suze_1624's review
5.0
I did really love this book. It is an historical romance and just ticked a lot of boxes for me.
I received the book from the author in a competition on Elisa Rolle's blog so it wasn't one I had gone out and chosen, so you always start these with a bit of trepidaion - will I like or not?
I like historical books when they get me wanting to know more about the times and events portrayed. As a Brit, American history was not covered in detail during my long ago short stint at school, so I found the portrayals of the civil war interesting, covering areas I had not really come across before. And the rather decadent times pre war on the steamboats was intrigingly written too.
The romance between Frankie - debonair, devil-may-care riverboat owner, card sharp - and Johnny - uptight, straight-laced son of German immigrants - was very good. Very emotional, showing how the first impressions of a person do not always hold true and how adversity can change a person.
The descriptions of New Orleans pre and during the war were vivid without being preachy, giving me a good image of how it would be. The war wasn't covered in detail but concentrated on how Frankie and Johnny, High and Mick survived the period.
There is a reference to a future sequel at the end - that will be bought and devoured!
I received the book from the author in a competition on Elisa Rolle's blog so it wasn't one I had gone out and chosen, so you always start these with a bit of trepidaion - will I like or not?
I like historical books when they get me wanting to know more about the times and events portrayed. As a Brit, American history was not covered in detail during my long ago short stint at school, so I found the portrayals of the civil war interesting, covering areas I had not really come across before. And the rather decadent times pre war on the steamboats was intrigingly written too.
The romance between Frankie - debonair, devil-may-care riverboat owner, card sharp - and Johnny - uptight, straight-laced son of German immigrants - was very good. Very emotional, showing how the first impressions of a person do not always hold true and how adversity can change a person.
The descriptions of New Orleans pre and during the war were vivid without being preachy, giving me a good image of how it would be. The war wasn't covered in detail but concentrated on how Frankie and Johnny, High and Mick survived the period.
There is a reference to a future sequel at the end - that will be bought and devoured!
alisonalisonalison's review against another edition
1.0
This was not for me. I stopped halfway, so my thoughts only concern the first half of the book up until the end of part two. I wasn't enjoying it and parts of it made me uncomfortable, so I stopped. I was surprised to learn that one of the main characters is a slave owner and had I known that, I seriously doubt I would have wanted to read this. I don't want to read about a slave owner in a historical romance. It made me uncomfortable and completely put me off. This book was not for me. It's not in the blurb, but I think it's worth saying--this is a Civil War romance about a slave owner.
Aside from that, I simply was not feeling this story and didn't really care about it. I found the writing to be a little flat and little stiff, but somehow also a little melodramatic. The two main characters weren't very engaging to me or overly likeable, and I found both of them to be a little annoying at times. For instance, one of them was very bad-tempered and stormed off in relationship-ending anger with alarming regularity and the other spent most of his time acting like an insensitive cad towards his beloved. There's also a fair amount surprising naivete on both their parts. And then there's the whole slavery issue.
I was uncomfortable about one of the main characters in a romance being an unrepentant slave owner. Strangely, he is also supposedly an abolitionist (though he never says it of himself), but at no point in the first 50% of this book (which takes place over more than a year) does he think about wanting to free his many inherited slaves, even the two who raised him and are effectively his adoptive parents. That pair, in particular, are regularly appearing secondary characters and of course they don't mind being slaves because he treats them so well. He treats his slaves like servants, so that makes it okay, and also, they're fine with it. Once again, they don't mind being slaves because he's nice to them. He is extremely rich and powerful and owns a large river boat running the Mississippi, so he appears to have the means to obtain freedom for the people he considers his family and friends, but lacks the will. That whole part of the story made me quite uncomfortable and also struck me as a little odd in its dissonance. He's against slavery in theory, but not in practice. But regardless of logical issues, one of the romantic leads owns slaves and does not want to stop owning slaves, so there you go.
This has great reviews on GR and most people seem to really like it, so I'm definitely the odd one out here. I love historical romance and I haven't read many stories that take place during the American Civil War, so I was looking forward to this. I was hoping to like it, but I couldn't. It was not for me.
Aside from that, I simply was not feeling this story and didn't really care about it. I found the writing to be a little flat and little stiff, but somehow also a little melodramatic. The two main characters weren't very engaging to me or overly likeable, and I found both of them to be a little annoying at times. For instance, one of them was very bad-tempered and stormed off in relationship-ending anger with alarming regularity and the other spent most of his time acting like an insensitive cad towards his beloved. There's also a fair amount surprising naivete on both their parts. And then there's the whole slavery issue.
I was uncomfortable about one of the main characters in a romance being an unrepentant slave owner. Strangely, he is also supposedly an abolitionist (though he never says it of himself), but at no point in the first 50% of this book (which takes place over more than a year) does he think about wanting to free his many inherited slaves, even the two who raised him and are effectively his adoptive parents. That pair, in particular, are regularly appearing secondary characters and of course they don't mind being slaves because he treats them so well. He treats his slaves like servants, so that makes it okay, and also, they're fine with it. Once again, they don't mind being slaves because he's nice to them. He is extremely rich and powerful and owns a large river boat running the Mississippi, so he appears to have the means to obtain freedom for the people he considers his family and friends, but lacks the will. That whole part of the story made me quite uncomfortable and also struck me as a little odd in its dissonance. He's against slavery in theory, but not in practice. But regardless of logical issues, one of the romantic leads owns slaves and does not want to stop owning slaves, so there you go.
This has great reviews on GR and most people seem to really like it, so I'm definitely the odd one out here. I love historical romance and I haven't read many stories that take place during the American Civil War, so I was looking forward to this. I was hoping to like it, but I couldn't. It was not for me.
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