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dajoyofit's review
3.0
This definitely isn’t a light and airy read. It’s heavy and angst ridden.
I’ve a love-dread relationship with L.K. novels. Her stories and characters are compelling as well as wrenchingly frustrating. About half way through this book I had to step away and take a break. The constant ‘on again-off again’ between Tess and Griffin got to be too much.
I think the reason for the frustration is that it’s impossible not to become so invested in LK’s characters. You care; perhaps too much.
Griffin whose suffered one too many disappointments and losses shuts himself off, so as to never feel again - or so he tries. The whole book is about his struggle to not love Tess. And Tess’ tenacity and her utter and desperate love for Griffin, which fuels her refusal to give up on them.
Again and again she goes out onto that proverbial limb, risking her heart, for a chance to love him and be loved by him only to be rejected each time. It’s painful to read. As a reader it’s gut wrenching to see her be so vulnerable only to be rejected so coldly multiple times.
Beyond the discomfort I think it’s easy to forget how tenacious Tess is. Tenacious and optimistic. When she loves, she loves deeply, loyally and for always. I think she intuitively recognized Griffin for the injured lion that he was. And somehow Tess saw past the sharp menacing teeth and the horrific growling.
Ultimately her “stand by your man” tenacity was rewarded.
I’ve a love-dread relationship with L.K. novels. Her stories and characters are compelling as well as wrenchingly frustrating. About half way through this book I had to step away and take a break. The constant ‘on again-off again’ between Tess and Griffin got to be too much.
I think the reason for the frustration is that it’s impossible not to become so invested in LK’s characters. You care; perhaps too much.
Griffin whose suffered one too many disappointments and losses shuts himself off, so as to never feel again - or so he tries. The whole book is about his struggle to not love Tess. And Tess’ tenacity and her utter and desperate love for Griffin, which fuels her refusal to give up on them.
Again and again she goes out onto that proverbial limb, risking her heart, for a chance to love him and be loved by him only to be rejected each time. It’s painful to read. As a reader it’s gut wrenching to see her be so vulnerable only to be rejected so coldly multiple times.
Beyond the discomfort I think it’s easy to forget how tenacious Tess is. Tenacious and optimistic. When she loves, she loves deeply, loyally and for always. I think she intuitively recognized Griffin for the injured lion that he was. And somehow Tess saw past the sharp menacing teeth and the horrific growling.
Ultimately her “stand by your man” tenacity was rewarded.
samnreader's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not going to try, honestly, I'll only say it was wonderful. Trademark Kinsale brought to life by Nicholas Boulton. I just really liked how this one was executed.
nbvanderhyden's review
3.0
Ok, here’s a major thing you need to know about a LK Hero: she likes them sad. Like, REALLY SAD AND SO INCREDIBLY BROKEN.
The Hidden Heart features probably one of the saddest boi’s I’ve read to date. So much so, that the Hero, in an effort to protect himself from future heart hurt, actually lets the Heroine marry his evil cousin. Yes! I don’t think I’ve ever read a plot with this twist in it before. There is mega angst as the Hero is constantly pushing and pulling the Heroine to and away from him like his own personal yo-yo. Yet, as with another LK consistency the Heroine is rock solid stable. The Heroine in this story fights for probably the 3 years this book spans for the Hero. She never gives up on him.
For me, I think that the Hero was a little to stubborn in his brokenness and it took away from me falling in love with him. But, I can’t argue that the HEA is very hard won and this family will be happy forever.
The Hidden Heart features probably one of the saddest boi’s I’ve read to date. So much so, that the Hero, in an effort to protect himself from future heart hurt, actually lets the Heroine marry his evil cousin. Yes! I don’t think I’ve ever read a plot with this twist in it before. There is mega angst as the Hero is constantly pushing and pulling the Heroine to and away from him like his own personal yo-yo. Yet, as with another LK consistency the Heroine is rock solid stable. The Heroine in this story fights for probably the 3 years this book spans for the Hero. She never gives up on him.
For me, I think that the Hero was a little to stubborn in his brokenness and it took away from me falling in love with him. But, I can’t argue that the HEA is very hard won and this family will be happy forever.
veronian's review
1.0
UGH. Why did I read this. The worst part about this book was the sinking feeling that I'd already read it before. I wish there were scores lower than 1 star for me to give.
altheodorou's review
2.0
The plotting of this one was inconsistent, and the main character seemed to be unable to help himself, including in the ultimate resolution of the main, non-romantic story line. And yet, I still love Kinsale's writing and the sheer empathy I feel for her characters.
svw89's review
3.0
3.5
It actually hurts a little bit to be giving this such a low rating (or low rating compared to the 5 stars I constantly throw at Laura Kinsale's books). It's not a bad novel at all, I just think I have ridiculously high standards now. In fact, if a different author had written this, I'd have probably given it a higher rating.
I did love that it took place over around three years. It can frustrate me when historical romances take place over the space of a week or something ridiculous like that. It's not a deal breaker but it's so refreshing when the main characters have time to get to know each other even if it was glossed over a bit here.
The villain in The Hidden Heart was probably one of the most vile characters I've come across. Completely disgusting and evil. I don't care what may have contributed to him being an arsewipe. He was vile.
I think my main problem was that it took me a while to get into it. I had a horrible feeling when it took me ages to get 5% of the way through that this just wasn't going to be for me, then it picked up a bit before losing me again. It was a bit up and down.
I am looking forward to reading [b:The Shadow and the Star|802151|The Shadow and the Star (Victorian Hearts, #2)|Laura Kinsale|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326249007s/802151.jpg|788113] at some point in the near future, I still have high hopes for that although I think I should maybe lower my expectations just in case.
It actually hurts a little bit to be giving this such a low rating (or low rating compared to the 5 stars I constantly throw at Laura Kinsale's books). It's not a bad novel at all, I just think I have ridiculously high standards now. In fact, if a different author had written this, I'd have probably given it a higher rating.
I did love that it took place over around three years. It can frustrate me when historical romances take place over the space of a week or something ridiculous like that. It's not a deal breaker but it's so refreshing when the main characters have time to get to know each other even if it was glossed over a bit here.
The villain in The Hidden Heart was probably one of the most vile characters I've come across. Completely disgusting and evil. I don't care what may have contributed to him being an arsewipe. He was vile.
I think my main problem was that it took me a while to get into it. I had a horrible feeling when it took me ages to get 5% of the way through that this just wasn't going to be for me, then it picked up a bit before losing me again. It was a bit up and down.
I am looking forward to reading [b:The Shadow and the Star|802151|The Shadow and the Star (Victorian Hearts, #2)|Laura Kinsale|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326249007s/802151.jpg|788113] at some point in the near future, I still have high hopes for that although I think I should maybe lower my expectations just in case.
melissad75's review
4.0
Oh, Laura Kinsale, you've done it to me again! *wipes away tears* Review to come...