Sign in with FacebookRuth's Reviews > What a Gentleman Wants
What a Gentleman Wants (Reece Family Trilogy, #1)
by Caroline Linden (Goodreads Author)
by Caroline Linden (Goodreads Author)
I really enjoyed this book. It's written in a moderately intense tone, with lots of point-of-view switches between the characters, which annoyed me very slightly at first, but actually made the whole story much more intimate.
The basic plot is quite simple, but the internal dialogue of the hero and heroine, and the hero's naughty brother, is fabulous, and makes it quite an addictive read. I even liked the heroine's daughter in it. Normally, I find that children have no place in HRs, but, like all the characters, she felt so realistic that it didn't bother me at all.
There were some things in particular which I absolutely LOVED about this one. The situation the heroine is placed in is awful, and, on the surface, sounds completely unbelievable, but actually marriage in this period was a much more haphazard, iffy thing. Lots of people never did really get married at all, others used fake names if they had a previous marriage which turned into a mistake (you couldn't divorce unless you were very wealthy), and anyone could be dubiously married in the Fleet Prison, for as long or short as you wanted. So, actually, the premise is more realistic than it sounds.
I also loved how the characters place the heroine into a completely impossible situation. She's been emotionally blackmailed into doing the most ridiculous thing, and is surrounded by a complete cold-fish, his matchmaking, shopaholic stepmother, and his step-sister, who is far too romantic for her own good, and clinging on to her last year as a child by her fingernails. She's been dumped in this situation by a man who's done a runner and her daughter loves it there. I can't imagine what I'd do in that situation.
The development of the romance itself is also well-written. They don't fall into bed at the first opportunity, and the steamy bits were kinda vague, but the sexual tension and attraction is smokin' hot.
The plot switch and change of pace towards the end also surprised me a bit, mainly because it worked so well. Normally, when suspense is thrown into a Regency HR, after the romance bit is quite well-developed, it falls flat for me, but it really didn't here.
So, maybe after writing this review, I'd give it closer to 4.5 stars than 4 stars...
The basic plot is quite simple, but the internal dialogue of the hero and heroine, and the hero's naughty brother, is fabulous, and makes it quite an addictive read. I even liked the heroine's daughter in it. Normally, I find that children have no place in HRs, but, like all the characters, she felt so realistic that it didn't bother me at all.
There were some things in particular which I absolutely LOVED about this one. The situation the heroine is placed in is awful, and, on the surface, sounds completely unbelievable, but actually marriage in this period was a much more haphazard, iffy thing. Lots of people never did really get married at all, others used fake names if they had a previous marriage which turned into a mistake (you couldn't divorce unless you were very wealthy), and anyone could be dubiously married in the Fleet Prison, for as long or short as you wanted. So, actually, the premise is more realistic than it sounds.
I also loved how the characters place the heroine into a completely impossible situation. She's been emotionally blackmailed into doing the most ridiculous thing, and is surrounded by a complete cold-fish, his matchmaking, shopaholic stepmother, and his step-sister, who is far too romantic for her own good, and clinging on to her last year as a child by her fingernails. She's been dumped in this situation by a man who's done a runner and her daughter loves it there. I can't imagine what I'd do in that situation.
The development of the romance itself is also well-written. They don't fall into bed at the first opportunity, and the steamy bits were kinda vague, but the sexual tension and attraction is smokin' hot.
The plot switch and change of pace towards the end also surprised me a bit, mainly because it worked so well. Normally, when suspense is thrown into a Regency HR, after the romance bit is quite well-developed, it falls flat for me, but it really didn't here.
So, maybe after writing this review, I'd give it closer to 4.5 stars than 4 stars...
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read What a Gentleman Wants.
sign in »
Comments (showing 1-4 of 4) (4 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Rane
(new)
Mar 10, 2011 07:25pm
Great Review Ruth!
reply
|
flag
*
Hi Ruth, when you say POV changes do you mean one chapter from his, the next from hers, and so on? Anne Stuart does that in some of her books and I've gotten to quite like it. You're right, it makes it more intimate, somehow.Another new author for me, and (yet) another book for my tbr!
Great review!
when you say POV changes do you mean one chapter from his, the next from hers, and so on?No, it changes from paragraph to paragraph, sometimes a couple of times a chapter. It was a bit different than I'm used to, but it meant that you could get in the head of both protagonists at the same time. I got used to it pretty quickly, and it meant that I got to know them much better. It also meant that misunderstandings, which I normally hate, just worked.
This is the first one by this author that I've read too. I really liked it.
