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mamamelreads 's review for:
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie
by Jennifer Ashley
This is a book that is wildly popular in this genre. Almost all of the goodreads reviewers I follow adore the story. After reading a downer of a novel I was looking for a good happily ever after story, and this one seemed like it would be perfect. Well ... this one didn't work work for me so well. I can see why so many like it, but I missed the magic of it. There were just too many things that kept me from loving it.
The one thing that really sets this book apart from other historicals is the flawed hero. Ian Mackenzie truly is mad, but his madness seems to manifest more like Asperger's Syndrome than a true mental illness. He's quirky ... REALLY quirky, but he isn't crazy. But in a world where labels matter, Ian is labeled as a lunatic and spends years of his youth locked in an asylum. His history is really tragic, and I wonder how much of his madness is genetic and how much was caused by the tragedy of his upbringing. With Ian's personality oddities and inability to really relate well with others, it was a different sort of love story. That made this novel really stand out and kept it interesting in a genre that struggles with similarities between stories.
However, because of Ian's "madness" I expected a bit more in the romance part of the story. It was going to take a special woman to overlook Ian's eccentricities, and it was going to take an unconventional method to bring romance to these two characters. Unfortunately, I found the entire romance to be unbelievable. Beth is the love interest in this story, and she is strong and patient. She truly is a good match for Ian. She sees past his oddities and is able to see the good man underneath. However, she just jumps right into this relationship right of the bat. She meets Ian practically engaged to another man. Sure, the guy ends up being a creep, so no tears are lost at the end of that relationship. But Beth falls right into love with Ian. I can see her being intrigued by him, but it was highly unsatisfactory to read the speed of the development of her feelings. I would have rather seen a slower building romance. Why did she love him? WHY? It never made sense. The two hardly talked, and then she was quickly thinking of how much she cared about the guy. Ian was not much better. Why was he so quick to attach himself to Beth? He had decided to marry her and put her under his protection almost from the get go. WHY? It is never examined in the story. I feel like the entire story suffered because of the speed of this romance. Sure, there were a lot of things that these two had to overcome before there was the beginning of a HEA, but it would have been better to see these things worked out before they had decided that each other was the One.
Having said that, there are some sweet and satisfying parts to this story. I love Ian's struggles to look people straight in the eye, even Beth. He never totally works through this, but as he worked to do better it was sweet to read those moments. Ian's inability to understand emotions and double meanings was also super sweet. He often didn't get Beth's jokes or side comments, but when he did ... super sweet! And for a man who has no idea what love is ... when he begins to understand it was a highlight of the story.
For me this story only gets three stars. I liked it, but I didn't love it. I may decide to continue on in this series though. I am especially interested to see how things turn out for Mac, Isabella, Cam, and Hart. Maybe Jennifer Ashley's writing style will grow on me. Three stars.
The one thing that really sets this book apart from other historicals is the flawed hero. Ian Mackenzie truly is mad, but his madness seems to manifest more like Asperger's Syndrome than a true mental illness. He's quirky ... REALLY quirky, but he isn't crazy. But in a world where labels matter, Ian is labeled as a lunatic and spends years of his youth locked in an asylum. His history is really tragic, and I wonder how much of his madness is genetic and how much was caused by the tragedy of his upbringing. With Ian's personality oddities and inability to really relate well with others, it was a different sort of love story. That made this novel really stand out and kept it interesting in a genre that struggles with similarities between stories.
However, because of Ian's "madness" I expected a bit more in the romance part of the story. It was going to take a special woman to overlook Ian's eccentricities, and it was going to take an unconventional method to bring romance to these two characters. Unfortunately, I found the entire romance to be unbelievable. Beth is the love interest in this story, and she is strong and patient. She truly is a good match for Ian. She sees past his oddities and is able to see the good man underneath. However, she just jumps right into this relationship right of the bat. She meets Ian practically engaged to another man. Sure, the guy ends up being a creep, so no tears are lost at the end of that relationship. But Beth falls right into love with Ian. I can see her being intrigued by him, but it was highly unsatisfactory to read the speed of the development of her feelings. I would have rather seen a slower building romance. Why did she love him? WHY? It never made sense. The two hardly talked, and then she was quickly thinking of how much she cared about the guy. Ian was not much better. Why was he so quick to attach himself to Beth? He had decided to marry her and put her under his protection almost from the get go. WHY? It is never examined in the story. I feel like the entire story suffered because of the speed of this romance. Sure, there were a lot of things that these two had to overcome before there was the beginning of a HEA, but it would have been better to see these things worked out before they had decided that each other was the One.
Having said that, there are some sweet and satisfying parts to this story. I love Ian's struggles to look people straight in the eye, even Beth. He never totally works through this, but as he worked to do better it was sweet to read those moments. Ian's inability to understand emotions and double meanings was also super sweet. He often didn't get Beth's jokes or side comments, but when he did ... super sweet! And for a man who has no idea what love is ... when he begins to understand it was a highlight of the story.
For me this story only gets three stars. I liked it, but I didn't love it. I may decide to continue on in this series though. I am especially interested to see how things turn out for Mac, Isabella, Cam, and Hart. Maybe Jennifer Ashley's writing style will grow on me. Three stars.