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bonnieg 's review for:
Daring and the Duke
by Sarah MacLean
Well that was disappointing. I loved the first two books in this series. Loved! Shouted from the rooftops about how much I loved the books. But I wondered on and off through the second book how it was going to be possible to redeem Ewan. My worries were well placed. A little murder between friends and enemies can be gotten around, or murder to save the people one loves, but the wholesale murder of innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time because a man is grieving and frustrated and sad and having a temper tantrum where he feels the need to blow shit up cannot be written around. Mass murderers need love too? That doesn't work for me.
There were some swoony elements here, and that she managed any in this really problematic setup is a testament to MacLean's storytelling prowess. I wanted to to be able to root for the couple, but I could not. The background on Ewan (even though we know he was the victim of abuse) along with some sloppy wordsmithing just killed this. Every time Grace and Ewan kissed it was "long and lush." Someone needs to do a word search to count how many times MacLean used the word "pleasure" (or as the reader says "plezhaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.") Also, the "you are my queen and I am your throne" thing which comes about when she is pretty literally sitting on his face was a little squicky, and it came up more than once. The best moments in this book were still when Grace and Whit and Devil were together -- I still loved them and their love for one another. The family dynamic was great. I think if they had not make Ewan so evil in the first two books this might have worked, but as it is, no matter how much contrition he showed, no.
One other note -- the ability to ABSOLUTELY protect against pregnancy was stated more than once and it really chafed. Yes, whores in Covent Garden had some strategies to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy, and some helped, but none were anything close to completely reliable. Grace says when she has vaginal sex with Ewan for the first time it is okay because its impossible for her to get pregnant. She also says he should know his mother wanted him or else she would have protected herself against getting pregnant. This is wrong, and it minimizes the importance of access to reliable contraception and methods of termination. It is a disservice to those who are still fighting for women to have access to what they need to control their reproduction. Okay, it more than chaffed, it repelled me. If I did not know Sarah MacLean is not anti-choice and is a feminist, I would have thought otherwise after reading this.
There were some swoony elements here, and that she managed any in this really problematic setup is a testament to MacLean's storytelling prowess. I wanted to to be able to root for the couple, but I could not. The background on Ewan (even though we know he was the victim of abuse) along with some sloppy wordsmithing just killed this. Every time Grace and Ewan kissed it was "long and lush." Someone needs to do a word search to count how many times MacLean used the word "pleasure" (or as the reader says "plezhaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.") Also, the "you are my queen and I am your throne" thing which comes about when she is pretty literally sitting on his face was a little squicky, and it came up more than once. The best moments in this book were still when Grace and Whit and Devil were together -- I still loved them and their love for one another. The family dynamic was great. I think if they had not make Ewan so evil in the first two books this might have worked, but as it is, no matter how much contrition he showed, no.
One other note -- the ability to ABSOLUTELY protect against pregnancy was stated more than once and it really chafed. Yes, whores in Covent Garden had some strategies to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy, and some helped, but none were anything close to completely reliable. Grace says when she has vaginal sex with Ewan for the first time it is okay because its impossible for her to get pregnant. She also says he should know his mother wanted him or else she would have protected herself against getting pregnant. This is wrong, and it minimizes the importance of access to reliable contraception and methods of termination. It is a disservice to those who are still fighting for women to have access to what they need to control their reproduction. Okay, it more than chaffed, it repelled me. If I did not know Sarah MacLean is not anti-choice and is a feminist, I would have thought otherwise after reading this.