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A review by rhodered
At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh
2.0
It went from not that bad to incredibly boring, despite flurries of plot toward the end (all too obviously manufactured to keep our interest.) this is a book that would have been far better had it lost 150 pages. Yet, I suppose the author had a contract so she fluffed it out as well as she could.
That said, it is a triumph in two distinct ways:
1. A blow against insta-love:
In fact it read very much like an author's RANT against the idea of insta love as well as love based mainly on lust, i.e. about 75% of romances when it was written. The characters endlessly discuss and define the progress of their feelings, both agreeing vehemently that just brief friendship and strong sexual chemistry does not automatically equal love or assure it in the future.
In fact, on at least two occasions the hero wonders if he will come to hate the heroine in the future, due to her strong character.
2. The heroine's strong character:
It's talked about a bit more than its demonstrated (in fact, infuriatingly, her kid brother who she raised tries to boss her on occasion, which she bears affectionately. I would have bonked him.) But, she does get some good solid banter in and generally pulls her weight versus the hero.
I don't understand why her past experience had to leave her so naive and terrible at kissing though. Why does she have to be terribly pure?
Anyhow, there's some good stuff in here. I'd love to sit down and chat with the author about this book. On the other hand, it's not worth a re-read. The bad or boring stuff was just too dull.
That said, it is a triumph in two distinct ways:
1. A blow against insta-love:
In fact it read very much like an author's RANT against the idea of insta love as well as love based mainly on lust, i.e. about 75% of romances when it was written. The characters endlessly discuss and define the progress of their feelings, both agreeing vehemently that just brief friendship and strong sexual chemistry does not automatically equal love or assure it in the future.
In fact, on at least two occasions the hero wonders if he will come to hate the heroine in the future, due to her strong character.
2. The heroine's strong character:
It's talked about a bit more than its demonstrated (in fact, infuriatingly, her kid brother who she raised tries to boss her on occasion, which she bears affectionately. I would have bonked him.) But, she does get some good solid banter in and generally pulls her weight versus the hero.
I don't understand why her past experience had to leave her so naive and terrible at kissing though. Why does she have to be terribly pure?
Anyhow, there's some good stuff in here. I'd love to sit down and chat with the author about this book. On the other hand, it's not worth a re-read. The bad or boring stuff was just too dull.