In the interests of full disclosure, I haven't read the first book in this series. That said, I don't think it mattered, because as I understand it, this one is set 20 years after the first one. So I don't believe that impacted my enjoyment of, or rating for, this one, and I never felt lost or confused.

I've been really looking forward to reading this author for literally years. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. I expected more given this author's profile, but I didn't find this to be anything special at all. I liked the plot well enough, but I didn't ever feel completely engaged.

I read most of this one while I was in hospital for the day, so I was a captive audience. There was nowhere else for me to go, and nothing else for me to do; and yet I still found myself continually putting it down, until staring at the walls became too much and I picked it up again.

I just didn't connect to the writing, or the characters, who were a little underdeveloped for my liking. I'm also not one that would ordinarily complain about a wallpaper historical, but the modern language in this one was jarring.

Even with a full day of nothing to do but read, this one still took me the better part of a week to get through. It just didn't inspire me to pick it up. I will definitely try something else by this author - hopefully that will help me understand her popularity.