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A review by brandypainter
The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn
1.0
I can't believe I'm giving a Julia Quinn novel one star. I almost want to cry as I type this. I was tempted to give it two just for the comedic genius in the scene where Iris's young cousins were performing "The Sheperdress, the Unicorn, and Henry VIII". That scene had my sides hurting I laughed so hard. But one inconsequential scene that made me laugh so much my sides hurt doesn't make up for what I endured the rest of the book.
Was I supposed to like Sir Richard? Even a little bit? Because I can't. I don't care how much he regretted his actions. (Something I was NEVER convinced of.) I don't care that he thought he had a good motive. He was in the wrong completely and totally. I couldn't help comparing this to another hero-hides -things-from-the-heroine book I read recently and really liked. That was Courtney Milan's [b:The Suffragette Scandal|17343236|The Suffragette Scandal (Brothers Sinister, #4)|Courtney Milan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399859670s/17343236.jpg|24081161]. The difference is in that, Edward only ever wanted to protect Free and was determined to let her go. He never intended to completely rob her of her choices in life. Not so Sir Richard. Richard only wants to entrap Iris, and as much as he claims to regret his methods later on, his actions do not back up his words. Iris is the sacrificial lamb on the altar of Richard's dumb plan. And boy is it dumb. His dictatorial decrees that Iris must fall in line with said plan did not raise him in my esteem, and his turn around was too abrupt with the actual true problem conveniently removed for me to care about him at all.
I liked Iris fairly well until she condescended to go along with her husband's ridiculousness. I mean really. I hoped for the entire time that she locked herself in her room in anger that she was plotting. Or leaving. Or quietly contacting her cousins so that she would have help. Unfortunately, Quinn does not allow us the privilege of being in Iris's head during this time-we are stuck with her idiot husband instead-so have no clue what she was thinking by submitting and not doing any of those other things.
I nearly put the book down.
Why didn't I? I really kept hoping at some point her cousins would come back into the picture and that Marcus and Daniel would beat the tarnation out of Richard while Hugh gave sarcastic tips from the sidelines. I'm really upset I was denied this scene. They aren't even in this book, which was probably a wise move on Quinn's part. Her hero needed enough help as it was without being compared to the previous ones.
I have had issues with each book in this series, but at least in the previous three I LIKED the main characters. And I was okay with the plots in the first two. But this one was just a hot mess from start to finish. Ridiculous premise, dumb characters with little to no development, and I am not buying a happily ever after when Richard is.....Richard.
You have no idea how hard this is for me. Julia Quinn used to be one of my favorite authors. She's always had a flair for the melodramatic, but I feel she had it under a slightly more realistic control until recently. I guess it's saying something that my favorite book of hers is [b:Romancing Mister Bridgerton|110384|Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4)|Julia Quinn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1274211494s/110384.jpg|659482] and it's probably the least melodramatic of all of them.
Sigh.
I think it is time that I have to say Quinn is no longer going to be an auto-buy author for me. I don't know if it's that my tastes have changed that much or if her writing is just not what it used to be. Maybe it's a combination of the two. Whatever the reason, I think it is time for us to part ways, at least as far as my actually anticipating her books is concerned.
Was I supposed to like Sir Richard? Even a little bit? Because I can't. I don't care how much he regretted his actions. (Something I was NEVER convinced of.) I don't care that he thought he had a good motive. He was in the wrong completely and totally. I couldn't help comparing this to another hero-hides -things-from-the-heroine book I read recently and really liked. That was Courtney Milan's [b:The Suffragette Scandal|17343236|The Suffragette Scandal (Brothers Sinister, #4)|Courtney Milan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399859670s/17343236.jpg|24081161]. The difference is in that, Edward only ever wanted to protect Free and was determined to let her go. He never intended to completely rob her of her choices in life. Not so Sir Richard. Richard only wants to entrap Iris, and as much as he claims to regret his methods later on, his actions do not back up his words. Iris is the sacrificial lamb on the altar of Richard's dumb plan. And boy is it dumb. His dictatorial decrees that Iris must fall in line with said plan did not raise him in my esteem, and his turn around was too abrupt with the actual true problem conveniently removed for me to care about him at all.
I liked Iris fairly well until she condescended to go along with her husband's ridiculousness. I mean really. I hoped for the entire time that she locked herself in her room in anger that she was plotting. Or leaving. Or quietly contacting her cousins so that she would have help. Unfortunately, Quinn does not allow us the privilege of being in Iris's head during this time-we are stuck with her idiot husband instead-so have no clue what she was thinking by submitting and not doing any of those other things.
I nearly put the book down.
Why didn't I? I really kept hoping at some point her cousins would come back into the picture and that Marcus and Daniel would beat the tarnation out of Richard while Hugh gave sarcastic tips from the sidelines. I'm really upset I was denied this scene. They aren't even in this book, which was probably a wise move on Quinn's part. Her hero needed enough help as it was without being compared to the previous ones.
I have had issues with each book in this series, but at least in the previous three I LIKED the main characters. And I was okay with the plots in the first two. But this one was just a hot mess from start to finish. Ridiculous premise, dumb characters with little to no development, and I am not buying a happily ever after when Richard is.....Richard.
You have no idea how hard this is for me. Julia Quinn used to be one of my favorite authors. She's always had a flair for the melodramatic, but I feel she had it under a slightly more realistic control until recently. I guess it's saying something that my favorite book of hers is [b:Romancing Mister Bridgerton|110384|Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4)|Julia Quinn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1274211494s/110384.jpg|659482] and it's probably the least melodramatic of all of them.
Sigh.
I think it is time that I have to say Quinn is no longer going to be an auto-buy author for me. I don't know if it's that my tastes have changed that much or if her writing is just not what it used to be. Maybe it's a combination of the two. Whatever the reason, I think it is time for us to part ways, at least as far as my actually anticipating her books is concerned.