shared history and secret pining for each other helped push that attraction, and I enjoyed each interaction they had. The ending was a bit predictable but doesn't take away from the other aspects of the story that surprised me. So it was a nice balance.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for fans of historical romance and childhood friends to lovers. This is an open door romance but was short and light on the descriptions. This is my second book from this author, and I'm still a fan. Can't wait to read her other books.
This is a review on the audiobook. I really enjoyed the narrator and felt she captured each character's personality very well.
Trigger/Content warnings:
Death (mild description), violence, death of family member (off page), kidnapping, mild sexual content
2/5 spice
Tropes:
Childhood friends to lovers
Biracial MMC
Headstrong FMC
Scandal & mystery
Family secrets
Dual POV
I enjoyed this story with its bit of mystery and the building romance between Alethea and Declan. The relationship moves fast but still has the right amount of tension. Their shared history and secret pining for each other helped push that attraction, and I enjoyed each interaction they had. The ending was a bit predictable but doesn't take away from the other aspects of the story that surprised me. So it was a nice balance.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for fans of historical romance and childhood friends to lovers. This is an open door romance but was short and light on the descriptions. This is my second book from this author, and I'm still a fan. Can't wait to read her other books.
This is a review on the audiobook. I really enjoyed the narrator and felt she captured each character's personality very well.
Trigger/Content warnings:
Death (mild description), violence, death of family member (off page), kidnapping, mild sexual content
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Death
Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
lilopalu's review against another edition
I have trouble connecting to the MCs and there is too much other stuff going on which made me loose interest. Maybe I will continue at a later time.
allieeveryday's review against another edition
3.0
A friends-to-lovers historical romance/mystery. The mystery was really fun, and got things going much faster, because in the beginning I felt like both Alethea and Declan were kind of flat as characters, though they had really great sexual tension.
There's a lot going on in this book. The titular scandal, of the Declan's father being framed for swindling business deals. The potential scandal of Alethea falling in love with him since Alethea's father was Declan's father's business partner. Figuring out who murdered Declan's brother and why. Alethea trying to prevent herself from getting married off, and trying to prevent her twin brother from losing everything by falling in love with a man her father hates. Whoo boy. Once it got going, it was pretty action-packed.
Each chapter begins with a diary entry, but you don't know whose diary it is until most of the way through the book, and it started to wear on me before it began to make sense, and I don't know that I liked that device. I didn't need snippets of the entries, at least in the format they were in.
Read for #RomanceSparksJoy.
CW: mentions of previous stillbirth and miscarriages.
There's a lot going on in this book. The titular scandal, of the Declan's father being framed for swindling business deals. The potential scandal of Alethea falling in love with him since Alethea's father was Declan's father's business partner. Figuring out who murdered Declan's brother and why. Alethea trying to prevent herself from getting married off, and trying to prevent her twin brother from losing everything by falling in love with a man her father hates. Whoo boy. Once it got going, it was pretty action-packed.
Each chapter begins with a diary entry, but you don't know whose diary it is until most of the way through the book, and it started to wear on me before it began to make sense, and I don't know that I liked that device. I didn't need snippets of the entries, at least in the format they were in.
Read for #RomanceSparksJoy.
CW: mentions of previous stillbirth and miscarriages.
bleuetlau's review against another edition
2.5
2.5 stars. The romance and the mystery plot were poorly executed. I didn't connect to the main characters and didn't believe in their relationship. Weird timeline and character change. It was kind of painful to finish