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A review by rachelagain
Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager who provided a free e-ERC in exchange for an honest review.
As the second installment in the Hell's Belles series, this book had a tough act to follow and managed it beautifully. Thief and Hell's Belle gang member Adelaide meets Henry, Duke of Clayborn when she steals a prized possession from her estranged crime boss father's warehouse. They have an instant pull towards each other that deepens as they get pulled into a cross-country chase, dodging multiple foes and saving each other.
Sarah MacLean's use of romance tropes (only one bed, mutual pining, sickbed romance, rivals to lovers) is charming and nuanced, always advancing the development of the central relationship. Not to mention the tropes she subverts (virginal heroine, bad boy duke). The author is gifted at worldbuilding around her central couple throughout her works: in this book, she manages to do so while also creating a blissful relationship bubble where the protagonists can truly get to know each other and fall believably and deeply in love.
A MacLean hero always knows exactly what to say and do in the bedroom to meet the needs of his heroine. Henry, Duke of Clayborn, brought out a few moves that had this reader blushing on the train home from work. Coming from a seasoned high-heat romance reader, that reaction tells you a lot about the joyful steamy tenderness of this book. The eroticism in the text truly advanced the character development, as we see Adelaide and Henry gain self-worth and hope respectively via their shared intimacy. It was also very pleasing to see MacLean incorporate some, ahem, dynamics that have not appeared in other books and signalled more daring on the part of the author. Certain scenes will live rent free in this reader's mind for a long time.
The book includes a set piece format that will be familiar to MacLean readers: these scenes were not entirely satisfying as certain characters got happier endings than this reader feels they deserved. However the central love story was concluded very well and the stage has been set for the third book, focusing on Imogen Lovelace. I didn't want this story to end so I will eagerly await the next Hell's Belles installment!
As the second installment in the Hell's Belles series, this book had a tough act to follow and managed it beautifully. Thief and Hell's Belle gang member Adelaide meets Henry, Duke of Clayborn when she steals a prized possession from her estranged crime boss father's warehouse. They have an instant pull towards each other that deepens as they get pulled into a cross-country chase, dodging multiple foes and saving each other.
Sarah MacLean's use of romance tropes (only one bed, mutual pining, sickbed romance, rivals to lovers) is charming and nuanced, always advancing the development of the central relationship. Not to mention the tropes she subverts (virginal heroine, bad boy duke). The author is gifted at worldbuilding around her central couple throughout her works: in this book, she manages to do so while also creating a blissful relationship bubble where the protagonists can truly get to know each other and fall believably and deeply in love.
A MacLean hero always knows exactly what to say and do in the bedroom to meet the needs of his heroine. Henry, Duke of Clayborn, brought out a few moves that had this reader blushing on the train home from work. Coming from a seasoned high-heat romance reader, that reaction tells you a lot about the joyful steamy tenderness of this book. The eroticism in the text truly advanced the character development, as we see Adelaide and Henry gain self-worth and hope respectively via their shared intimacy. It was also very pleasing to see MacLean incorporate some, ahem, dynamics that have not appeared in other books and signalled more daring on the part of the author. Certain scenes will live rent free in this reader's mind for a long time.
The book includes a set piece format that will be familiar to MacLean readers: these scenes were not entirely satisfying as certain characters got happier endings than this reader feels they deserved. However the central love story was concluded very well and the stage has been set for the third book, focusing on Imogen Lovelace. I didn't want this story to end so I will eagerly await the next Hell's Belles installment!