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reader_fictions's review
2.0
A historical romance about a woman who genderbends to be a horse trainer sounds like it should be absolutely the most perfect book for me. Unfortunately, without a connection to the characters, romance novels fall flat. I would have DNFed this, except that I wanted to wait and see if the ship improved things, but by the time the ship actually took off, I was halfway through the book and it was too late for me to quit.
The concepts and ideas in this romance novel are good. The horse racing stuff is cool, as is the underlying feminism. Flora's confident in both her skills, her identity, and her sexuality in a way that's delightful. She's had multiple sexual partners, and she starts a casual sexual relationship with intention. She also never wants to have children. All of that is excellent, if only I'd felt anything more than boredom for the characters.
This is one of those books where the hero and heroine don't actually spend much time together, but the narration will comment on their banter and the many occasions they've spent together between the scenes on the page (where they only have a few meaningful scenes and pretty much never banter).
While I wouldn't say this book is bad, it's definitely not one that works for me as a reader. I'm unsure whether I would read more De la Rosa, as the book seems so much more plot- than character-focused, and I need romance to be the latter.
The concepts and ideas in this romance novel are good. The horse racing stuff is cool, as is the underlying feminism. Flora's confident in both her skills, her identity, and her sexuality in a way that's delightful. She's had multiple sexual partners, and she starts a casual sexual relationship with intention. She also never wants to have children. All of that is excellent, if only I'd felt anything more than boredom for the characters.
This is one of those books where the hero and heroine don't actually spend much time together, but the narration will comment on their banter and the many occasions they've spent together between the scenes on the page (where they only have a few meaningful scenes and pretty much never banter).
While I wouldn't say this book is bad, it's definitely not one that works for me as a reader. I'm unsure whether I would read more De la Rosa, as the book seems so much more plot- than character-focused, and I need romance to be the latter.
tween2teenbookreviews's review
5.0
This book was really fun! Along with the great romance, it was clear the author either knew a lot about horses or did some really good research. I always love stories that have women going in disguise as a boy, and this one didn't disappoint. I loved watching Flora and Christian fall in love with each other, even if Christian could be a bit boneheaded at times.
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