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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
It’s time to say goodbye to the Bastards. I’ve loved reading about this world. I’m hoping we see more of Covent Garden in MacLean’s Hell’s Belles series... which I think we possibly met in a scene??
I was so looking forward to Ewan and Grace. I was ready for some groveling and some angst. Possibly for Ewan to be “left in cold storage” for a long time but, alas, maybe I hyped myself up too much.
I still really loved this book. The shit these characters went through! JEEZ! The old duke was a such a psychotic dick.
And I LOVED the ending. It was so satisfying and a perfect end for the Bareknuckle Bastards.
I was so looking forward to Ewan and Grace. I was ready for some groveling and some angst. Possibly for Ewan to be “left in cold storage” for a long time but, alas, maybe I hyped myself up too much.
I still really loved this book. The shit these characters went through! JEEZ! The old duke was a such a psychotic dick.
And I LOVED the ending. It was so satisfying and a perfect end for the Bareknuckle Bastards.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Buen cierre de la historia.
Hay que reconocer que tiene mérito hacer de Ewan un protagonista con el que simpatizar después de que haya sido el villano en las dos anteriores novelas. Al menos la parte de la expiación y las disculpas y el mejorarse a sí mismo como persona para ser digno de besar el suelo que pisa Grace está muy conseguido (aunque no llega a los niveles sublimes de "The day of the Duchess" de la misma autora).
El desenlace, cómo consiguen superar las limitaciones que les ha dejado el trato con el viejo duque, me pilló totalmente por sorpresa, pero la verdad es que tenían poco margen de maniobra. ¡Bien hecho!
Hay que reconocer que tiene mérito hacer de Ewan un protagonista con el que simpatizar después de que haya sido el villano en las dos anteriores novelas. Al menos la parte de la expiación y las disculpas y el mejorarse a sí mismo como persona para ser digno de besar el suelo que pisa Grace está muy conseguido (aunque no llega a los niveles sublimes de "The day of the Duchess" de la misma autora).
El desenlace, cómo consiguen superar las limitaciones que les ha dejado el trato con el viejo duque, me pilló totalmente por sorpresa, pero la verdad es que tenían poco margen de maniobra. ¡Bien hecho!
In this final book in the Bareknuckle Bastards series Sarah MacLean has outdone herself. While she always writes strong female characters nothing and no one can beat Grace Condry. She lived the start of her life in secret - the daughter of the Duchess of Marwick - a place holder while the Duke played games with 3 of his bastards to decide who would "win" his title.
All 4 of the children were forced to compete and yet, the loser was the Duke whose evil plan actaully drew them togather. Now, 20 years later, Ewan (aka the Duke of Marwick) has found Grace again - his one true love - and will do whatever it takes to win her heart.
There are so many feelings in this book - happy and sad, I dare the reader not to cry over parts of it. The Happily Ever After is a fitting end to this great series.
All 4 of the children were forced to compete and yet, the loser was the Duke whose evil plan actaully drew them togather. Now, 20 years later, Ewan (aka the Duke of Marwick) has found Grace again - his one true love - and will do whatever it takes to win her heart.
There are so many feelings in this book - happy and sad, I dare the reader not to cry over parts of it. The Happily Ever After is a fitting end to this great series.
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think my expectations got in the way here, I love the author, loved the first two books in the series, and this felt like the first miss by her in a long time.
I think it's idea of the story as a redemption arc - that makes it Ewans story front and center - will be do enough to get her back is is the big question, and Grace isn't as central in the same way as past books. And because Ewan is so focused on winning Grace back, because Grace has always been the one protecting Ewan, the tension is off.
About half way through the book picks up and works better, it's not a bad book and Grace is a pretty awesome heroine, and I loved seeing her with her friends or her brothers.
I think it's idea of the story as a redemption arc - that makes it Ewans story front and center - will be do enough to get her back is is the big question, and Grace isn't as central in the same way as past books. And because Ewan is so focused on winning Grace back, because Grace has always been the one protecting Ewan, the tension is off.
About half way through the book picks up and works better, it's not a bad book and Grace is a pretty awesome heroine, and I loved seeing her with her friends or her brothers.
First off, huge thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Y'all. I was looking forward to this book, and I admit, I was a little nervous. The first book in this series was not my fave, and while I enjoyed Hattie, I did not *love* it the way I did some of Sarah's other books.
This volume, in a manner of speaking, returns to what I think is really where Sarah shines: a casino setting. I don't know if this is my personal preference getting in the way, but I do think the books where the casino world/setting is prominent are Sarah's best. She does an incredible job of waltzing between the world of Mayfair and the "underbelly" of society. Plus it has all the things we've come to appreciate about Sarah's books, with strong female characters and little sneaky twists, as well as relationships that feel genuine, beyond the central couple.
Now, if you are a stickler for historical realism, Sarah is probably not for you. I admit the premise of this series requires a little bit more of a suspension of disbelief than I usually find in historical romance, but ya know, it works if you're willing to go along with it. Boy oh boy does it work.
The opening chapter is a gut punch and it just keeps going from there. Since we're pre-release, I am not going to give anything away, but there is such a vibrance to the way the relationship builds. The game of cat and mouse is expertly executed. It has the classic slow burn element of the couple taking two steps forward and three steps back throughout, which I am a huge fan of when done right. (This is absolutely done right.)
And, OMG, that ending. I did NOT see that coming. (Okay, I mean, I knew they'd find a way back to each other. Hello, it's a romance. Happy ending required.) But the way it happens surprised the hell out of me, in the best possible way where I actually said aloud "YESSSSSS" when it happened.
This is probably one of my favorite Sarah books yet. If you're already a fan of her work, I think you'll really love this one.
Y'all. I was looking forward to this book, and I admit, I was a little nervous. The first book in this series was not my fave, and while I enjoyed Hattie, I did not *love* it the way I did some of Sarah's other books.
This volume, in a manner of speaking, returns to what I think is really where Sarah shines: a casino setting. I don't know if this is my personal preference getting in the way, but I do think the books where the casino world/setting is prominent are Sarah's best. She does an incredible job of waltzing between the world of Mayfair and the "underbelly" of society. Plus it has all the things we've come to appreciate about Sarah's books, with strong female characters and little sneaky twists, as well as relationships that feel genuine, beyond the central couple.
Now, if you are a stickler for historical realism, Sarah is probably not for you. I admit the premise of this series requires a little bit more of a suspension of disbelief than I usually find in historical romance, but ya know, it works if you're willing to go along with it. Boy oh boy does it work.
The opening chapter is a gut punch and it just keeps going from there. Since we're pre-release, I am not going to give anything away, but there is such a vibrance to the way the relationship builds. The game of cat and mouse is expertly executed. It has the classic slow burn element of the couple taking two steps forward and three steps back throughout, which I am a huge fan of when done right. (This is absolutely done right.)
And, OMG, that ending. I did NOT see that coming. (Okay, I mean, I knew they'd find a way back to each other. Hello, it's a romance. Happy ending required.) But the way it happens surprised the hell out of me, in the best possible way where I actually said aloud "YESSSSSS" when it happened.
This is probably one of my favorite Sarah books yet. If you're already a fan of her work, I think you'll really love this one.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm definitely in the minority with this book. A lot of my friends loved this, and I could totally see why they would. In fact, there were moments where I thought, 'Wow, I love this.' But there were also a lot of moments where I just downright hated everything: the characters, the writing, the plot. Unfortunately, there were more of the latter moments than the former, hence, my rating.
This series had been pretty uneven for me but I was hoping that Ewan and Grace's story would be the best of the lot. Silly me. I should've lowered my expectations and maybe, just maybe, I would've enjoyed it more.
So what happened?
One, the writing didn't work for me this time. And I adore Sarah MacLean's writing. Check my shelves and you'd see I'm not lying. Nine Rules to Break made me fall in love with historical romance. Unfortunately, this time around, the writing was too verbose and repetitive. It's beautiful in places but also distracting because everything gets repeated ad nauseam.
I think part of the reason why the repetition was so egregious was their story had been set up since the first book and we've heard about what Ewan did from the very first book.
Speaking of set up, that's another mark against this book. The stakes got so high, no resolution could be satisfying, IMO. I was genuinely interested in how SM would go about redeeming Ewan. She tried the best she could but I think Ewan killing a bunch of innocent people because he thought Grace died and he wanted to punish his brothers was a bridge too far. I didn't think that was something he could come back from. I was hoping SM could pull off a miracle with that one but...*shrugs
Maybe it would've worked if I could see Ewan displayed genuine remorse about what he did but he didn't? Sure. He paid restitution but it felt to me like he was sad he did it because it displeased Grace and not because those people he killed are people.
I don't know. But this is a major plot point in the previous books but it wasn't really addressed satisfactorily, IMO.
Also the resolution was a tad on the nose and unbelievable. I know, I know this is fiction but seriously?
Anyway, I did enjoy seeing Devil and Whit and their lady loves. And I adored Grace's merry band of badass women but other than that, this was another disappointing installment from Sarah MacLean.
This series had been pretty uneven for me but I was hoping that Ewan and Grace's story would be the best of the lot. Silly me. I should've lowered my expectations and maybe, just maybe, I would've enjoyed it more.
So what happened?
One, the writing didn't work for me this time. And I adore Sarah MacLean's writing. Check my shelves and you'd see I'm not lying. Nine Rules to Break made me fall in love with historical romance. Unfortunately, this time around, the writing was too verbose and repetitive. It's beautiful in places but also distracting because everything gets repeated ad nauseam.
I think part of the reason why the repetition was so egregious was their story had been set up since the first book and we've heard about what Ewan did from the very first book.
Speaking of set up, that's another mark against this book. The stakes got so high, no resolution could be satisfying, IMO. I was genuinely interested in how SM would go about redeeming Ewan. She tried the best she could but I think Ewan killing a bunch of innocent people because he thought Grace died and he wanted to punish his brothers was a bridge too far. I didn't think that was something he could come back from. I was hoping SM could pull off a miracle with that one but...*shrugs
Maybe it would've worked if I could see Ewan displayed genuine remorse about what he did but he didn't? Sure. He paid restitution but it felt to me like he was sad he did it because it displeased Grace and not because those people he killed are people.
I don't know. But this is a major plot point in the previous books but it wasn't really addressed satisfactorily, IMO.
Also the resolution was a tad on the nose and unbelievable. I know, I know this is fiction but seriously?
Anyway, I did enjoy seeing Devil and Whit and their lady loves. And I adored Grace's merry band of badass women but other than that, this was another disappointing installment from Sarah MacLean.