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A review by gerijoi
The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham
2.0
I really wanted to like this book after hearing so many good reviews from a Christian fiction group I'm in, but I had such a hard time finishing. In fact, once I started reading it I realized that I had already started once before and apparently didn't finish the first time. That should have told me something!
The overall plot was good. An arranged marriage goes awry and a younger sister has to take the place of the older sister, marry an (almost) complete stranger, and move away from everyone she knows in America to an old English estate. Not a bad beginning. Throw in a few mysterious deaths, a bitter and horribly mean new mother-in-law, and a conniving former duchess, and you have all the elements of a really intriguing story. Until you start reading it and meet the main characters. They just didn't come through for me the way the author intended them to, I don't think. I realize that Grace was young and inexperienced, but she was portrayed as extremely childlike and ditzy, seeing everything through the eyes of a fictional character from whatever book came to mind in any given situation. Even handsome Lord Frederick grated on my nerves at times. Was he a little bit too perfect? Not sure what it was, but something didn't sit right with me.
But the element I disliked the most was all of the kissing, talk of tempting lips, and bedroom innuendos. While the scenes always ended before anything got started in the bedroom, there was still way too much talk of it. My teen daughter and I like passing good books back and forth, and this genre is our favorite, but I won't be suggesting this one as a read for her because of some of this content. Prudish of me? Maybe. Maybe not. But I do think there was plenty of content in this vein that could have been left out of the book and it would have been much more of an enjoyable read for me.
Not sure if I will read the rest of the series.
The overall plot was good. An arranged marriage goes awry and a younger sister has to take the place of the older sister, marry an (almost) complete stranger, and move away from everyone she knows in America to an old English estate. Not a bad beginning. Throw in a few mysterious deaths, a bitter and horribly mean new mother-in-law, and a conniving former duchess, and you have all the elements of a really intriguing story. Until you start reading it and meet the main characters. They just didn't come through for me the way the author intended them to, I don't think. I realize that Grace was young and inexperienced, but she was portrayed as extremely childlike and ditzy, seeing everything through the eyes of a fictional character from whatever book came to mind in any given situation. Even handsome Lord Frederick grated on my nerves at times. Was he a little bit too perfect? Not sure what it was, but something didn't sit right with me.
But the element I disliked the most was all of the kissing, talk of tempting lips, and bedroom innuendos. While the scenes always ended before anything got started in the bedroom, there was still way too much talk of it. My teen daughter and I like passing good books back and forth, and this genre is our favorite, but I won't be suggesting this one as a read for her because of some of this content. Prudish of me? Maybe. Maybe not. But I do think there was plenty of content in this vein that could have been left out of the book and it would have been much more of an enjoyable read for me.
Not sure if I will read the rest of the series.