Scan barcode
A review by roseybot
The Heir by Grace Burrowes
Did not finish book.
I've been craving a historical romance lately, given my swing into science fiction, but this book isn't what I'm looking for.
I feel like I've discussed how I don't need the historical details to be absolutely correct for me to enjoy a book -- I read Kate Nobel and Eva Leigh after all and they are both pretty modern and inaccurate -- but there's a difference between their books, where there is still a nod towards the historical setting, and this book, where it exists only in the titles.
First off -- the food. I got very distracted when the heroine offered the hero muffins. In a Regency Era book. This smacked so much of an American author to me, that I had to look it up. Muffins might have existed in Regency England, but it's unlikely. Then came the parade of lemonade. Everyone drank it. Everyone. And it made it me crazy. Because lemonade in England is a sweet, carbonated drink that's rather like sprite, and this was clearly American lemonade.
I got real annoyed by the food, apparently.
Furthermore, this is a romance between a housekeeper and her employer. I'm already kind of leery of this trope. I don't like the power imbalance of it, but I think that it can be done all right. This is not one of those times. Even without the power imbalance, there was something very much off about Anna being a house keeper. For one thing, she never appeared to actually work. She could take time off to go wander around with the Earl and never once did anything more than cut flowers. Domestics in big houses worked from dawn till dusk, and sometimes after, to keep the houses they worked in clean and in order. Anna, being in charge of this, should have been at least a little busy.
But no, she gets to galavant off with the Earl to see other houses.
Worse still is the way that none of the Nobility seemed to have a problem with the Earl's house keeper sleeping with her employer. In fact, many encouraged the Earl to marry her, despite the very real and serious ramifications that they would have faced had this been real. Class is a real thing in England, and their relationship would have hurt everyone. It needed to be addressed, and instead of using that to fuel the conflict between Anna and Gayle, it never got touched upon.
The Duchess, Gayle's mother appears, and she let's Anna sit next to her to talk to her. It was so jolting and weird to me that Anna agreed that I almost gave up there. Then Gayle appeared and offered an arm to both Anna and his mother and I threw up my hands.
Look, I don't need that much historical accuracy, but I need to know you tried to research some things, or at least have read... say any other historical romance. I got half way through this book and it got to be too much. Especially since the romantic tension was basically nil, as he asked her to marry him at 25%. 25%!
Ugh. Life is too short for mediocre books.
I feel like I've discussed how I don't need the historical details to be absolutely correct for me to enjoy a book -- I read Kate Nobel and Eva Leigh after all and they are both pretty modern and inaccurate -- but there's a difference between their books, where there is still a nod towards the historical setting, and this book, where it exists only in the titles.
First off -- the food. I got very distracted when the heroine offered the hero muffins. In a Regency Era book. This smacked so much of an American author to me, that I had to look it up. Muffins might have existed in Regency England, but it's unlikely. Then came the parade of lemonade. Everyone drank it. Everyone. And it made it me crazy. Because lemonade in England is a sweet, carbonated drink that's rather like sprite, and this was clearly American lemonade.
I got real annoyed by the food, apparently.
Furthermore, this is a romance between a housekeeper and her employer. I'm already kind of leery of this trope. I don't like the power imbalance of it, but I think that it can be done all right. This is not one of those times. Even without the power imbalance, there was something very much off about Anna being a house keeper. For one thing, she never appeared to actually work. She could take time off to go wander around with the Earl and never once did anything more than cut flowers. Domestics in big houses worked from dawn till dusk, and sometimes after, to keep the houses they worked in clean and in order. Anna, being in charge of this, should have been at least a little busy.
But no, she gets to galavant off with the Earl to see other houses.
Worse still is the way that none of the Nobility seemed to have a problem with the Earl's house keeper sleeping with her employer. In fact, many encouraged the Earl to marry her, despite the very real and serious ramifications that they would have faced had this been real. Class is a real thing in England, and their relationship would have hurt everyone. It needed to be addressed, and instead of using that to fuel the conflict between Anna and Gayle, it never got touched upon.
The Duchess, Gayle's mother appears, and she let's Anna sit next to her to talk to her. It was so jolting and weird to me that Anna agreed that I almost gave up there. Then Gayle appeared and offered an arm to both Anna and his mother and I threw up my hands.
Look, I don't need that much historical accuracy, but I need to know you tried to research some things, or at least have read... say any other historical romance. I got half way through this book and it got to be too much. Especially since the romantic tension was basically nil, as he asked her to marry him at 25%. 25%!
Ugh. Life is too short for mediocre books.