readclever 's review for:

Cat and the Countess by Casey Claybourne

1.0

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Where do I start with this book? It feels like there's a lot of fetishization with Wildcat, the love interest. Half Lepanese and half-Scots, the author does nothing to really endear the man to readers. What should be a good mental journey, learning to live in both worlds, becomes cumbersome when Elizabeth, Countess Pemberley, is around. There's a lack of heart and woman to really champion. Elizabeth is far too bare in her actions, too rational, except when it comes to romance with Cat. That's a problem because of how they interact, very write-by-numbers. There's not a lot of communication, just a few 'emotional' scenes that do little to inspire readers to join in.

Not to mention her best friend Valerie is flighty and really rather empty. She doesn't do anything except whine, get herself into trouble, or pretend she's not grown. Peter, her brother and the other love interest in the story, is very calm, collected, and dull. He does nothing except act as filler. Which is a pity because he had a pretty good set up. The Dragon of Devonshire, their mother, is a caricature of the tonne ladies.

The only really good characters are Oliver (Elizabeth's son) and Jake (her surrogate father). Possibly Boyles, the butler, might have been interesting if there had been any kind of hint. Sadly, he earned little to no character in the narrative.

Overall, I was utterly disappointed. I hurried to finish the book because I'd bought it at a cheap book fair sale. I'm just glad I didn't pay full price.