Reviews

2.5 stars

Okay. This one was a let down after the first. Malcom should have been even better being so Scottish. But I didn’t love him. And I hated the whole “yes, Malcom” scene. But more than that, I hated how he treated Amelia when they had a fight. He wasn’t just angry, but cruel.

And Amelia wasn’t great in the first one and not particularly redeeming in this one.

I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it.

beaudoindani17's review

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I never really liked the way Malcolm treated either Amelia or Prudence...

beckymmoe's review against another edition

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3.0

Ramsey's titles are cute and her ideas are good, but her writing could use a bit more polish. Honestly, for most of the book I was tempted to give it 2 stars--there is a lot more telling instead of showing, and the characters really felt wooden throughout a lot of it. I wasn't even sure they were as invested in their own story as I was, and I spent more time than usual while reading checking just how far I was in the book! The last third or so got better, though, and overall it left me with a more positive impression in the end than I would have thought possible given the first half. I'm willing to give the first book a try, because this one referred back to its events enough that I do want to see what exactly happened in Madeline and Ferguson's story, and of course we get just enough of a teaser here of Ellie's story in book three so that I'll probably pick that one up too, if given the chance.

mnemehoshiko's review

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2.0

I am usually marriage of convenience trash but EVIDENTLY I am picky about my trash. This was meh. So meh. It was a flash sale.
Meh

bookw0rmz's review against another edition

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5.0

Though I loved the first book, Heiress Without a Cause, the second book of the Muses of Mayfair series proved to be an even better read. The title scared me at first, for I thought it would related to the events in the first book, but I had clearly underestimated Sara Ramsey’s love for suspense.

If at first it may seem a bit tedious, it quickly picks up pace and the suspense, romance and cleverness are all back in place. I was afraid I wouldn’t want to let go of the heroin in the 1st book, but Ramsey makes a brilliant transition and all is forgotten, only to be replaced with a need to read more about this second Muse.

I do not want to spoil the story by telling details of it, but if you have liked the 1st book, you will love this one.

eak1013's review

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2.0

Engaging writing, and what was good was quite good, but I had to skim through some of the hero/heroine conflict/sexual tension scenes that read as abusive behavior to me, and thus I was unsurprised when the hero stepped fully into that abusive behavior when it suited him more than the sexytimes. I get that Ramsey is trying to play with the power dynamic between the two of them, that what is turning them both on (what is meant to be turning the reader on) is the power shift, that she is doing her damnedest to write these two as equals, but when one member of the relationship can have the other declared insane and sent to an asylum, can legally destroy the other's life work, can hold the other prisoner/hostage by means of finance and the law, well. And then when you have the hero actually threaten those things, to acknowledge that he has that power and can use it at any time and she makes him want to hurt her, well well. That's not a power play to me; that's abuse of power. She can't play, because she has no choice.

Her writing is otherwise snappy, and I do love the heroine's relationships with her female friends having depth and impact (and repercussions), but this hero/heroine dynamic (which book one in the series hinted at, too) is emphatically Not For Me. Ramsey is competent enough to make me think that she knows what she's doing, that she is actually striving for this dynamic (as opposed to the alpha Rapey McRaperson heroes in days of yore), that she is trying to play with it, but I cannot let go of real world (ha) implications enough to appreciate this fantasy dynamic. A million dukes existing at the same time? Blatant violation of the ton? Sure, whatever. I just can't get into using the legal dominance of a husband over his wife both as a plot point and as a driver of sexytimes and not think the hero's a total dickbag by the end of it all.

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