Heartless in Author Support Group

Mar 30, 2010 Jen Knox rated it really liked it

I read this book online for PIF, and I have to give Jaimey Grant credit: she knows how to keep a reader's attention. The characters were believable and well-drawn. And from the very beginning, the book pulled me in. I did feel that the story got off track in a few places, where details seemed to be there that weren't directly relevant and too much time was spent on secondary characters, but all in all, I enjoyed the read. Romance isn't ordinarily my thing, but Heartless kept my attention (which ...more

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Nov 23, 2008 Jaimey marked it as books-i-wrote-or-contributed-to · (Review from the author)

Shelves: romance-regency, 25-fav-romance-regency, fave-covers, goodreads-author, my-cover-designs

This story is my favorite out of all the stories I've ever written--current count is about a dozen, by the way. It has mystery, adventure, long-lost relatives, murder, deception, betrayal, and of course, romance. Then there is the ultimate redemption of a ruthless man accounted by most as a lost cause. And I must not forget the heroine who, throughout all the hardships placed upon her, never attempts anything more than simply trying to understand her husband...until she falls in love with him.

Th ...more

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Mar 31, 2010 Maria rated it really liked it

Shelves: pay-it-forward-2010

3.5 stars.
This book starts out very well. Up to about page 100 I thought it would be one of my best reads ever, and that is saying something because I read a lot. It is an entertaining book, but there are far too many secondary characters, many of whom are not even introduced as far as I could tell. New names crop up here and there; by the time I was three quarters of the way through I gave up caring who they were really and just carried on reading.
I liked the two main characters, The Duke of De 3.5 stars.
This book starts out very well. Up to about page 100 I thought it would be one of my best reads ever, and that is saying something because I read a lot. It is an entertaining book, but there are far too many secondary characters, many of whom are not even introduced as far as I could tell. New names crop up here and there; by the time I was three quarters of the way through I gave up caring who they were really and just carried on reading.
I liked the two main characters, The Duke of Derringer, and Leandra, for the most part. The only issue I had was that at times they both seem to be bipolar! Their behaviour is very inconsistent. This may be intentional, because The Duke had suffered a childhood trauma which could have left him unstable, and the circumstances surrounding Leandra's birth meant that she was always seen as an outsider in her family. However, I feel that the writer could have spent more time on character development of the main characters, rather than spending too much time on insignificant characters.
Jaimey Grant obviously has a talent for writing a gripping story and keeping the reader engaged, because the first half of the book is amazing. The second half needed work to make it believable. There were times I was left questioning how certain things had taken place e.g. how did the Captain of the Ship where Derringer was being held captive manage to send missives out to Leandra? How would they have got to her? This was not explained at all.
The book didn't really flow well in regard to continuation of certain threads in the book, for example, the letter that was found hidden in Derringer's mother's old notebook. I know the intention was that the reader should not find out this information until the end of the book, but the way in which it was written was a little annoying. As a reader I didn't like being kept dangling for too many chapters.
The ending was nice, but the run up to the ending was a bit rushed I think.
On the whole a good plot, nicely written, but I would personally have liked to see more of the main characters.
A note to the author: Sometimes what doesn't work too well as a novel would work beautifully as a film or a play. In this case, I could really see this book as a very powerful film, or maybe a play in the theatre. I would definitely go and see it!
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Apr 12, 2010 Kevis Hendrickson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It's official. I'm a sucker for Jaimey Grant novels. Heartless is the second novel by Ms. Grant that I've read, the first being Spellbound. There's something charming about reading a clean romance that focuses on character and plot rather than graphic sex or endless pages of characters swooning over each other. That's probably what keeps me coming back. Grant's stories are like delicious slices of red velvet cake served up on a literary dish of impeccable prose.

I found myself a shameless voyeur ...more

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