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A review by serialromancelibrarian
Amelia by Diana Palmer
4.0
*** Book Q & A***
* How did the book make you feel?: When I need a vintage romance with some angst and a bully H, I can always depend on DP. This delivers in spades and I love it. I’ve read it multiple times.
* How do you feel about how the story was told?: I loved the setting of Texas in 1900. That’s what lets this terrible H (King) get away with so much. Amelia (h) is stuck at the mercy of her father who is ill with a brain tumor. He’s violent and unpredictable. Much of the story is the H mercilessly torturing the helpless h because he labels her a stupid, spineless gold digger. I honestly didn’t care too much for the parallel story of Amelia’s brother Quinn and his love interest though. I skimmed it when I reread the book.
* What did you think about the main characters?: King has few redeeming qualities. He’s not handsome, he strings women along, and he jumps to nasty conclusions about people. We keep hearing from his brother and parents that he’s a decent guy, but we don’t really see it until the end when he takes full responsibility for all the damage he caused. He is a man toddler. Amelia is a paragon. She hides her intelligence and plays the meek subservient role in order to pacify her abusive father. He literally beats her if she falls out of line. It is a believable scenario, though. I loved the resilience of her character.
* Which parts of the book stood out to you?: The climax of this book is heart-wrenching and sickening. You have questionable consent/rape and then the H literally gets the h’s father so riled up that he almost beats the h to death before the H finally regrets his actions. I love it so much because I’m a masochist.
* What themes/tropes did you detect in the story?: Bully cruel hero, horrible OW, Texas 1900 HR
* What did you think about the ending?: I wanted more groveling, but King does repeatedly tell everyone how guilty/horrible he is and he seems to be atoning for it in the end.
* What is your impression of the author?: I love DP!
Triggers: questionable consent (on page), domestic violence (fades to black)
* How did the book make you feel?: When I need a vintage romance with some angst and a bully H, I can always depend on DP. This delivers in spades and I love it. I’ve read it multiple times.
* How do you feel about how the story was told?: I loved the setting of Texas in 1900. That’s what lets this terrible H (King) get away with so much. Amelia (h) is stuck at the mercy of her father who is ill with a brain tumor. He’s violent and unpredictable. Much of the story is the H mercilessly torturing the helpless h because he labels her a stupid, spineless gold digger. I honestly didn’t care too much for the parallel story of Amelia’s brother Quinn and his love interest though. I skimmed it when I reread the book.
* What did you think about the main characters?: King has few redeeming qualities. He’s not handsome, he strings women along, and he jumps to nasty conclusions about people. We keep hearing from his brother and parents that he’s a decent guy, but we don’t really see it until the end when he takes full responsibility for all the damage he caused. He is a man toddler. Amelia is a paragon. She hides her intelligence and plays the meek subservient role in order to pacify her abusive father. He literally beats her if she falls out of line. It is a believable scenario, though. I loved the resilience of her character.
* Which parts of the book stood out to you?: The climax of this book is heart-wrenching and sickening. You have questionable consent/rape and then the H literally gets the h’s father so riled up that he almost beats the h to death before the H finally regrets his actions. I love it so much because I’m a masochist.
* What themes/tropes did you detect in the story?: Bully cruel hero, horrible OW, Texas 1900 HR
* What did you think about the ending?: I wanted more groveling, but King does repeatedly tell everyone how guilty/horrible he is and he seems to be atoning for it in the end.
* What is your impression of the author?: I love DP!
Triggers: questionable consent (on page), domestic violence (fades to black)