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A review by bananatricky
It Started with a Kiss by Ella Quinn
1.0
DNF at 18%.
Normally I love an historical novel but I just could not get into this one.
Gideon, the Duke of Rothwell, has returned to England after his father's death only to discover that the estate has been badly mismanaged and there will need to be a period of extreme penny-pinching. The last thing Gideon can afford to do is to make a marriage offer for a decent young lady.
Lady Louise Vivers is the younger sister of Gideon's friend Matt Worthington. She is a free-spirited young lady, riding her horse alone in the early morning in Hyde Park. Gideon spots her and is entranced by her looks and her riding. He is dismayed to find that she is the sister of his best friend, especially since he has just confessed to his friend that he could only afford to marry a fabulous heiress!
As the plot unfolds it appears that Gideon's father had gone slightly senile, taken a mistress and squandered money on clothes, jewels, houses and horses for her. Desperate to recoup some of the money Gideon starts to ask questions and it soon appears that the mistress may have been deliberately fleecing his father.
Not having read the preceding novels I have to confess I was a little in the dark about Louise's brother Matt and the numerous children/ cousins who seem to live with them which didn't help me with this novel.
Overall, and I appreciate I didn't read very much of the book, Gideon struck me as a bit of a prig. He couldn't even speak to his friend and tell him that he had feelings for his younger sister (there were a lot of male pronouns there but I think you get the gist), just decided to suffer in silence although he also made plans to meet Louise which is hardly the actions of an honourable man trying to avoid temptation. Louise on the other hand struck me as someone who was gearing up to be TSTL. Would a young lady of the ton really go riding alone very early in the morning in Hyde Park?
I didn't warm to the main characters and gave up at 18%.
I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Normally I love an historical novel but I just could not get into this one.
Gideon, the Duke of Rothwell, has returned to England after his father's death only to discover that the estate has been badly mismanaged and there will need to be a period of extreme penny-pinching. The last thing Gideon can afford to do is to make a marriage offer for a decent young lady.
Lady Louise Vivers is the younger sister of Gideon's friend Matt Worthington. She is a free-spirited young lady, riding her horse alone in the early morning in Hyde Park. Gideon spots her and is entranced by her looks and her riding. He is dismayed to find that she is the sister of his best friend, especially since he has just confessed to his friend that he could only afford to marry a fabulous heiress!
As the plot unfolds it appears that Gideon's father had gone slightly senile, taken a mistress and squandered money on clothes, jewels, houses and horses for her. Desperate to recoup some of the money Gideon starts to ask questions and it soon appears that the mistress may have been deliberately fleecing his father.
Not having read the preceding novels I have to confess I was a little in the dark about Louise's brother Matt and the numerous children/ cousins who seem to live with them which didn't help me with this novel.
Overall, and I appreciate I didn't read very much of the book, Gideon struck me as a bit of a prig. He couldn't even speak to his friend and tell him that he had feelings for his younger sister (there were a lot of male pronouns there but I think you get the gist), just decided to suffer in silence although he also made plans to meet Louise which is hardly the actions of an honourable man trying to avoid temptation. Louise on the other hand struck me as someone who was gearing up to be TSTL. Would a young lady of the ton really go riding alone very early in the morning in Hyde Park?
I didn't warm to the main characters and gave up at 18%.
I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.