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Unruly Royals #1

by Megan Mulry

Умната и амбициозна кариеристка Бронте Талбът започва да следи клюките за кралското семейство в жълтите списания, само за да дразни интелектуалния си баща. Увлечението ѝ обаче бързо се превръща в не толкова скрито удоволствие.

Когато започва да се среща с очарователен докторант, тя безмилостно го дразни с информация за последните скандали в кралския двор. За неин ужас обаче скоро разбира, че си има вземане-даване с деветнадесетия херцог на Нортроп, който иска да я направи негова... херцогиня!

Въпреки глупавата ѝ страст към всички кралски истории, Бронте не е сигурна дали иска тази действителност.

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Royalty, Adult

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Megan Mulry writes sexy, stylish, romantic fiction. Her first book, A Royal Pain, was an NPR Best Book of 2012 and USA Today bestseller. Before discovering her passion for romance novels, she worked in publishing and finance in New York and London. She now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Royal Pain is a great example of how to take a fantastic premise and utterly fuck it up in the execution.

In this case the premise is "girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy is secretly a duke," which, YES, I will read the hell out of that book and I am not ashamed.

The fucking up, sadly, is extensive and irredeemable. It occurs in the writing (and the characterization and the plotting, but primarily the writing). Mulry is... not a natural wordsmith. For one thing, her ear for dialogue suggests that she has never actually witnessed a conversation between two humans. For another, this is an actual direct quote, and fairly representative of her writing style:

"When he spoke, his voice vibrated through her womb, mirroring the reverberation of her orgasm."

"[H]is voice vibrated through her womb." "[V]ibrated through her womb." "[V]ibrated through her womb."

AAAAGHGHGHHG.

At another point, a character sits down at his desk. His "immaculate, nondescript, brown, institutional" desk.

AKHSFLDFBKJDFHEHIOHOIH!

I wanted so badly to love this book. I couldn't do it, but it did provide me with many moments of merriment. I leave you with this one, from a scene featuring our hero and heroine:

"She wanted to wrap her body around him like a shroud." Because nothing says sexy like death imagery.

[Lyndi W. · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the fuck was that? (PS from 4 years in the future: I SPOIL EVERYTHING IN THIS REVIEW. I just realized I didn't warn anyone, so there you go. Please continue.)

Anyone familiar with my reviews knows that I am really harsh on female main characters. I have high and specific standards. They may disappear sometimes and I'll somehow enjoy a TSTL heroine, but usually I'm incredibly harsh. Knowing that about me, knowing that I will quickly DNF a book because the female MC is annoying, TSTL, horrible, bitchy, whatever... please understand how serious I am when I say this girl, Bronte, is one of the worst characters I've ever read. I hope she stubs her pinkie toe on a door frame every hour for the rest of her fucking life.

She was so bad that I couldn't stop reading. I just had to see what horrible decision she'd make next. Every single time she had to make a decision, she chose the wrong one. But not just wrong, really wrong. Let's review:

- She falls head over heels for Mr. Texas and has a long distance relationship with him. She decides "Hey, I'm gonna move in with this guy." He didn't ask her to move to Chicago, she just decided that he must want her to because he said those magical words: "I love you"... He's not even enthusiastic about it and she can tell. But whatever, he said "I love you" that one time, so off to Chicago she goes. Whoops! Guess uprooting her entire life because somebody said three words wasn't the smartest idea! Oh well, time to swear off relationships forever because all men should be painted with the same brush and if one fucked you over, they all will. Amiright?



- Demanding a no-strings-attached relationship when she's a hopeless romantic at heart. She reads a ton of romance novels. She has to have seen this plot before and knows how it ends. She believes in love, not fuck buddies. So why the hell would she propose this?



- 100% brutal honesty. She says she's gonna stick to it and demands it of Max as well. But she's not honest, not even with herself. She'll recognize her dishonesty to herself and then actively brush it away and not think about it... because that's how you deal with things. Duh.



- Time for the no-strings relationship to be over and she tries to start a fight. They've fallen in love with each other, but she's been burned once before and she just knows Max doesn't want a real relationship with her. She doesn't need to ask, she knows. So she wants to fight and drive Max away instead of attempt a relationship. Sure, that's totally mature of you.



- Max begs her to come with him. He professes his feelings, his love. He says he needs her with him and he'll do anything for her. Total gooey moment where you can't help but adore him. And Bronte ruins it. She refuses to go. She hurts him. She lies to him and herself. She's a coward and idiot. It is, without a doubt, 100% her fault that Max leaves without her. Does that stop her from blaming him? Hell no! He is the one that left (due to a family emergency), so that means he left her. He abandoned her. She's the victim here, can't you see?!



- Now she has to explain to a friend why she's so miserable when she supposedly doesn't have any real feelings for Max and why she's not chasing after him or trying to fix things. Bring out the lie detector, because she flat out lies about why they're not together anymore. But... but he lied to her by not telling her he was a duke! Even though she didn't find out about that until after he left. So that is a bold-faced lie - he left because somebody was dying and he left without her because she pussied out and refused to go, preferring to cling to her denial, lies, and self-loathing.



- About that self-loathing... this girl fucking hates herself. She only finds value in herself when she's gotten her hair professionally styled and is kitted out in Valentino. Then she's at least attractive, but otherwise has no other redeeming qualities, isn't worthy of love, doesn't deserve to be in a relationship, can't measure up to whoever. She has a shit load of daddy-issues and no self-confidence... how she doesn't end up with a wife-beater is completely beyond me.



- She has fantasies of being whisked away by Prince Charming, but when the time actually comes, she fights it with everything she's got. She freaks out about even knowing a duke - this girl cannot handle being married to one. "But... but you're royalty!"; "Oh god, what will everyone think of the low brow American?"; "Oh god, we haven't talked about kids!"; "Oh god, people will take pictures of me!" She worries about every little thing, none of which are actually happening in the present... no, she panics about every possibility that could maybe happen in the future. Dear god, does this girl have confidence in anything other than giving PowerPoint presentations?!



- Her mother asks her to read her dead, estranged father's novel, but Bronte has a knee-jerk reaction to anything having to do with her father. Fight, deny, disagree, argue, refuse... no, no. He was an asshole over a decade ago, so she has to be a huge bitch and get into arguments with her mom every. single. time. he's mentioned. It's childish and churlish.



- Max has Bronte pick out an engagement ring and she apparently loves it. But when they go to dinner that night to meet Max's family, she doesn't want to wear it. Heaven forbid she wear her engagement ring to the dinner where they're going to announce their engagement to his family. Are you fucking kidding me? Not only does she not want to wear it, but she starts a huge fucking fight over it. She says wearing the ring is like shoving her and her low brow American-ness in everyone's faces. WHAT? This girl is mentally unstable. She behaves like a manic depressive that refuses to take their medication.



- When they're getting off the phone with each other because Max has to finish an extremely important meeting, she drops the "Oops, I forgot to take my birth control pill" line on him. Worst. timing. ever. You moron. Like "Hey, I might be carrying a royal heir in my belly, but I'll talk to you later, babe! Good luck focusing on your contract meeting!"



- She finds out she is pregnant and refuses to call Max to tell him. She uses the horribly lame excuse that it's late in London and he wouldn't want to be woken up to find out he's gonna be a father, right? Surprisingly enough, Max couldn't wait to see her, so he just so happened to have flown across the ocean to find a positive pregnancy test sitting on the bathroom counter and Bronte taking a nap. He wants to know why she didn't tell him immediately. Guess what she does! No, you'll never guess, because it's that fucking horrible... she kicks him out. She needs space. This is all moving too fast. Oh noes! So Max leaves because she kicks him out. And then she gets all pissed because "he left her... again". This bitch has selective memory - every time Max leaves it's because she makes him leave and she makes him leave without her.



Good. You know what? You deserve to be alone, you horrible horrible human being. Dear GOD, she was so fucking bad, man! And I just had to keep reading because I really needed to know how she was going to screw everything up before getting her (entirely undeserved) HEA. Not that there is much of a HEA anyway - you never find out if the rest of Max's family warms up to Bronte, or how she deals with being a duchess. She and Max simply run into each other's arms, beg forgiveness, and fuck. The end.

Max was a decent guy - I understood his not wanting to broadcast his royal title, especially after finding out Bronte's royal obsession. I just can't believe he kept coming back to her. She deserved a mental hospital, not the dreamy Duke of Northrop.

And it's not like the rest of the book was anything special. There's so much unnecessary backstory and information on past royalty, it's tedious. Trudge through it if you must, but I can honestly say that this is one of those books that I would slap out of your hand if I caught you reading it.

[Marlene · Rating 1 out of 5]

This dual review was originally published at Book Lovers Inc.

Marlene: A Royal Pain was just that, an absolute pain to read. I hate to put it that way, but the pun is just right there waiting to be said. I finished because I said I would. And I was on an airplane and “what the heck”.

Stella: I’m sorry to say but I completely agree. *sighs* Which is even sadder since from the moment I read its blurb I was predisposed and predestined to love it, I mean it is my go-to fantasy the normal, ordinary girl meeting and falling for a handsome guy, who is later revealed is an aristocrat *dreamy sighs* So yes, I was so much looking forward to this book and not only it did not deliver but after 28% I realized I was skipping entire paragraphs because the pages just didn't hold my interest and found the heroine so frustrating and irritating, that despite several forced attempts to keep on reading, after 60% I gave up, I just hated it, or rather the heroine so much. So all my respect and hats off to Marlene for persevering!

Marlene: This story had all the absolute worst hallmarks of chick-lit, and if I’d known it was chick-lit, I would have steered far, far away. Bronte Talbott is whiny and self-centered. She comes across as TSTL (that’s too stupid to live) on multiple occasions. Max is all too often her doormat, except for the times he gets completely fed up and throws a temper tantrum.

Stella: I wouldn’t have disqualified A Royal Pain based on the fact that it was chick lit, I’ve read some that were so entertaining and funny they remain my go-to comfort reads, but I completely agree as to your comments regarding the heroine. Since the story is told through her POV (even if it’s not 1st person narrative), the reader must feel a connection or at least be interested in the heroine’s story but Bronte was such a whining, bitchy, egotistical, shallow, immature, petulant heroine (and yes I could go on), behaving like a churlish adolescent most of the time feeling sorry for herself, that not only did I not feel any smypathy or connection with her I downright disliked and despised her :-( (E.g. when she gets together with the dreamy hero, spend a whirlwind romance but they break up, she calls him after she finds out he's a duke, so we have no idea if she had called him without that bit of information or if it was part of her motivation to reconnect). Oh and her constantly going on and on about how much she hated her father even though he has been dead for several years now and didn't do anything exceptionally bad rubbed me the wrong way too. She acted as a whiny teen. She was an ungrateful, spoilt, moody and whiny heroine, who irritated me to no end I would have liked to slap her to make her snap out of her "me me me" egocentric world. Everyhting was only about her, she didn't care about others they were just there to be her soundingboard, she didn't give a damn about what was going on with her friends, mom, boss, she just wanted to unload her "problems" on them.

And another one of my problems regarding her character was that she was so crude, look at this scene where they are about to make love and Max confesses his love and proposes:

She wanted him so badly, her body wanted him so badly.
“Say it, Bron.” He was lying along the length of her back now, his voice so close to her ear, it was almost as if it was coming from the inside of her head.
“I’ll say anything, Max.”
“Say you’ll marry me, Bron.”
“Put it in, Max.”
“You have such a way with words, darling.”
“Please, put it in.”

Marlene: Their entire relationship is founded on an incredible lie of omission. Max hides his identity. This is kind of realistic, once you get past the idea that there’s a royal duke running around that no one has heard of, but when he gets mad at Bronte for not being willing to handle his first, but not last, ultimatum, he’s lost all credibility. Not that he had much.

Stella: I found Max a very two dimensional character (not that Bronte had more depth, but she definitely had more "screen time"), he was constantly described as incredibly handsome, warmhearted and the ideal dreamy hero, but not much beside that. He really was all that is considerate, enamored with the heroine (I found it happened way too soon, after weeks of glimpsing her he was already envisioning forever). I would have liked for his character to be better developed.

Marlene: The thing is, Bronte goes into the relationship with Max on the rebound. She tells him this. He’s only going to be in Chicago for 8 more weeks and then he’s going back to England. He never tells her that he’s planning for their relationship to be longer term, because she’s very gun-shy after the way her last relationship ended. (The fact that she was totally stupid about her last relationship notwithstanding).

Max has decided, and he never tells Bronte. In their last two or three days together, Max’ dad has a heart attack, and he has to leave instantly. Of course he does. But while he’s packing, he drops the bombshell that he wants a long-term relationship with Bronte and wants her to go with him to the UK. And if she doesn’t come with him, right now, she’ll never see him again.

Bronte is not a student. She’s a supposedly high-powered advertising exec of some kind. She could drop everything if they already were in a long-term relationship, but for someone who is supposedly just a fling, not if she wants to still have a career when she gets back. And whoever he is, he’s been lying to her. Not to mention, Bronte has some serious commitment issues.

Stella: Hm, I really can't keep it short if I go into discussing their relationship because I found it completely unbelievable, unrealistic and phony (and not the part of the hero being a duke, but the normal dynamics of their relationship). But regarding that "big" break up point of Max being under shock that his dad was going to die, and he clearly tells Bronte that he is lost and needs her, the person he loves to be with him during this hard time, and that she just says no I found that completely heartless. And interesting how we see this scene completely differently Marlene, because for me when Max asks her to go with him, I understood it as he needed her support during this heartbreaking time and not an immediate answer for the HEA-until-we-die-part. And speaking of Bronte's job, cue the eyeroll. She is a successful ad exec and she uses her boss and potential top client as her BF/shrink? Tearing up and chatting about her breakup when they are meeting for a business talk?! Talk about unprofessional.

Marlene: It went downhill from there. Both mother-in-laws were shrews of various breeds (of course they were. they always are). They break up once, and nearly fall apart at least one more time. And all of the problems revolve around Bronte’s issues and Max’s high-handedness. That and the expectation that they should read each other’s minds. Spare me.

Stella: Yeah, I couldn't connect or be interested in their romance either as Bronte and her stupidity just drove me up the wall.

Verdict:

Marlene: I did not like these people. The author didn’t make me care what happened to them, or whether they resolved their problems. Or even whether they ever saw each other again. My iPad is too expensive to bang against the wall, which is the only thing that saved this one from being a wallbanger. Or a bulkhead-banger, since I was on an airplane at the time I read it.

I give A Royal Pain 1 star.

Stella: If it isn't clear by now, I'll repeat it once more: I very much disliked A Royal Pain. I hated the heroine and found the way the plot twists and turns were executed immature, the writing didactic and thus irritating, and couldn't care for the heroine's romance, because I actually was rooting against her. I know it's a sacrilege of the romance genre, but I didn't want her to find her HEA with such a nice guy. He deserved much much better than her. So no, A Royal Pain was truly a torture to get through, and in the end, I couldn't do it...

I also give A Royal Pain 1 star and I'm still looking for that perfect oridnary-girl-meets-love-of-her-life-aristocrat-contemporary-romance, so if you have read such, please let me know!

[Anna Casanovas · Rating 1 out of 5]

(1 estrella y media si Goodreads tuviera el detalle de dejar puntuar con medias estrellas)
"Cómo ligar con un duque" es una novela que aunque está escrita en tercera persona se centra únicamente en el punto de vista de la protagonista, Bronte, y ese es, en mi opinión, su mayor problema pues Bronte no es una buena protagonista (o a mí no me lo ha parecido). La historia parte de un clásico, el "sexo a primera vista", ella ha tenido un desengaño y cuando conoce a nuestro protagonista, Max, le dice claramente que solo quiere acostarse con él. Él, que sin duda es lo mejor de la novela, acepta porque siente que puede haber algo más y decide empezar por allí y seguir adelante.
A lo largo de la novela, cuyo argumento no voy a desmenuzar por si te apetece leerla, Max es absolutamente encantador, romántico, generoso, sensual e interesante (como seguro puedes deducir es el único motivo por el que he terminado de leerla). Bronte, sin embargo, se presenta egoísta, MUY egoísta, egocéntrica y malcriada. Quizá sea un problema mío, pero nunca he podido disfrutar de una novela cuyos protagonistas no respeto y Bronte me ha parecido insufrible. En mi cabeza me imaginaba llamando a Max y diciéndole que dejase de perder el tiempo y viniese a verme a mí (espero no ser la única loca que hace estas cosas). Me imagino que la señora Mulry, que escribe bien, quería crear una protagonista "fuerte e independiente", pero, en mi opinión, le ha salido una mujer malcriada, egoísta, fría y nada simpática. Y por ello la historia de amor no me ha parecido creíble y no me ha emocionado. Me he pasado todas las páginas deseando que Max se diese cuenta de que Bronte solo le gustaba en la cama y que la dejase. Entiendo que esta opinión es muy personal, pero es lo que he sentido al leer la historia.
Me compré toda la serie de golpe con un vale regalo, así que en el futuro sin duda leeré las otras dos novelas que la forman, la autora sabe escribir y el punto de partida de la serie es original, pero esperaré a que se me pase el enfado. Para pasar del "sexo a primera vista" al "amor eterno" hay que tener buenos protagonistas y sentimientos auténticos y en "Cómo ligar con un duque" yo no los he encontrado.

[Olga · Rating 1 out of 5]

Libro pasable, sin mas pretensiones... una protagonista histeria y con un monton de complejos y un personaje masculino que lo da todo por ella.... a veces se hace un pòco aburrido con tanto complejo e historias de ella....

[Missy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have stopped in the first ten pages when our heroine, a high-powered ad exec secretly loves that the larger-than-life Texas jackass is all Mr. Dominant on her. She's suitably ashamed of this, of course, but just can't heeeeeelp herself.

I didn't, though.

So, you know, I got the rest of it: The Real Hero, with his conveniently Not Upscale Enough To Tip Off His Untold Family Wealth apartment and Understanding Of Body Issues (the heroine is Too Skinny, *gasp*, he sets about to set her to rights about how that's not bad, thank goodness), The Cold, Unfeeling Father Who Maybe Wasn't So Bad After All (except for how emotional abuse is abuse, too, jfc, also, ahahaha, he wasn't physically abusive because he was *an academic*, REALLY?), The Equally Cold Bitch Of A Mother-In-Law-To-Be who thaws for... I really don't remember why she's only a raving bitch for the length of a single dinner, The Lesbian Little Sister (introduced in knee-high Docs, eyeroll)--

Okay, let's just say this really didn't work for me, and I'll leave it at that, except I really have to point out that if you're writing a story that trades on the fact that the male lead is a member of the British aristocracy, someone somewhere should have sorted out the fucking proper form of address for his family.

(For the record, no, Bronte's language didn't bother me, but yes, not knowing that a duchess or a countess are not Lady FirstName LastName but rather Lady Title annoyed the crap out of me.)

Also, for the record: unconditional love... I do not think that word means what you think it means.

(okay, stopping now. really.)

[Christa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great premise, poor execution.

[Trevor Veale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deliciously decadent romp in the thicket of thwarted desire, as Bronte Talbott first finds, then loses, then finds again Max Heyworth, the man with whom she is fated to be mated.
They meet seemingly by chance in a Chicago book store, when Bronte wanders thru the SF section after being bemused by a hot Saturday cashier. Many Saturdays later they decide: Enough with the deja vu! and date, then consummate, finally agreeing to terminate, as soon as he's finished his studies and returned to England.
It seems they have incompatible life schedules:
She's ad-agency-Devil-Wears-Prada-Anne-Hathaway type,with a chip on her shoulder thanks to her dead dad, he's something-posh-in-the-city-Downton-Abbey-Colin-Firth type. with a dukedom to deal with thanks to his dying dad.
However,love brings them clanging together like the opposite poles of two iron magnets. He finds her a hot, sexy, acceptably smart, book-loving, WASPy, Brit-adoring, unattached American girl, she finds him a hot, sexy, satisfyingly overeducated, finacially secure, book-loving, upper-class, unattached English gentleman with a penchant for letting his heart overrule his innate arrogance.
No brainer that they happily tangle their lives in each other's bodies and emotions and seem to be headed for the bliss of betrothal, with only the ice-queen dowager duchess and her disapproval of tradition-trashing, gold-digger girlfriends (especially if they're Yanks) standing in their way. Then...Oops! a providentially procrastinated pill provides pregnancy and propinquity. Dealmaker! Loved it. Megan Mulry did a bang-up job. Looking forward to her next.

[Emjay · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG! LOVED Loved loved this one!!😀
OK that may be a bit dramatic but I really truly did enjoy this book! The 19th Duke of Northrop 🎩🤌🥰 And I love me some highfalutin city living!🌆

[Yelania Nightwalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leí este libro hace tantos meses (enero) y había olvidado por completo traerles la reseña. Cómo ligar a un duque es una novela que pese a su título, no trascurre en la regencia ni mucho menos, es un libro contemporáneo. 

Bronte siempre ha aprendido todo lo que ha podido sobre la realeza, es una soñadora, algo que le traía muchos problemas con su padre, se llevaban pésimo, pero él amaba a su esposa, así que para Bronte, el hecho de que sus padres se quisieran era suficiente... 

Por ahí dicen que cuando no te toca, ni porque te pongas...

Y es algo que se da en esta historia. Bronte estaba destinada a conocer a Max, por amigos en común, sin embargo, él tiene un contratiempo y no logra conocerla, ella termina entonces en una relación con otro chico, el mismo que la hace mudarse a otra ciudad y el mismo que le deja el corazón roto. 

Y que cuando te toca, ni porque te quites...

Como dije, Bronte estaba destinada a conocer a Max, pero necesitaba vivir ciertas cosas antes de poder estar con él. Me gustó la manera en que la autora mostró una historia compleja y de lo más común. ¿Cuántas mujeres no han puesto todo su corazón en una relación que no tiene ni pies ni cabeza? El novio de Bronte era un tipo como cualquier otro de la vida real, ella lo pasa muy mal y por eso cuando finalmente conoce a Max, no está más interesada en algo formal, aunque eso no significa que no pueda disfrutar de lo que él le ofrece. Lo más curioso es que él en realidad sí quiere algo serio con ella. 

El personaje de Bronte me encantaba, era una chica con un lenguaje de lo más florido (cosa que no le gustaba a Max), exitosa en el ámbito laboral, fuerte e independiente, una mujer que sabe lo que quiere y está decida a disfrutar de la vida. Por el contrario, Max es un am♥r. Es un hombre culto, decidido, paciente, cariñoso, amable, educado... es un caballero, de esos por los que te derrites en seguida. Al ser una historia de la Cenicienta o algo así, digamos que ambos tienen vidas muy diferentes y hacer que ambas encajen no será nada fácil. No obstante, a mí me gustó que su relación fuera difícil, que a Bronte le causara tantos conflictos aceptarlo... de alguna manera, sentí que eso lo hacía más real.

Cómo ligar con un Duque no es la octava maravilla en cuanto a la trama, tiene varios clichés, pero es ese tipo de novelas que empiezas a leer y no deseas soltar. La historia fluye por sí sola. Megan Mulry me ha sorprendido para bien y aunque la segunda novela de esta serie no me gustó tanto, seguiré de cerca las novelas de estar autora, creo que tiene un potencial enorme. 

[Valerie Taylor Samuel · Rating 1 out of 5]

How does a high powered marketing female do a complete turn around and become a submissive fiancee to a privileged, arrogant, aristo? Read this book.

Ugh! Bronte was likeable before meeting Max...even with her penchant for dropping the f-word in every other sentence. True she moved from NYC to Chicago for an ill-fated romance with the Texan, but she rebounded... unfortunately into Max's arms. Unbeknownst to Bronte, Max is the heir to a dukedom, even though he is working on his dissertation at a university in Chicago. He is nice enough when they first encounter one another, but What starts as a relationship with a "Transitional Man" erupts into full love (probably helped along by the lengthy, steamy sex scenes). Truthfully, I had hope for Max as the TM relationship began to evolve into a true romance. There was potential for him to reveal his title and lineage to Bronte in a humourous fashion and for her to drop the f-word even more. But Max's cold, authoritative demeanor rears its head at the death of his father and his need to return to the UK to assume the title and handle business. He hasn't told Bronte of his background but demands that she return to the UK with him. Naturally Bronte is hesistant and then flummoxed when, after she declines and they fight, and Max delivers the now or never ultimatum, Max departs. That's the first four chapters.
The next few chapters deal with Bronte being so good at her job she is able to convince her bosses that she can open an office in NYC. So she returns to NYC and continues along her high powered path. We are also introduced to Max's family and his regret about the break-up. Naturally the two meet in NYC and after some high charged chemistry renewed, Bronte is on her way to the UK, affianced to Max.
Why Bronte did not run in the opposite direction after experiencing Max's temperment on the way to meet his family memebers is probably rooted in their animal lust for one another. Otherwise the high powered Bronte has succumbed to the man who is convinced this woman will give him 10 kids. Bear in mind, that never appeared on Bronte's to do list. Then of course there was the pregnancy scare which morphed into a pregnancy which led to more of Max's arrogance that Bronte was doing cartwheels instead of trying to accept the reality. Another break-up and Max comes to his senses and follows his fiancee to NYC to beg forgiveness... again. And we can presume they lived happily ever after.
I thought this would be a chick-lit read, but instead it was the sex scenes from a romance novel coupled with an underwhelming story. So many lost opportunities to devle into a comedy of manners/humourous backlash about a Yank grabbing the most eligible bachelor in the UK/Max losing his arrogance. And the weak attempts to tie-in royalty. LOL.

[Carien · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is totally outside of my normal reading, but I got the book as a gift, so decided to give it a try.

I must confess I wondered if this whole fascination with royalty is an American thing, or if having seen a lot of the Dutch royal family made me jaded, because I can't say meeting any royalty ever has been a fantasy of mine.

That being said:

This is a nice read.

I had to get used to the writing style and the way Mulry told the story, but after a few chapters I was enjoying myself, although it did keep me from really losing myself in the story. There were a few things that made me grumble, unnecessary Goth bashing being one of them, but two of them are very personal pet peeves so I won't go into those.

All in all an entertaining romance. I have book two in this series as well, and might give it a try one of these days.

[Jennifer Probst · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so lucky. I received an ARC of this book and cannot tell you how I adored this story. Witty, funny, beautifully written, I have found a brand new author to stalk. The romance between Bronte and Max was delightful, full of humor and class. I laughed, sighed, and teared up. Mulry is an author to watch.

[Marysoc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me ha gustado pero el personaje de Bronte es insufrible, tan histérica/histriónica que vuelve loco al pobre Max que es un encanto
Por lo demás bien novela romántica con personajes aristócratas pero en el siglo XXI

[Fyreball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, my title is tongue in cheek, as an attempt to balance out Bronte's (h) potty mouth, which didn't offend me but I see it did other readers. To each her own, right? I thought this story rocked! I passed it up a couple of times because of the cover and then finally gave it a shot and was more than pleasantly surprised at how great it was. Here's why -

Bronte and Max are two ships that pass in the night the first few times they should have met, which just doesn't happen in most wham-bam-thank-you-maam stories (as in, they happen so fast). I was antsy-pantsy at the way Bronte dated Mr. Texas in the first chapters- was this the H or not? Given that he's, uh, from Texas (duh), he's obviously not the royal (as in Royal Pain...), so I was even more antsy for her to figure out he was the wrong man. Whew, when Bronte and Max finally meet, it's not meet-sleep-total love overnight but it follows a normal pace. It's actually sweet how old fashioned their courtship (?) is, with dates and not instant sex. And once they finally have a sleepover, there is still so much to the story.

I'll leave the rest of the plot alone except to say that Megan Mulry doesn't rely on false drama/misunderstanding (well, only a little but I can't talk about it without spoiling the twists and turns) and doesn't rely on the typical formula for romance novels (as in, the H/h sleep together around the 50% mark). She's didn't follow a contemporary formula hardly at all, so much that, a couple of times, I looked at my Kindle and saw that we were only 22% in and ... then think, where the heck is she going to take this for the next 78% of the book? (You know you do the same thing...). At each point, I was pleased with where she in fact took us. Although nothing was terribly surprising, the plot moved along on realistic but not always predictable turns. In some cases, those turns were somewhat predictable but the way the characters reacted were not. I also liked that the characters were multi-dimensional (e.g., Bronte is a bit of an adolescent brat to her father and it's portrayed one-sided for part of the novel but then we start to see, or imagine, his perspective).

I have to mention that there is one trick to the book - it's a contemporary (very) story with plenty of allusions to Regency period romances. It's interesting how Ms Mulry is able to update the concept of commoner-marries-Duke. It's as if you've caught up with an old friend and get to see how they grew up.

This was my first Megan Mulry book - she writes well, the book is well edited and her book is filled with humor and snappy dialogue. And the woman must be a serious shoe-hound as she knows a LOT about them. (This made me all tingly given that I do my best to help the economy by keeping shoe stores in business. :) I also thought her description of the London bank was something else; it it's accurate, she must have gained access to one to be able to describe it this way.

Oh, back to my summary - this was my first MM book and I will definitely be back for more. I'll also be rereading this. I can only hope that she continues to write about the cast of characters we met in Royal Pain (I already see another book about Max's brother and one of Bronte's clients, yum).

Granted, not everyone has the same tastes - if you're turned off by potty mouths, this might not be for you.

[Joanna Choi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another book that I read while on my famous-guy-paired-with-an-ordinary-girl phase. Perhaps I expected a lot more from this, but all in all, I was rather disappointed by this book.

The writing style itself falls a little flat for me. I sense that the author was trying to perhaps bring to life some quick, witty banter or she was trying too hard to create characters that were cool in their live-in-the-moment, I-don't-care-what-others-think attitude, but the end result is that it felt too forced, too much like the author was trying too hard, and wasn't interesting. Rather, it was more confusing and disorienting than it was anything else.

Novels, especially ones like these, should never be realistic. But this book was just too unrealistic. Max, for instance, is just too perfect. Too, too perfect. But then he has his issues, such as his mother and his older sister. The author tries to create in Bronte, a neutral party who sees everything through new eyes and will heal all the family breaches, but that's just such a used up story plot that it just felt lame in this story. On top of that, Bronte doesn't really heal any breaches. It's just a hint of what's to come. On top of that, Bronte really has no place trying to heal family breaches when you consider her own major issues.

Opposite of Max, Bronte is just a mess. I have no other words to describe this woman, supposedly rather book brilliant, who never grew up. She even saw therapists because she recognizes that she has issues, but she's too "smart" or too proud to allow the therapy to do her any good. She also blows hot and cold and makes decisions that I don't understand. After a rather strange relationship between Bronte and Max, the book just ends. Just like that. And it would be one thing if Bronte's issues are worked out and the reader can see or sense that her issues have been worked out, but that's not the case here.

See, I'm still not certain what Bronte's problem is. She grew up with a father who had terrible mood swings and didn't know how to show he cared for her. So she grew up calling and referring to him by name because he was not a father to her. After that, she has problems with trusting men in general. So her entire relationship with Max is her lying to herself that it's temporary. Insert 1-year break up period. Then she and Max run into each other after a year, and they are back together. During this entire time, Max makes it clear that he's in love with her and sees a future for them. But Bronte still blows hot and cold--Max is great; things are moving too fast; but Max is great; things are moving too fast; repeat. So at the book's end, Bronte supposedly has some sort of epiphany, but I don't see what her epiphany is. She's still immature and insecure and has major issues. She knows she's that way so I can't see a happily ever after for Bronte and Max. It's like Max said, "like father, like son." Max, for some reason, is completely attracted to and in love with Bronte. And Bronte, well, I don't see her as ever becoming a good mother or a good wife. Because good mothers and wives know how to see outside oneself. All Bronte really sees is her own needs and her own insecurities. I see Max also dying early of a heart attack, like his father, because he will always be the one to bear all the burdens.

[Rowena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bronte keeps a lookout for a rebound to help mend her broken heart, and when she meets Max Heyworth, she’s certain he’s the perfect transition man. But when she discovers he’s a duke, she has to decide if she wants to stay with him for the long haul and deal with the opportunities– and challenges– of becoming a royal.

This book follows Bronte and Max on their very bumpy journey to their happy ending. Bronte and Max first meet up when Bronte moves to Chicago and sees a very good looking Max in the bookstore. Max is just as smitten as Bronte is and they agree to go out. Bronte isn’t in the right frame of mind to jump into another relationship (after her last relationship just went up in flames and she moved to Chicago to be with him, to boot!) but she does want someone to keep her company so upfront about all of this with Max, they start a friends with benefits relationship.

And it works for them…until it doesn’t work anymore because they’re nearing their end date and Bronte is completely smitten with Max and doesn’t want to let him go. Well, lucky for her, Max doesn’t either. I forgot to mention this but Bronte has a thing for the British royalty. She loves to keep up to date with what Kate Middleton is up to and Prince William and Harry too….so when she finds out that Max is a real life Duke, she has a conniption fit. One, he lied to her about it (omitting the fact still counts as a lie) and two, he expects her to move to England to be with him and well, she already did that for some other guy and she’s not too wild about jumping to do that again. Drama ensues.

Now, I was expecting a chick lit type of book when I picked this up for review and though the story starts off that way, this book ended up being more of a contemporary romance than anything else. Not that I was complaining, I’m all about romance.

The romance between Max and Bronte starts out as something to pass the time and turns into so much more and I really liked Max for Bronte. He kept what he was from her because he wanted her to get to know him as he is before she found out what he was and I was okay with that. Understandably, Bronte was pissed when she found out but I was okay with that too. What I liked about Bron was that she said what she meant to say and meant what she said. If she was mad at Max then she told him. She wasn’t the most perfect of people and I was good with that. She made mistakes, Max made mistakes but in the end, I liked them together and really enjoyed their story.

I definitely recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance, this book was a cute contemporary romance and I’m glad that I read it.

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY THOUGHTS

LOVED IT

Bronte really isn't looking for Mr. Right, she just wants someone. After dating Mr. Texas, she finds that although he is charming, he just isn't the right guy for her, even after moving to Chicago to see if the romance will go anywhere. She buckles down and becomes Career Girl. And to her surprise she meets an English guy. Now to fully understand Bronte, you need to know that she has a closet addiction to British royalty. She was enthralled when Diana married Charles, devastated when they divorce and distraught when she died. So meeting a guy with an English accent is probably the most attractive thing in a man she can find. She tells her new British guy, Max, all about her obsession, leaving nothing out. She figures that Max will be out of her life in the next month when he returns to England. Yep, Bronte has nothing to lose by being exactly who she is.

The only problem with her plan is that Max, falls in love with her. Something she never imagined. And then he springs the bomb on her: he has to leave to Chicago because he has to go home to attend family business and an ill father. The family business being that he is a Duke! For all of Bronte's fearlessness, she comes off as a very sweet girl, one that Max would like to take home to meet his mother. His mother, Sylvia, is not amused by her son's choice. So should Bronte pick up and move for a guy again or stay put and not take a chance? Of course, she doesn't back down.

I truly enjoyed this Cinderella retelling for a modern age. It was full of humor and wit-- lots of wonderful dialogue -- with great characters. There are parts of Bronte that any one can relate to -- especially when it comes to her father. He is particularly demanding of her and her only way to rebel is to become infatuated with royals. I found that immensely amusing. This is one of the better Chick Lit contemporaries that I have read in a long time! I am looking forward to more from Mulry.

[Erin Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm only 32% into this book so far, but I must take a break to share this important reaction with the wold: Bronte (Bron) is a total asshat. She's an idiot and reading about the choices she's making is super painful. Idiot, idiot, idiot. Just looking at how much has happened when there's still 67% of the book left to read is exhausting. And defeating. I'm not sure I can handle her special brand of stupid for 67% more!!!!!!

I've skimmed a LOT because there's just so MUCH to get through!! Sometimes more isn't better - it's just more.....

And yet, I've persevered. At times, I've wanted to pack instead of read (I'm moving), but I stick with the book, determined to read (though not enjoy) it. And now I'm at 90%, and STILL annoyed with Bronte. I don't get a good picture of the reasons BEHIND her particular breed of neuroses. Just her dad. But her reactions, stemming potentially from only that ONE emotional "trauma" are extreme. Extremely annoying.

The way she kept treating Max like he was disposable, tossing him out time after time for the stupidest, most obscure and ambiguous reasons, drove me crazy. She's not a likeable character. I had to ENDURE her for the whole book. Not ideal.

I finally stopped reading at 93% because frankly, I didn't want Bronte to have a happy ending. She didn't earn it and doesn't deserve it, as far as I'm concerned. Max deserves so much better.

I would NOT recommend this. I'm annoyed that I spent money on this. I'd rather spend time with likeable characters. And Bronte? She's quite possibly one of the least-likeable protagonists I've encountered in a long while.

[Theresia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judul: A Royal Pain
Penulis: Megan Mulry
Penerbit: PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Tebal buku: 384 hlm
ISBN: 978-602-03-1762-5
Rate: Dewasa 18+ .
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Jarang sekali menemukan novel terjemahan Gramedia yang berlabel Chicklit di Ipusnas dan sekalinya nemu novelnya berbau kerajaan gitu.
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Bronte Talbott, wanita karir yang mencintai pekerjaan di bidang periklanan New York, tidak menginginkan hal romantis terjadi lagi dalam hidupnya. Setelah putus dari Mr. Texas yang ia kira akan menjadi Mr. Right Bronte menjadi takut pada komitmen.
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Konflik muncul bersama kehadiran Max Heyworth, mahasiswa pasca sarjana tampan asal Inggris yang berhasil memikat hati Bronte di antara rak toko buku bekas. Ternyata Max adalah anggota bangsawan Inggris, ada yang bisa tebak apa posisinya?
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Cerita sangat didominasi oleh Bronte dan Max, hanya beberapa tokoh pendukung yang muncul sekilas, seperti ibu Bronte, keluarga Max yang terdiri dari ibu, tiga saudara, dan satu keponakan, serta Willa dan David yang seharusnya menjadi mak comblang yang baik.
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Alur maju sangat lambat. Sudut pandang orang ke tiga yang digunakan sangat detail pada isi pikiran kedua tokoh utama.
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Amanat tentang hubungan keluarga dan pasangan, komitmen dan bagaimana suatu masa tidak perlu disesali.
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Kelebihan buku ini yang memikatku adalah cerita mengenai kerajaan. Sama seperti Bronte, aku juga tertarik dengan kerajaan Inggris. Sayangnya aku tidak seberuntung Bronte Talbott 😅
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Kekurangannya adalah bahasa terjemahan yang sangat gaul dan adegan romantis dewasa yang sangat banyak. Membuat aku sempat bingung ini buku chicklit atau harlequin.
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⭐ 3.6/5

[Jessica Luther · Rating 4 out of 5]

My full review.

Mulry gives us years of Bronte and Max’s lives. She gives space for mess ups, for growth, for change, for angst. And in that way, it made it feel like we were on a journey with these two characters, not simply peeking in on a quick courtship.

Bronte is wonderful. Like any romance heroine, she makes incredibly frustrating choices and I want her to just give Max a chance even if I understand why she is hesitating. But man, I loved that she cursed all the fucking time. And I loved that she had a high-powered job that she wasn’t going to give up. I loved that even if her boundary-drawing was a messy, confusing affair, she tried to draw boundaries with both Max and her family.

And Max. The duke who makes naughty, naughty talk at the dinner table. The duke who (im)patiently waits for Bronte to come around. The duke who refuses to let go even when Bronte is being unreasonable. Swoon.

Together Bronte, Max, their friends, and their family feel like regular people who are simply trying to forge a pleasant life out of sometimes difficult circumstances (even if one is a duke).

3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not where to put this book in a way, it's kind of chick-lit, meets contemporary romance meets romantic fiction meets neurotic New Yorkers (ok so not a genre but I could not think of anything else.) Sure it's funny at times, romantic at times, but there is much more too.

The lovestory takes time, in all ways. It takes time for them to meet, to fall in love and more. I guess I was expecting instalove and a trip to England but no My Lord, that was not in the cards. There is drama, hardship and one woman that sure has a hard time believing in something. Which then makes it more than just a lovestory, it's about finding yourself so that you feel that you are worthy to be loved.

Oh and yes it's also about finding out if you are cut out to be nobility ;)

I do have to admit (it ends well, duh but..) that I did feel at the end that maybe they will have a few good years and then split up. I must be in a mood today.

Anyway, this was a funny and romantic story. Mix in lords and ladies, ad a couple that really want to be together, but have a hard time doing so.

Royalty meets commoner, what is there not to like.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro lo leí ya hace tiempo, así que esta ha sido una relectura de un libro amable con un sentido del humor peculiar y una protagonista que puede no caer bien a todo el mundo.
No se puede decir que sea un libro original en su trama, pero tiene algunas situaciones divertidas y hace pasar un buen rato. No me resulta facilón, sensiblero ni dramático. Los protagonistas son mas o menos creíbles en sus reacciones.
Me gustan ambos por que no tenemos ni a la típica que quiere resolver todo por si misma, ni al machote típico. Son dos personas que luchan por adaptarse a la nueva situación sin dejar de ser ellos mismos. Y todo con bastante sentido del humor.
¿Libro maravilloso? No, desde luego que no, pero lo he pasado bien.

[Aly is so frigging bored · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another of those "I.ll only read a little more" kind of books and I ended up.reading till 3 AM and I missed waking up when I should have this morning, I almost was late to school :))

Love both the hero and heroine and that they weren.t made to look perfect :) I had one or 2. "Oh come on"moments but besides thaose it was a great book! It was exactly what I needed after a sucky school week and laptop problems: fun, light, 1 or 2 emotional moments thrown in and had lots of humor.

[Krasimira · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Maja · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Realistic rating: I try to save my one-star reviews for totally unreadable drivel or content that is actively offensive in some way -- and really, this falls just short of reaching those parameters, ha. It's pretty terrible garbage, but it's still... readable garbage? It's REALLY borderline, though. It's fully a 1.5 reluctantly rounded up.)

This book was... not good. Not to mince words or anything, ha -- but after being singularly unimpressed with Megan Mulry's erotic historical offerings, I thought I'd give her contemporary romance a shot to see if there was anything worthwhile in there. And... this might be better? Maybe?? At least it has some semblance of characterization and plot rather than just porn with flimsy inaccurate set dressing! But honestly, it's hard to say, because said characterization and said plot are both... uh, kind of terrible. SORRY, BUT IT'S TRUE.

As usual, I like to start with the good things, even in books I didn't like at all, so: I like that both Bronte and Max have supportive friends and family around them. I like that it does seem like Bronte and Max, beneath all the misunderstandings and whirlwinds and poor communication (god I'll get to that soon), like each other and have genuine chemistry. I like that Bronte is allowed to curse! Women in contemporary romance novels rarely do! And I kind of like that the actual conflict of this was entirely interpersonal, rather than being your standard Commoner Can't Adapt To The Pressures Of Royal Life? I definitely felt it was marketed that way, so it was nice to have that part of it just... be a nonissue!

Having said all that: oof, what a mess the rest of the book is. The writing is terrible; it shifts into backstory and back with absolutely no regard for pacing or sense of place, and the dialogue is stilted and unrealistic. Bronte's issues are all surface-level and barely touched on, and they're all aggressively told rather than shown in any real capacity. It's treated as ridiculous and commitment-phobic that she doesn't want to hop on an international flight with zero notice for someone she's been casually dating for two months, or that she has some degree of reservation about meeting her duke fiance's family or fitting into his London life, or that she waited LESS THAN 24 HOURS before telling her fiance WHO LIVES ON ANOTHER CONTINENT that she's pregnant?? Instead of just... normal behavior of someone who isn't bold and impulsive by nature, which isn't a bad thing at all??? The way the narrative treats her and privileges Max's opinions as The Only Right And Romantic Ones is absolutely absurd.

And, like, can we please talk about the fact that Bronte and Max spent TWO MONTHS together, in which they explicitly proceed as if there will be no future, then don't see each other or communicate for a year and then ARE IMMEDIATELY ENGAGED?? With all this talk about Max is going to ~love her forever and Bronte feels like he just ~gets her.... y'all, I absolutely cannot do this in a contemporary romance. I can't!! It's so blatantly unrealistic!!! Especially, as I said above, when BRONTE is treated like the unreasonable cynical scared one for not being fully on board... it's completely unhinged as a narrative and I was not even remotely on board. It's so much!! It's so bad!! I hate it!!!

Just... this entire book, honestly, feels like it's happening on another plane of reality -- one for the casually rich and fashionable, in which love happens instantly and truly and dukes really are basically normal people, just a little fancier than others, and people talk in ridiculous ways, and fights explode for no reason and then just disintegrate into nothing, where flying back and forth transcontinentally three times in a row is normal and chill -- and honestly, I hate it! I do not want to live on this plane of reality! I don't even want to visit it for the course of this book! It's all real bad! Please don't read this book, friends!!

(Also, this is such a minor complaint relative to everything else, but: I'm sorry, you've got a woman with the first name BRONTE in this book, and you're just... not going to address it at all?? Even a dumb throwaway about why she was named that would have been fine, especially since her father is AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR... I kept expecting it, but -- nothing! No mention or explanation or anything!! And it kept throwing me out of the story entirely!! Again, so minor in the grand scheme of things, but just one more flaw to lay at this book's feet, ha.)

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bronte Talbot has worked hard since graduating to establish her career in advertising, and would never have imagined giving up her great life in New York for any man. But when she meets sexy "Mr Texas" at a party hosted by her British friends, David and Willa, she decides to let this all-American, fun-loving investor based in Chicago whisk her off her feet and take care of her. Unfortunately, after several months, Bronte realises that their relationship is going nowhere - unless she moves to Chicago. It's her last-ditch, drastic measure to make their romance a romance again, and maybe head it onto the commitment path, but everyone she knows can see it as a desperate measure.

And sure enough, as soon as she lands in Chicago she can see that Mr Texas preferred to have her as the odd-weekend girlfriend from afar. After they break up, Bronte focuses on her career again, now in a boutique advertising agency, and lets the depression creep up on her. Months later, she's in a bookshop when she literally stumbles into a very sexy man with a very sexy English accent.

Max Heyworth is finishing up his PhD in economics after which he plans to move back to London, to enjoy his unfettered years before he has to take up the mantle of dukedom - which will hopefully, with his father's good health, be quite some time. He's always resisted the role he was born to, but he's learned it well all the same.

Bronte and Max embark on a passionate romance with a fixed end-date, Bronte clear all the time that Max is her rebound guy. She wants eight weeks of fun, sex and honesty, and Max happily agrees - but there are two things he's not honest with Bron about from the beginning. One, his title (viscount, a placeholder) and looming inheritance; and two, that he's in love with Bronte and has no intention of ending things in eight weeks time. He's confident that when he asks her to move to England with him, of course she'll say yes.

Things change though when his father falls ill and Max has to head back early, and Bronte refuses to go with him. It's a breakup neither of them were ready for, and after months of moping, Max decides to hunt her down and propose. But even though she's had a lifelong fascination with British royalty, Bronte doesn't really want to be an aristocrat herself - not to mention the fact that Max's mother scares the crap out of her. Can they work things out to achieve their happily-ever-after?

I may not read chick-lit very often, but I usually enjoy it when I do. A Royal Pain was definitely in the 'enjoyed' camp, for several reasons. The novel may be chick-lit, but it's also heavily romance too. I don't think I could define my own understanding of what chick-lit is, except that it's like romance without sex or graphic descriptions, they tend to by humorous, and more realistic in some ways. The difference here is that there're graphic descriptions, and the story is wholly focused on Bronte and Max's relationship. It's a very satisfying blend of the two genres, I have to say, and definitely entertaining.

Bronte started out strong, and while in many ways she's a completely different person to me, I could empathise with her when it came to how her relationship with Mr Texas (real name never disclosed because his persona was just too huge) ended, and her withdrawal and depression afterward. Mulry doesn't dwell on this time and it doesn't make the story heavy in any way, but it's yet another aspect of the story and Bronte's life that gives it that chick-lit realistic edge over the romantic fantasy.

Not that the fantasy isn't there too: Max Heyworth is the romantic hero through-and-through, the ultimate fantasy man. Having said that, he's not a walking cliche - at least, he didn't feel that way, most of the time. The interesting thing is, my impression of Max during their initial relationship in Chicago is almost of a different man altogether to the one who smouldered all over Bronte in New York later (where he became quite the glowering alpha), who was again different to the man who was her fiancé in England. Frankly, I enjoyed the character regardless, and it certainly satisfied my romantic need, but he wasn't particularly consistent.

Along this very bumpy road, Bronte has to overcome her insecurities and low self-image, as well as her fear of commitment - a fear that fitted her character well except for that notable exception, of drastically upheaving her life and moving to Chicago for Mr Texas. I did have to wonder: how does a woman who shies away from real commitment, do that? Wouldn't she have secretly preferred using Mr Texas's own lifestyle choices as an excuse not to commit to him? Yet it's never that simple either, and her reasoning behind moving to Chicago seemed so realistic and even familiar, that it totally made sense. It was more that I was surprised at how, later, with Max offering her everything, she balks time and again. Sure the dukedom complicates things, but that's just an excuse. Perhaps it's that, deep down, subconsciously, she recognised that things with Max are real, as they weren't with Mr Texas, where there was no real danger of anything permanent ever happening.

Bronte did disappoint me toward the end, though, when she became noticeably difficult and stubborn and, yes, scared. I got a bit annoyed with Max too, and thought he could have handled things better. I don't want to give away the ending, but there was a new complication thrown in that really bothered me - hard to discuss it without spoiling it and I'm tempted to regardless, because I really don't like how these ... things, are used in romantic plot-lines. It just saddens me, and angers me a bit. (The same thing, more or less, happened at the end of The Marriage Bargain which I read recently; it's a bit of a fallback plot-line.)

This is a great story to read when you want something entertaining and engrossing, that will connect with your emotions without leaving you feeling in any way morbid, a story full of classic misunderstandings, almost-missed opportunities, realism, great love, class divide and humour. It's intelligently written, with a focus on growing up and facing your own flaws, rather than dealing with any kind of social issues or things like that. Perhaps because I expected something a sillier, or because I was wary of an American story about British royalty, but this did not disappoint, and I would happily recommend it to readers of chick-lit and contemporary romance alike.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up for 10 cents at a fund-raiser. For that price I figured I could afford to take a chance on what seemed to be a chick-lit but with an interesting premise, especially in the days of Harry and Meaghan, an American falling for an about-to-be-duke. I guess I got my 10 cents worth, considering how loooong it was. About twice as long--maybe more--than it had to be to get the principals together, break them up, and then fix them up. For those who like sex, there's plenty of it. At least there's a meet-cute in a bookstore; reading is one non-sexual interest they share. Being a persistent reader, I forged on and finished the book. It's not bad, just way over the top and gossipy.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this book some groundbreaking piece of literature? No.

Is it cute and makes you smile and forget the hellhole called America we’re currently living in? Yup.

If you need a light and easy read, enjoy this one!

[Stella_bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selayaknya chick lit, ringan, menghibur, manis... Can't ask for more.. Eh tapi koq yang ini seperti nya konfliknya minim alias kurang berasa ya?? Seperti nya mulus mulus saja sepanjang buku...
3.5* dibulatkan ke atas karena aku suka nama karakter utamanya, Bronte☺