Pub Date: June 2011
Publisher: Avon
Length: 375 pages
FTC: Purchased used but don't remember where
I've read and enjoyed Debra Mullins in the past, but sadly, this book was just not that great. It is the worst sort of wallpaper romance: thin setting, flighty and shallow women characters, and anachronistic language throughout. Worse, though, is that I simply didn't care about the characters.
I'm a character-driven reader. I like to get in their heads and be shown their emotions. I want to feel their anguish, uncertainty, passion, fear...I got none of that from anyone here. We're told that our hero, John Ready, is anguished about his choices, but we're never shown. Every emotion is told to us in a way that doesn't let us experience it, and that weakens what should have been a fun, memorable story. The author does a little better with the heroine, but we're still very much on the outside looking in...
This was the blandest romance I've read in years, despite the presence of two highwaymen, a surprise duke, and an "outspoken" heroine. There was no tension at all between anyone. Maybe it's because this comes at at the end of several interconnected novels, but the villain is only menacing in a mustache-twirling kind of way, and the hero isn't really all that heroic. Just a big pile of MEH for me, which is disappointing in the first historical romance I've read this year.
My Grade: D
The Blurb:
Too wicked to love . . . but too tempting to resist!
Having already been deceived by a heartless fiancĂ©, Genevieve Wallington-Willis knows better than to trust any man—which is why her attraction to John Ready is so very disturbing. Though devilishly handsome, he is far too mysterious—and a humble coachman, no less! But one inadvertent kiss and Genevieve is lost.
John dares not reveal his true identity to anyone or it's the gallows for certain! He must concentrate on clearing his name—and prevent the fiend who sullied it, the notorious Raventhorpe, from working his evil on another innocent victim. But being this close to the clever, courageous, and exquisite Miss Wallington-Willis is driving him to distraction. And surrendering to his desire—not to mention to love—may prove the most dangerous risk of all.
Pretty much my experience with the couple of her English historicals I've tried. That said, I read the first book in her paranormal series for a contest (Prodigal Son) and was surprised how much I enjoyed it - and I'm not much of a paranormal reader (at all). I can't recall specifics now - but it ended up somewhere in my B/B- territory.
ReplyDeleteI remember liking one of her books years and years ago...but I admittedly could have been less picky. And you liking a paranormal!! Wow :)
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