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chyina's review
4.0
This book was hilarious. From the ridiculous idea of pretending to be a highwaywoman to the sheer confounded look on Percival's face as he gets to know Fiona. In fact, it is the comedy that truly makes this book worth reading.
Fiona is a quiet girl who enjoys archaeology instead of balls and matchmaking. Being an English noble, these are not proper attributes for her to have and so she spends most of her time at home, taking care of her aging Grandmother. She loves her Grandmother who wants to see her married before she dies so she concocts a fiance, a loving and funny captain who helped fight Napoleon. But when her secret spirals out of control, she is forced to find a man to pretend to be her fiance for a while.
Percival was a rake but after losing his leg in the war he feels like less of a man, especially since the life he leads is no longer his own. His cousin died in battle and now he has to take his place as duke and marry the woman his cousin was courting...even though they never met. He isn't looking forward to it.
Blythe places the characters in awkward situations that could be rectified but for simple misunderstandings and as a huge fan of awkward humor, I kept reading. Though the beginning was a bit slow, the story grows on you.
Fiona is a quiet girl who enjoys archaeology instead of balls and matchmaking. Being an English noble, these are not proper attributes for her to have and so she spends most of her time at home, taking care of her aging Grandmother. She loves her Grandmother who wants to see her married before she dies so she concocts a fiance, a loving and funny captain who helped fight Napoleon. But when her secret spirals out of control, she is forced to find a man to pretend to be her fiance for a while.
Percival was a rake but after losing his leg in the war he feels like less of a man, especially since the life he leads is no longer his own. His cousin died in battle and now he has to take his place as duke and marry the woman his cousin was courting...even though they never met. He isn't looking forward to it.
Blythe places the characters in awkward situations that could be rectified but for simple misunderstandings and as a huge fan of awkward humor, I kept reading. Though the beginning was a bit slow, the story grows on you.
deannasworld's review
4.0
Biance Blythe has written a fun-filled historical which will not only make you giggle at the hilarity of the story but also shed a tear at some of the more poignant moments.
This was a fun book to read. The first half was filled with shenanigans and misunderstandings and hijinks. Fun. Fun. Fun. Then the second half of the book turn a bit of a turn as the hijinks turned into a horrible confrontation which made me SO angry. I think I stayed angry for a large part of the remainder of the book and then I felt sad, and then happy again. This story, which was supposed to be a lighthearted fun read for me turned into a roller coaster of emotions I was not prepared for. I didn't want that. I had just come off reading some very emotional stories and I was tired of being jerked around on an emotional chain. I wanted something to lighten my heard and make me feel good. This story managed to do that for the most part, but man, some things happened in it which really pissed me off. At one point, I got so angry, I had angry tears in my eyes. It's a good thing Percival redeemed himself in the end.
Let's talk about Percival then, shall we? He's your classically handsome duke, though a rather reluctant duke, only inheriting the title after the unfortunate death of a cousin. He's also a war hero. He's missing a leg and I rather imagined him like Alex Minsky (perhaps without all the tattoos!) in one of Michael Stokes' fabulous photos of veterans, only more handsome! Percival is coming to terms with becoming a duke and all the responsibilities it entails when he's accidentally kidnapped by Fiona who is mistaken for a highwaywoman. Percival finds himself enchanted by this refreshingly honest, funny and intelligent woman as escape attempts, misunderstandings and hijinks ensue. I felt a lot for Percival. He was being forced in a position he didn't want to be in but he was determined to do right by his title and the estate. He's such an honorable man. An rake and a rogue trying to do what's right. It did annoy me somewhat that Percival felt since he was missing a leg, he needed to be forced to do what others expected of him. I'm glad he managed to work through his own self worth to determine what was right for himself and what he needed to do for his own happiness.
As for Fiona, she's a delightfully fun heroine. She's your typical wallflower and bluestocking with a penchant for archeology, more at home digging in holes than in drawing rooms and ballrooms. I liked that about her. I liked how honest she was and how much she tried at all times to do the right thing. It slayed me, absolutely slayed me when she was treated very poorly and very unfairly at one point in the story. It brought angry tears to my eyes. I wanted to rail and yell and holler about how unfair and horrible everyone was being. If I was there, I would have smacked some sense into all those people. Nasty rabbits! Still, Fiona was a far stronger woman than anyone gave her credit for, even in the face of terrible loss. She went off and followed her dreams, and achieved great things. It made me very happy when the nasty rabbit had to eat crow at the end.
I think this is a debut novel for Ms Blythe and it is an excellent effort. I'm looking forward to other stories from her in the future ... especially now that I know what to expect from them. :-)
This was a fun book to read. The first half was filled with shenanigans and misunderstandings and hijinks. Fun. Fun. Fun. Then the second half of the book turn a bit of a turn as the hijinks turned into a horrible confrontation which made me SO angry. I think I stayed angry for a large part of the remainder of the book and then I felt sad, and then happy again. This story, which was supposed to be a lighthearted fun read for me turned into a roller coaster of emotions I was not prepared for. I didn't want that. I had just come off reading some very emotional stories and I was tired of being jerked around on an emotional chain. I wanted something to lighten my heard and make me feel good. This story managed to do that for the most part, but man, some things happened in it which really pissed me off. At one point, I got so angry, I had angry tears in my eyes. It's a good thing Percival redeemed himself in the end.
Let's talk about Percival then, shall we? He's your classically handsome duke, though a rather reluctant duke, only inheriting the title after the unfortunate death of a cousin. He's also a war hero. He's missing a leg and I rather imagined him like Alex Minsky (perhaps without all the tattoos!) in one of Michael Stokes' fabulous photos of veterans, only more handsome! Percival is coming to terms with becoming a duke and all the responsibilities it entails when he's accidentally kidnapped by Fiona who is mistaken for a highwaywoman. Percival finds himself enchanted by this refreshingly honest, funny and intelligent woman as escape attempts, misunderstandings and hijinks ensue. I felt a lot for Percival. He was being forced in a position he didn't want to be in but he was determined to do right by his title and the estate. He's such an honorable man. An rake and a rogue trying to do what's right. It did annoy me somewhat that Percival felt since he was missing a leg, he needed to be forced to do what others expected of him. I'm glad he managed to work through his own self worth to determine what was right for himself and what he needed to do for his own happiness.
As for Fiona, she's a delightfully fun heroine. She's your typical wallflower and bluestocking with a penchant for archeology, more at home digging in holes than in drawing rooms and ballrooms. I liked that about her. I liked how honest she was and how much she tried at all times to do the right thing. It slayed me, absolutely slayed me when she was treated very poorly and very unfairly at one point in the story. It brought angry tears to my eyes. I wanted to rail and yell and holler about how unfair and horrible everyone was being. If I was there, I would have smacked some sense into all those people. Nasty rabbits! Still, Fiona was a far stronger woman than anyone gave her credit for, even in the face of terrible loss. She went off and followed her dreams, and achieved great things. It made me very happy when the nasty rabbit had to eat crow at the end.
I think this is a debut novel for Ms Blythe and it is an excellent effort. I'm looking forward to other stories from her in the future ... especially now that I know what to expect from them. :-)
dreamofwinter's review
3.0
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.
Things I liked about this book:
- The main characters, after the first couple of chapters. Percival rose above his name and also managed to not whine too excessively about his missing leg (in fact, it often seemed to bother the other characters in the story much more than it bothered him, and it certainly didn't slow him down much). Fiona was a bit too good to be true at times, but I couldn't help but adore her when she just let her string of lies get away with her as she held up Percival's coach. She told one whopper after another, and I liked the rollicking feel of the story.
- The plot covered a lot of territory, very little of it London. It was nice to get out in the countryside a bit. I'm not certain how accurate some of the portrayal was, but it was nice to be out and about.
Things I didn't like about this book:
- Cognitive dissonance. While Fiona was telling one lie after another, waving a knife about, and boldly tearing across the countryside with a strange man, we were supposed to believe she had cut her Season short due to social insecurity? Because, in other words, she was shy? Um, no.
- Secondary characters. They were either loosely painted caricatures or thoroughly unlikeable, or in many cases, both. I had a hard time understanding why many of them appeared, and whether certain of them (Uncle Seymour?) were villains or merely wretched human beings.
- The plot covered a lot of territory, as in, it was plot spaghetti!
In general, this was fine for me. A solid 3-star read; nothing spectacular and nothing horrible. It was light and diverting, with the exception of the death of one of the only decent secondary characters to mar the frivolity. I would probably not read it again, though.
I did find one continuity issue that, as a horse person, drove me batty - Fiona's horse "Ned" is first referred to as a mare (i.e. a female horse) but many times thereafter is called "him". By the end of the book Ned has lost all gender, poor dear, but it's probably for the best.
Things I liked about this book:
- The main characters, after the first couple of chapters. Percival rose above his name and also managed to not whine too excessively about his missing leg (in fact, it often seemed to bother the other characters in the story much more than it bothered him, and it certainly didn't slow him down much). Fiona was a bit too good to be true at times, but I couldn't help but adore her when she just let her string of lies get away with her as she held up Percival's coach. She told one whopper after another, and I liked the rollicking feel of the story.
- The plot covered a lot of territory, very little of it London. It was nice to get out in the countryside a bit. I'm not certain how accurate some of the portrayal was, but it was nice to be out and about.
Things I didn't like about this book:
- Cognitive dissonance. While Fiona was telling one lie after another, waving a knife about, and boldly tearing across the countryside with a strange man, we were supposed to believe she had cut her Season short due to social insecurity? Because, in other words, she was shy? Um, no.
- Secondary characters. They were either loosely painted caricatures or thoroughly unlikeable, or in many cases, both. I had a hard time understanding why many of them appeared, and whether certain of them (Uncle Seymour?) were villains or merely wretched human beings.
- The plot covered a lot of territory, as in, it was plot spaghetti!
In general, this was fine for me. A solid 3-star read; nothing spectacular and nothing horrible. It was light and diverting, with the exception of the death of one of the only decent secondary characters to mar the frivolity. I would probably not read it again, though.
I did find one continuity issue that, as a horse person, drove me batty - Fiona's horse "Ned" is first referred to as a mare (i.e. a female horse) but many times thereafter is called "him". By the end of the book Ned has lost all gender, poor dear, but it's probably for the best.
crazychriss93's review
3.0
Ahm... this could have feen a really good read.
I liked the characters, think they were actual fun and also the plot was new and interesting and also exciting.
What I disliked was that our lovely Duke was not the man I thought he was. Seriously, he should have fought for the our heroine and not just abandon her. Plus, five months... I mean, gosh, this is quite some time.
And this whole archaeologist stuff?? I did some research and was quite astonished that British aristocrats really started quite early with investigations. Eighteenth century, early nineteenth century, so this was indeed historically accurate in the novel. Gender roles, however,... yeah, not so sure women could have done what our wild heroine did. But then... she was being arrested so I guess she can get away with a lot.
And then there's this whole Madeline secret. It was never really revealed but I'm quite certain that it wasn't so much her husband who wrote all those treatises about art... Pity that this was never said.
So, all in all, I just didn't like the last 20% of this book. Quite annoying. And it was so embarrassing to read this...
I liked the characters, think they were actual fun and also the plot was new and interesting and also exciting.
What I disliked was that our lovely Duke was not the man I thought he was. Seriously, he should have fought for the our heroine and not just abandon her. Plus, five months... I mean, gosh, this is quite some time.
And this whole archaeologist stuff?? I did some research and was quite astonished that British aristocrats really started quite early with investigations. Eighteenth century, early nineteenth century, so this was indeed historically accurate in the novel. Gender roles, however,... yeah, not so sure women could have done what our wild heroine did. But then... she was being arrested so I guess she can get away with a lot.
And then there's this whole Madeline secret. It was never really revealed but I'm quite certain that it wasn't so much her husband who wrote all those treatises about art... Pity that this was never said.
So, all in all, I just didn't like the last 20% of this book. Quite annoying. And it was so embarrassing to read this...
brandylyons's review
2.0
I was pretty bored throughout much of this. As if someone as intelligent as Fiona would pretend to be a highwayman. And then the back and forth between liking each other but it’s all a scam, but liking. Ugh. Not my cuppa, though I did manage to force myself to finish it.
robinwalter's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
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