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A review by jessiereadsfantasy
The Awakening of Ivy Leavold by Sierra Simone
4.0
I'm a sucker for a good historical romance. Needless to say, I was excited to read this book. I'm in the middle of reading some of the author's more recent work, and I greatly enjoy her writing and storytelling style.
There are a few things that I had trouble with regarding this book, but they are all due to the book's length. It's criminally short. It's so short that there wasn't enough time to establish the characters. We're introduced to a horde of characters, particularly the house guests, and none of them, except Molly O'Flaherty, are given even a trace of a backstory. Especially in this particular period, a group of young bachelors and bachelorettes being freely intimate would be considered scandalous. I would have loved to have known more about them. I also would have liked to see a flashback or something of the like to show Julian and Arabella's marriage and Julian and Violet's marriage. Maybe that's part of the mystery of the book that we don't know much about Julian to begin with. Ivy doesn't seem to know much about him either as she states she had barely even known her cousin got married, so they most likely never met until Ivy moved in with Julain. I also want to know more about Gareth. He seems like an important character, and his interactions with the characters lead me to believe there is something going on with him. I think the lack of information about him and Ms. Brightmore will play a part in the next book as they may play a bigger role there.
Speaking of the house guests, the scene where everyone plays Blind Man's Bluff was so erotic. I felt myself blushing with every sentence. And I wanted a Silas x Ivy scene, but of course, Julian would not approve of his woman being touched by someone else. I also felt like there was something more to Julian and Silas's relationship, maybe some history, that went unsaid, and I would have loved to learn more. Again, the book is so short that it wouldn't have been possible to fit it in.
The spice scenes between Ivy and Julian were also very erotic. It was my kind of erotic. I felt his dom vibes, and I appreciated how he communicated with Ivy during the spice scenes. There is a darkness to him that I was attracted to, and I see why Ivy is attracted to him, but she fell hard and fast, which didn't make sense. He is her cousin's widower, and it seems from the story that her cousin died shortly before Ivy's arrival at the Markham house. She also seems to brush under the rug that he is the number one suspect in her cousin's death. If I were Ivy, I'd have some comments, questions, and concerns.
The book ends on a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger is predictable, and not many will be surprised by it. I'm interested to see where the next book in the series will go.
There are a few things that I had trouble with regarding this book, but they are all due to the book's length. It's criminally short. It's so short that there wasn't enough time to establish the characters. We're introduced to a horde of characters, particularly the house guests, and none of them, except Molly O'Flaherty, are given even a trace of a backstory. Especially in this particular period, a group of young bachelors and bachelorettes being freely intimate would be considered scandalous. I would have loved to have known more about them. I also would have liked to see a flashback or something of the like to show Julian and Arabella's marriage and Julian and Violet's marriage. Maybe that's part of the mystery of the book that we don't know much about Julian to begin with. Ivy doesn't seem to know much about him either as she states she had barely even known her cousin got married, so they most likely never met until Ivy moved in with Julain. I also want to know more about Gareth. He seems like an important character, and his interactions with the characters lead me to believe there is something going on with him. I think the lack of information about him and Ms. Brightmore will play a part in the next book as they may play a bigger role there.
Speaking of the house guests, the scene where everyone plays Blind Man's Bluff was so erotic. I felt myself blushing with every sentence. And I wanted a Silas x Ivy scene, but of course, Julian would not approve of his woman being touched by someone else. I also felt like there was something more to Julian and Silas's relationship, maybe some history, that went unsaid, and I would have loved to learn more. Again, the book is so short that it wouldn't have been possible to fit it in.
The spice scenes between Ivy and Julian were also very erotic. It was my kind of erotic. I felt his dom vibes, and I appreciated how he communicated with Ivy during the spice scenes. There is a darkness to him that I was attracted to, and I see why Ivy is attracted to him, but she fell hard and fast, which didn't make sense. He is her cousin's widower, and it seems from the story that her cousin died shortly before Ivy's arrival at the Markham house. She also seems to brush under the rug that he is the number one suspect in her cousin's death. If I were Ivy, I'd have some comments, questions, and concerns.
The book ends on a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger is predictable, and not many will be surprised by it. I'm interested to see where the next book in the series will go.