Pub Date: May 2004
Publisher: Zebra Kensington
Length: 219 pages
FTC: Purchased used
This month's theme is Kickin' it Old School (at least 10 years old). I have plenty of those in the TBR, but I particularly love the old print Regencies that they don't make anymore. I haven't had a lot of luck finding many new entries of these tame gems in the ebook world. I miss them.
This one falls into the spinster/poor relation category. Corey (WTH is up with *that* name?) decides to help her very pregnant cousin with her children as Corey tries to figure out what to do about her future. Her parents are spending their money bailing her older brother out of trouble, so she feels like she must soon seek employment to better support them. A plot device that had me giving the side eye to this book early on.
It's Corey's bad luck that her cousin's confinement is coinciding with a traditional fishing tournament hosted by her cousin's husband. (Way to support your wife, jackass). The men in attendance are well known pranksters, and Corey is less than thrilled to have her visit interrupted by them.
The main problem with this book is that everyone except the heroine is a gigantic ass. They are self absorbed, deceitful, manipulative, childish... Even the hero. And there's a big pile of fishing filler. Like, everything you never wanted to know about fly fishing in the 19th century in teeny, tiny detail. Right down to which bugs are hatching. ZZZ.
I never really cared about the romance or any of the characters. It was a big pile of meh. This isn't the worst book out there, but there are definitely better ones.
My Grade: D+
The Blurb:
IS IT A PASSING WHIM...
Cordelia Bransford, a spinster at twenty-four, is happy to spend a few months at Lodesham Hall helping her expectant cousin care for her three little children. Among the guests attending the Earl's annual fishing tourney is Lord Matthew Allerton, a man with a reputation for more than his share of youthful scandal. Cory vows to resist his good looks and easy charm, believing his flirtatious manner is nothing more than habit. No dashing rakehell could possibly be tamed by a vicar's unsophisticated daughter...
...OR A ROMANCE TO LAST A LIFETIME?
Matt has spent the last few months recovering from his Waterloo injuries, and is much in need of pleasant diversion. He delights in teaching Corey and the children the fine art of angling, despite her witty dismissal of his flirtatious advances. She is refreshingly unlike the frivolous young ladies he's known--and now that he actually wants a woman to take him seriously, Matt is dismayed by Corey's absolute refusal to do so! But her love is a prize indeed--and her hand is well worth winning...
I can applaud the author for doing so much research on 19th century fly fishing, but I think I would fall asleep in a heartbeat reading that. The fact that most of the characters are unlikable also helps affirm that I won't be adding this to my TBR. Thanks for the review and hope you have a better read for next month!
ReplyDeleteMe, too. This is the danger of falling into the research rabbit hole. It's so easy to info dump. And yeah, the characters were just the worst.
DeleteI see the name "Corey" and get flashbacks to my childhood, The Lost Boys and License to Drive. Probably not what the author was intending, surely.
ReplyDeleteAnd bugs hatching? Man, I would have been skimming large chunks of the book, if not outright DNF'ing it. I hate it when the TBR pile yields a dud. It's depressing.
It definitely did not help with the Reading Slump. If this weren't so short, I would have skimmed the heck out of it.
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