Really really good!!! I honestly was cautious when I picked this up cause I was expecting the typical highland 'cliches' and plot story but oh goodnes...moreReally really good!!! I honestly was cautious when I picked this up cause I was expecting the typical highland 'cliches' and plot story but oh goodness did this author prove me wrong. It's not just the story itself but her writing style that completely won me over. Great plot, great drama and climactic moments, really well thought out characters,well thought out story. What I loved most was the angst, the actual trials both the hero and heroine had to face. It wasn't the expected convoluted or 'forced' plot point just for the sake of throwing it in there and having them overcome it magically two seconds later. They both face some obstacles and plenty of angst to the point where you wanna rip your hair out--in a good way.lol Oh and some very hot love scenes. Always a plus for me. I loved it! And can I say it was nice to read a highland story that didn't have the expected highland Gaelic language where half the words you can't understand I wouldn't have minded if it but it made it easier to follow without. :P Thank you Monica McCarty! (less)
This was my very first Quinn book and I just found it disappointing all around. I didn't know this was a series and from what I'm getting it was a poi...moreThis was my very first Quinn book and I just found it disappointing all around. I didn't know this was a series and from what I'm getting it was a pointless one at that. All I know is from my POV reading it as a stand alone it just did nothing for me. I felt the story dragged on very slowly where there was little to no interaction between the hero and heroine. That was the most frustrating thing for me. It took too long to reach a climax or conclusion and even when it did, both were very anticlimactic. The plot of finding the 'lost' Duke I didn't care much for and the love story was no better. You go from Thomas completely ignoring his betrothed to tolerating her to saying ILY at the end (as expected in a romance book). I didn't buy it. There really wasn't much of any love story or romance in this. I felt Thomas and Amelia were more like friendly acquaintances then a couple falling in love. And them having sex for the first time on the dirt floor outside of an old church just made the book even more disappointing. Had me going 'that was it?' I think it was the most awkward/cringe-worthy moment from the entire book and I don't think that was Quinn's intention. She's a great author this just wasn't her best. Her Bridgerton series is so much better then her more recent work. (less)
Omg. There are awful books and then there are just plain awful books. This is one of the latter. I had so many issues with this book from start to *ne...moreOmg. There are awful books and then there are just plain awful books. This is one of the latter. I had so many issues with this book from start to *near* finish. I tried finishing it, don't even ask me why. Good lord the dialogue and non-existent plot just put me to sleep and don't get me started on the ridiculous hi-jinx plot points and bizarre dialogue. This was just a 'Oh good g-d, what in the HELL is this??' kind of book for me. Just awful. So incredibly awful I don't even know where to start...
I'm not sure if this was supposed to be meant as 'humorous' but if so, she completely lost me. It doesn't take much to make me laugh or amuse me but this book was just all kinds of weird for me and near painful to read. It was just bizarre. I almost thought I was reading a spoof on a HR story or a skit from SNL, a campy skit intentionally done over-the-top just to get laughs. I have no idea. I've read Regency/historical romance books with humorous dialogue or tone and this definitely wasn't it. None of it came off as humorous to me but rather ridiculously silly and contrived and really embarrassing plot points to humiliate the heroine for g-d knows what reason. What? To make the bafoon idiot hero play hero and be all manly? Uh no. Fred Flinstone is more of a man and 'gentlemen' then this moron Paen. And while I'm at it, I just could not understand why the author was so adamant in putting the poor clueless heroine through stunt after stunt of mind-numbingly humiliating 'incidents' just to create some kind of 'misunderstanding' between her and her husband Paen. It just made both characters look incredibly TSTL. And yes the fact that someone was behind it was obvious but lost my interest quickly because I was losing patience with how many times the heroine was humiliated in front of her husband and his family. Give the poor girl a break. Because of this, both characters just came off looking idiotic, silly and not even remotely interesting.
And speaking of TSTL, I knew I was in trouble when in the second chapter the heroine's mother thought it was a brilliant idea to BIND her daughter into her wedding dress which was like 2 sizes too small just because the other dress (and ONLY other dress) was wrinkled. And of course if that wasn't enough, trying to get her to trudge along all the way to the church on foot while she was literally turning blue, gasping for breath and about ready to faint. Here's a better idea...if the dress doesn't fit her let her wear the other one. Duh.
But the thing that just really galled me and annoyed me the most was the ever oblivious hero, Paen. The most flat lifeless hero I've read about. I pretty much knew nothing about him while 2/3rds into the book. Not a good sign. He grunts and mumbles throughout the story barely spending anytime with his new wife believing she's inept, frail, uneducated, clumsy, etc. etc., so instead of helping her like any other husband would do he keeps running to his parents asking for their advice and getting them involved in nearly everything. I mean really?? His wife asks him simple questions and he acts so horrified and shocked he runs off to ask his parents for advice like a schoolboy. He came off as a complete brute to me, a completely clueless, insensitive, boring brute with no personality whatsoever. The only interest he shows in his wife is when he can bed her. RME. And the heroine thinking her gallant husband is 'oh so brave and sweet!' while trying to save her when he thinks she's drowning is not even remotely funny or cute, considering the fact that he parades her around in front of everyone BUCK NAKED with her ass up in the air on top of a horse. Hhhhell NO.
But the final line for me (you would think after that awful idiotic horse incident it couldn't possibly get worse RME) that turned me off completely was the scene where Avelyn asked Paen where the servants were in the house and in his ever graceless patronizing way tells her upstairs-- as if she's a halfwit, stairs which mind you are are clearly broken and missing some steps. Instead of helping her up that walking death trap like a decent human being with a brain he just grunts an answer to her and goes off to his business. Uuuum what? Exactly what part of this book is supposed to be romantic or funny for that matter?? I seriously struggle to understand what author would expect any reader to find this shit funny or cute or even remotely romantic. Complete tosser for me. I could not understand the characters who were all completely one-dimensional, dialogue boring as ever with some major grammar issues or just confusing as hell to understand and plot points that were more loosey goosey and cringe-worthy then 'funny'.
And another thing that bugged the crap out of me is why every. single. chore and activity of the characters' had to be described in full detail (including taking trips to the river to go to the bathroom uh WTF?) I mean..are you kidding me? Meanwhile, the hero and heroine barely got any alone time together or actual interaction. So ridiculous. Total headscratcher for me. The author spent sooo much time on the most mundane stupid things and dragged out descriptions for no reason when nothing really happens instead of having the H/HR interact. Can I ask whhyy??
I try not to be too harsh or offensive in reviews but really, I don't understand what the author's intention was with this story at all. There wasn't much of a plot to begin with, a bunch of dialogue and a lot of summarization but very little action. I was 300 pages in and nothing really happened except for a string of humiliating incidents b/w H & HR. At least flesh out the hero and heroine, I have no idea what Paen even looks like except he has dark hair, is a giant and is well endowed. pfft. Come. On. So silly. Give a little more love to the characters you create and maybe then I'll love them in return. (less)
Edward Duke of Clybourne is the eldest of the Bryon siblings and has finally decided to get married to his chosen bride since childhood, Clai...more3.5 stars
Edward Duke of Clybourne is the eldest of the Bryon siblings and has finally decided to get married to his chosen bride since childhood, Claire Marsden. Claire has secretly been in love with Edward for years since she met her husband-to-be as a child. Unfortunately by the time Edward has decided to call upon her to get married, Claire is no longer interested, refusing to marry out of obligation and duty and wishing for something more, love.
This was a struggle to get through and mostly because of the overall dragged-out plot and the heroine's main reservations for marrying Edward. My biggest problem that I can’t wrap my brain around no matter how hard I try is the fact that Claire let one singular encounter she had with Edward when she was sixteen shape her entire decision and form her resolve on not marrying him. I thought it was ridiculous and incredibly lame. Now if it was some life-altering cruel incident then I could understand but this was just stupid. When she was sixteen, she overheard Edward telling a lady friend how he does not want to get married (at the time him being 27 years old) and Claire is just a child in his eyes (which is the truth). Her heart is broken and she quickly decides that she will never marry him cause he doesn’t love her.... and apparently never will. Cause g-d forbid the man had the nerve to not want to get married or love a girl he barely knows at the time which equates to him NEVER being able to love Claire. *crickets* The logic is so ass backwards and asinine that I don't understand why Warren chose this as the overall ‘conflict’ for the couple. Come on! Yes for a young girl it would make sense to be heartbroken but to use that ONE incident and let it shape her entire opinion of him (and it clearly did) and be dead set against marrying him years later because of it I thought was unreasonable and such a poor wishy washy justification to be honest. I was waiting for someone to clue in the poor girl that men DO change their minds and learn things as they get older. She clearly had a lot of growing up to do cause that was one of many things she had no notion of which I couldn't understand and found a little unrealistic.
I wanted to like Claire and understand her but she made it really hard through most of the book. To be blunt, for someone so naïve and innocent she’s a complete idiot. I lost all patience or understanding of her from the beginning when she devised this genius plan of hers to get out of her engagement. She was willing to do anything to get Edward to call off the engagement and I mean ANYTHING. Hence why I call her a naive idiot considering her last and final stunt almost had her raped. Her braziness and complete arrogance and carelessness to what she was doing and the obliviousness to the ramifications of it was just infuriating. Even for someone who's 22 and the eldest daughter she was incredibly clueless and naive about certain things she should know about IMO. I honestly kept looking forward to Edward chewing her out and scolding her like a child cause she was pretty much acting like one.
Plus for someone who’s supposedly ‘in love’ and adores her betrothed I had a hard time seeing it or buying it between all the stupid outlandish stunts she kept pulling to try and get him to cry off through more than half of the book. It dragged on continuously to the point I was tempted to skip parts just to get to the end. I really wish Warren didn't drag all that out till eternity because it left very *little* room for me to believe she did want him or even truly loved him. She was so determined and stedfast on her decision through more than half of the book even while she was getting to know him as a man. That was infuriating to no end. She also seemed to make a lot of grand assumptions and misjudgments when it came to Edward, even when they were married. I understood her insecurity and fear but she needed to have a little more faith in the man she loves and not jump to quick conclusions and think immediately the worse. It's something I hate that authors do with heroines, especially shy insecure ones. They beat the insecurity part over the head repeatedly that it veers off into annoying rather then endearing. I thought here it was heaped on way too much. The constant redundant inner dialogues that would fill up pages of Claire dissecting every. little. thing he would or wouldn’t say, do or didn’t do drove me up the wall. She loved to blow things way out of proportion and stack every little thing against him. RME. If you have fears TALK TO HIM, if you have reservations talk to him don't assume the worst every single time. Clearly you have a mouth, say something and stop being a giant boob.
The only reason I managed to get through it was because of Edward and his colorful lovely family. I loved Edward, loved seeing him handle his family and work all with great ease and confidence and authority. I really enjoyed seeing him interact with his siblings and mother. The family dynamic is one of the reasons why I love this series so much. Edward is a very straight-forward, honest loyal-to-a-fault kind of man which I loved. When he wants something he sets his mind on it and goes after it, full throttle. :P I admired that and it's safe to say he made me melt more than once. He was so charming and sweet and delicious. It just had me wishing more than once that the heroine was better suited for him. Given Claire's over-the-top silly antics I struggled accepting her as his match. But either way, after they did get married they had some pretty sweet tender moments that I enjoyed. I have to say the love scenes in particular were pretty steamy and intimate and playful which I really liked. It's one of the reasons why I love TAW's writing she gives everything even when it comes to love scenes and intimate moments. Very descriptive and just really enthralling. The honeymoon scenes are the highlight of the book for me.
This would have been a 4 star or even 5 if it wasn't for Claire's antics and dragging out of a shallow redundant plot. (less)
**I noticed a pretty big error with the printed copy I have. The blurb on the back of the book (paperback) has the hero named 'Andrew Richar...more 3.5 stars
**I noticed a pretty big error with the printed copy I have. The blurb on the back of the book (paperback) has the hero named 'Andrew Richardson' the hero in this book is named Gabriel. Uh... why no one caught this I have no clue. I was really surprised and shocked that a mistake this big made it to print without someone catching it. Maybe I just got a bad copy? :P lol This is a first for me.**
This started out pretty strong but the lengthy really tedious kidnapping plot and long-winded repetitive inner monologues just dragged everything down for me. I could have so done without the tedious back-and-forth chase between the couple and the French spy Jacques Gerard who kept popping up left and right with a freaking pistol to hold the hero and heroine prisoner with the repetitive 'we meet again' entrances. Oh shut up already! The author had a serious attachment to this tiresome character that wouldn't go away until 2/3rds into the book which is unfortunate because it would have made for a better story without him getting so much page time. The overall story and characters suffered because of it. Oh and as far as 'side stories' go I would have so much rather have read about the budding relationship between Hugo, Lord Rothwell (Gabriel's best friend) and Hannah Lansing instead of Jacques and his mistress. RME. Spare me. Why the author decided to randomly shove in the surprise love story between Hannah and Hugo at the very end (and I'm talking the last 3 chapters) instead of having it slowly develop throughout the book is beyond me. They were so intriguing and a breath of fresh air in this muddled story. I really didn't care or have the patience to read about the villain Jacques long history and obliviousness to his feelings towards his mistress. It just got ridiculous how every time Talia and Gabriel managed to escape, there was Jacques popping up to capture them again. It just got silly and kind of 'this can't be happening AGAIN' comical when he manages to catch them 3 TIMES. I mean seriously?? And I also didn't care at all for the selfish reckless mess of a brother Harry who caused the main couple so much trouble. If I was supposed to have sympathy or care about him being 'rescued' the author totally lost me there. Harry is an uninspiring simpering self-indulgent character why the hell should I watch Gabriel risk his neck more than once to save him? There were too many over-dramatic characters and actions and obnoxious characters in this that it slowly became a chore to finish this unfortunately. A lot of things could have been cut down IMO.
I liked the writing, the dark angsty edge to it is my kind of thing and the set up was really interesting but this was in need of some serious editing in certain areas.
1.5 stars Pretty much one sweet moment in the epilogue and the hero Walker are the only things I managed to like about this book, the rest of the story...more1.5 stars Pretty much one sweet moment in the epilogue and the hero Walker are the only things I managed to like about this book, the rest of the story and Lacy's histrionics just drove me up the wall. The number and frequency of mood swings this girl goes through puts any kind of bad PMS days I have to shame. Oy...I swear. I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping to. And same problem with The Texan's Wager I had with this one as well, it lacked oomph, passion, true emotion. The author spends very little time giving her characters real POVs, emotions, inner dialogue other than stating the obvious. It just comes off very dry and matter of fact rather than engaging dialogue. In some cases this style of writing works, but this is a Western Romance, give me some meat. The world building in this I found a little lacking as well.
I was very surprised with how Lacy was written in this, I found it very incongruous to how she was portrayed in the beginning of the series. What happened to the sweet sassy girl in the first book? She morphed into a extremely selfish, short-tempered, shrill overly-judgmental drama queen in this. I didn't find her bickering and screaming at Walker at every turn entertaining or fun. It bogged down the story and made it hard to finish. I honestly felt sorry for Walker at times and found it ridiculous how he had to walk on egg shells around her through the entire book scared he would rouse her temper and having to apologize at every turn (for the dumbest things I might add). How is this sweet? How an alpha male seasoned Captain like Walker kept getting mentally paddle whipped by a slip of a girl who liked to toss out orders to him and shriek at him every time she didn’t like something I just found astounding and cringe-worthy. There was no middle-ground with these two, no fair compromise. The difficulty I had with this pairing and their rapport was Lacy's adamant belief that Walker was a cold, unfeeling man, that 'nothing beat inside his chest'. Harsh much? She goes through more than half the story thinking this. I would seriously be laughing my butt off at how completely wrong she was acting like she has this guy's number if it wasn't annoying. She completely refused to give him a chance or the benefit of the doubt, something I do NOT like and find intolerable. On more than one occasion Walker goes out of his way to make her feel safe and cared for and she bullies him and resents him for it. Her behavior was just astounding and really unattractive.
And I have to say I got really tired of reading how ‘she followed his orders’ or 'he ordered her' on every other page. What orders?? Just because it's not stated in a form of a question does not make it an order Mrs. Thomas. This really bothered me above everything else. Lacy thinks everything that comes out of Walker's mouth is an order and I truly had difficulty reading it that way. Whatever he would say or do to make her more at ease wasn't enough. The man asks her to close her eyes and dance with her like they are on the prairie at moonlight and she thinks it’s an order. Um..okay. Total mood killer. When you have someone constantly judging or criticizing someone it's not fun and damn annoying if I may say so. She misconstrues or takes offense to every. single. thing. he says to her and I just found it extreme and prissy. She’s either insulted, offended or her temper flares and she throws a hissy fit suited for a 5 year old and storms off or screams at him like a fish wife. I have no patience for characters like this. I just found her reactions unjustified and sorely over-the-top. It made it very difficult for me to enjoy this story with Lacy acting either belligerent and inconsiderate or self-centered and petulant. Or both. Her reactions and number of outbursts were too much and very frequent.
And the villain Zeb Whitaker was as appealing and frightening as dishwater. I really don't understand the point of this character who only makes one appearance in this book but is touted as the 'big bad buffalo man' who everyone is terrified of and after Bailee, Sarah and Lacy over an attempted robbery gone wrong 5 years ago. I didn't read Sarah's book but considering the fact that this guy is still alive and kicking in here and once again used as the conflict I just wasn't impressed with. I found it anti-climactic and comical because Zeb comes off like a blundering moron whose only menacing thing about him is his size and that he looks like a relative of Chubaka. Wish Thomas was more creative and imaginative about her antagonists because this guy did nothing for me or the story.
There was a little more romance and sex scenes in this than Bailee's book but more than half the book was spent on the two squabbling and firing barbs at each other so it wasn't what I was hoping to get. (less)
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