Continuing with reading Jenna Petersen’s body of work I picked up the whole of Ladies Spy series. The general premise of Charlie’s Angels set during Regency era sounded really fun and interesting, and I was quite excited to see how it’ll play out.
Although,
Desire Never Dies
is fun a light Regency romance, it’s also quite forgettable. It’s the type of romance book that is entertaining while it lasts, but after finishing the last chapter it very quickly fades from one’s memory.
I think the biggest issue I had with the story was that Ana and Lucas’s romance didn’t really had much of a buildup. Maybe I’m gravitating more and more towards slow burn romances, but for me their relationship wasn’t as fun and romantic as it could’ve been if there was more foundation of, perhaps friendship, or just them being together. The attraction was immediate, and even if both of them expressed some doubt about their feelings, everything happened rather quickly.
However, I still enjoyed reading about them as both main characters were likable and well written. I might hope for Lucas to be more of a rake, as was hinted in the book’s blurb (I missed the teasing and banter), he was nice romantic lead. Between them both, Ana’s road to finding her own worth and blossoming from shy and insecure to strong and sure of her abilities as a spy, was definitely more engaging. Not that Lucas’s guilt ridden story arc was not entertaining, but with very obviously plot twist coming at the end it was kind of weak.
Furthermore, some reviews mentioned that Ana clinging to her past life and her dead husband became tedious, and I partially agree. Yes, her constantly feeling guilty about forgetting about her dead husband was a little annoying, but I think it was more about her being frightened of moving on with her life, becoming truly adult in a way. I actually enjoyed that aspect of her character development.
Desire Never Dies
is light and fun, but ultimately rather forgettable romance.
3,5/5 stars