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sammy234's review
Honestly, I never know what I'm going to get when I open a Lisa Gregory novel. I adored Bonds of Love by this author, absolutely despised Bitterleaf, and found The Rainbow Season rather odd and dull.
Analise was an engrossing novel, but it was extremely flawed. There was so much needless miscommunication between the two main characters. Both Mark and Analise acted as stupid as possible, one hundred percent of the time. It was incredibly frustrating.
There are barely any tender moments in this romance. All the main character's interactions are full of antagonism and hurt feelings. I wanted a bit more emotional intimacy between the two of them, but regardless of that, I couldn't put this novel down. I loved Analise's character development from a privileged southern belle to a hardened business woman who clawed and fought for her own agency and dignity even when everyone had abandoned her.
Usually it's the man who comes after the woman to confess his love at the end of a bodice ripper, and while I do enjoy that, it was interesting to see the woman go after the man in this novel, which I feel isn't as common. Analise nurses Mark when he's ill and drags him back to the land of the living, then throws his mistress out of their home and claims him for herself, which he was hilariously delighted about. I had my issues with this story, which is why it doesn't get a rating from me, but the ending scene was fantastic and incredibly memorable. If you don't mind stories that are full of angst, then I would recommend this novel.
TW: non-con, racism, ableism
Analise was an engrossing novel, but it was extremely flawed. There was so much needless miscommunication between the two main characters. Both Mark and Analise acted as stupid as possible, one hundred percent of the time. It was incredibly frustrating.
There are barely any tender moments in this romance. All the main character's interactions are full of antagonism and hurt feelings. I wanted a bit more emotional intimacy between the two of them, but regardless of that, I couldn't put this novel down. I loved Analise's character development from a privileged southern belle to a hardened business woman who clawed and fought for her own agency and dignity even when everyone had abandoned her.
Usually it's the man who comes after the woman to confess his love at the end of a bodice ripper, and while I do enjoy that, it was interesting to see the woman go after the man in this novel, which I feel isn't as common. Analise nurses Mark when he's ill and drags him back to the land of the living, then throws his mistress out of their home and claims him for herself, which he was hilariously delighted about. I had my issues with this story, which is why it doesn't get a rating from me, but the ending scene was fantastic and incredibly memorable. If you don't mind stories that are full of angst, then I would recommend this novel.
TW: non-con, racism, ableism
bubblewombat's review
3.0
I'm not a big fan of the miscommunication trope. If I took a star off for every time the hero and heroine misunderstood each other because they refused to talk to one another like adults, this book would have no stars. So I decided to take one collective misunderstanding star off from my rating. But wait, how is it three and not four stars then?
Firstly, I absolutely loved the writing. It was beautiful and fitting to the time (more or less). It stayed that way throughout the book.
The descriptions of New Orleans were great too. I wasn't very fond of the scenery change at one point in the book, but they ended up back in NOLA so it's all good.
And it started off quite lovely, with Analise and Mark's first meeting. I thought their love story would be a sweet one (or as sweet as possible, with her being from the South and him from the North), not an annoying, angst-filled one.
And therein lies the problem. The love story itself is something that I didn't like. Misunderstandings aside, they both frustrated me to no end, especially Mark. Mark did not deserve Analise at any point. He's one of the worst heroes I've ever read about.
Time and time again, Mark is selfish and only thinks about himself, while poor Analise suffers because she loves him. I will say that AT LEAST it was accurate in that, the women of that time had to put up with a lot.
I also didn't like any of the conflict resolutions, both related to these two and not. Virtually every single conflict falls into the water when Mark goes and grabs Analise to kiss her. Arguing? Who was arguing? Certainly not us. Nope.
Similarly, the ending resolution. What the hell was that? More of the same old, same old. I am not convinced that things will go back to the way they were before after the last page. I wouldn't be surprised if Mark got right back up to his shenanigans at the first sign of trouble.
So yeah, there we are. That's why three stars.
Firstly, I absolutely loved the writing. It was beautiful and fitting to the time (more or less). It stayed that way throughout the book.
The descriptions of New Orleans were great too. I wasn't very fond of the scenery change at one point in the book, but they ended up back in NOLA so it's all good.
And it started off quite lovely, with Analise and Mark's first meeting. I thought their love story would be a sweet one (or as sweet as possible, with her being from the South and him from the North), not an annoying, angst-filled one.
And therein lies the problem. The love story itself is something that I didn't like. Misunderstandings aside, they both frustrated me to no end, especially Mark. Mark did not deserve Analise at any point. He's one of the worst heroes I've ever read about.
Time and time again, Mark is selfish and only thinks about himself, while poor Analise suffers because she loves him. I will say that AT LEAST it was accurate in that, the women of that time had to put up with a lot.
I also didn't like any of the conflict resolutions, both related to these two and not. Virtually every single conflict falls into the water when Mark goes and grabs Analise to kiss her. Arguing? Who was arguing? Certainly not us. Nope.
Similarly, the ending resolution. What the hell was that? More of the same old, same old. I am not convinced that things will go back to the way they were before after the last page. I wouldn't be surprised if Mark got right back up to his shenanigans at the first sign of trouble.
So yeah, there we are. That's why three stars.
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