millerbca's review against another edition
3.0
I love a good mystery and love story put together. I enjoyed this book and the story of Olivia and Stephen. I gave it 3 stars because it was hard to stay focused on the story. It seemed to drag in places and that made it hard to keep my attention.
I am eager to read about the rest of the family.
I am eager to read about the rest of the family.
waclements7's review against another edition
4.0
Intriguing
I enjoyed this book overall. I enjoy stories about quirky families. Normally I don’t like stories with “links” to the past, but I liked the one here. The character of Olivia was fairly independent, and she’s capable of taking care of herself. The development of the rest of the characters wasn’t quite as good, but they were okay. I liked Olivia’s Great-Uncle Ballard. Some of the terms in the steamier scenes did make me giggle: “damp cave” for the inside of one’s mouth. That aside, I plan on reading the next one. I feel like maybe the Morlands are just getting warmed up.
I enjoyed this book overall. I enjoy stories about quirky families. Normally I don’t like stories with “links” to the past, but I liked the one here. The character of Olivia was fairly independent, and she’s capable of taking care of herself. The development of the rest of the characters wasn’t quite as good, but they were okay. I liked Olivia’s Great-Uncle Ballard. Some of the terms in the steamier scenes did make me giggle: “damp cave” for the inside of one’s mouth. That aside, I plan on reading the next one. I feel like maybe the Morlands are just getting warmed up.
meggiemine's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.5
I first came across this series on Hoopla while looking for audiobooks narrated by Will Thorne, a new-to-me narrator I’d been wanting to try. I tagged the book for my October TBR list because of the gothic and paranormal elements.
One of the first things I noticed about the book was the head hopping. It wasn’t jarring enough for me to DNF it right away, but it did lead to some confusion and annoyance. I think listening to the audiobook made it easier for me to keep going and eventually I became quite engrossed in what was going on. And I love romances where the main characters are working together to solve a mystery.
Not knowing whether the strange occurrences are a hoax or supernatural leads to some great suspense in the first half of the book. The hero and heroine start experiencing shared dreams, which heightens the sexual tension, as well. As more was revealed, however, I began to lose interest. By the end, I honestly was only half-listening and wasn’t paying enough attention to catch details, so I’m not even sure if all of my questions were answered.
It looks like this series was originally published under Harlequin’s imprint MIRA, which from what I gather is geared more towards romantic fiction than Romance. I’m not sure why the new editions were moved to the HQN imprint? I obviously haven’t read the whole series, but I think Mesmerized leans more towards Romantic Fiction, rather than Romance. I would recommend Mesmerized to a Romance reader who doesn’t mind if the romance story is a bit overshadowed by superfluous plot.
It looks like this series was originally published under Harlequin’s imprint MIRA, which from what I gather is geared more towards romantic fiction than Romance. I’m not sure why the new editions were moved to the HQN imprint? I obviously haven’t read the whole series, but I think Mesmerized leans more towards Romantic Fiction, rather than Romance. I would recommend Mesmerized to a Romance reader who doesn’t mind if the romance story is a bit overshadowed by superfluous plot.
As for the narrator, I liked Will Thorne’s voice a lot. (The hero’s voice had a gruffness that gave me pants feelings 🤤.) But Thorne’s intonation was just plain weird and, unfortunately, I don’t know enough about linguistics to explain what was weird about it. It was kind of like a gradual rising intonation with a sharp falling intonation at the end of the sentence? And he used that same intonation over and over again, no matter what the sentence was conveying. Anyway, I didn’t hate the narration. I wasn’t a fan of Cornell Collins at first either, but now he’s one of my favorites. I am willing to give Thorne another try or two before adding him to my narrator blacklist.
Endnotes
Narrator: Will Thorne
Series: The Mad Morelands #1
Genre: Paranormal-Historical Romance
Categories: M/F, gothic
Length: 9h 12m, 373 pages, 101k words
Format: audiobook, borrowed from Hoopla
Published: June 2, 2020 by Tantor Audio
ISBN: 9781541436961
Read Date: October 16, 2022
Setting: August 1876, in London, and at the hero’s country estate
Hero: Stephen, Lord St. Leger (I think he’s an earl)
Heroine: Olivia Moreland, the daughter of a duke, investigator of paranormal phenomena and mediums
Point-of-View: 3rd person limited, past tense, both hero and heroine’s perspectives but it’s inconsistent (head hopping!)
Heat Rating: 1 🌡️(low)
Details:
Spoiler
🔥Flames: 1 (no. of full sex scenes). ❌Partial Scenes: a couple of kissing scenes, at least one with some groping. 📑Flame Index: 1 (“feels like” flame count which factors in the book’s page count). ❤️🔥Intensity: 2 (mildly explicit). 💨Burn Speed: 1.5 (sex scene is after 75%).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Murder, Violence, and Sexual content
andipants's review against another edition
5.0
I've never read anything quite like this before - historical romance, with a solid haunted house plot to boot! I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The main characters were likable, particularly the heroine - a bit more prone to fainting than I'm usually okay with, but intelligent and spunky nonetheless. The paranormal plot wasn't scary, but it did present a good mystery, and the glimpses of the past were intriguing, to say the least. I also appreciated that it wasn't the usual sort of plot where the woman can communicate with the spirits because of her mystical woman-ness but the guy doesn't see anything (and thinks she's probably a little crazy). That storyline gets real frustrating real quick, so it was a refreshing change here that both the hero and the heroine are in on the creepy goings-on, and also that they're believably skeptical, but not stupidly so in the face of clear evidence (another frequent pitfall in supernatural stories I've read).
If I had one complaint, it's that the prose in the adult scenes was most decidedly lavender-tinted; it was a little cringeworthy in some places. But there were only two such scenes and they weren't over-long, so I can get over it. Overall it was an excellent read, and I'm looking forward to more from this author.
If I had one complaint, it's that the prose in the adult scenes was most decidedly lavender-tinted; it was a little cringeworthy in some places. But there were only two such scenes and they weren't over-long, so I can get over it. Overall it was an excellent read, and I'm looking forward to more from this author.
goddessreclaimed's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I firmly believe each person has a personal connection with what they read and a book that is glorious to one person might be merely ok to another person. And with that in mind-
I saw a few other reviews saying the writing was bad and the story had "too much" going on. . . . I FERVENTLY disagree . I thought the plot was interesting, there was a twist that I definitely didn't see coming. The characters are unique and the story has the vibe of magical realism . Yes this is marketed as a romance but it is definitely more "a mystery with a sex scene and love". This book would really only get a 1 star for romance spiciness, it's very mild and if I was looking for something spicy and not care about the story I would be disappointed. HOWEVER. I didn't get the idea that this book would be very spice heavy when I was reading the summary and the story line and plot sounded intriguing and love on top of it was cool. I personally really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to read the others in the series
I saw a few other reviews saying the writing was bad and the story had "too much" going on. . . . I FERVENTLY disagree . I thought the plot was interesting, there was a twist that I definitely didn't see coming. The characters are unique and the story has the vibe of magical realism . Yes this is marketed as a romance but it is definitely more "a mystery with a sex scene and love". This book would really only get a 1 star for romance spiciness, it's very mild and if I was looking for something spicy and not care about the story I would be disappointed. HOWEVER. I didn't get the idea that this book would be very spice heavy when I was reading the summary and the story line and plot sounded intriguing and love on top of it was cool. I personally really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to read the others in the series
fatal_poison_4_u's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jeannine's review against another edition
4.0
Don’t judge a book by the cover! This is a romance, but it’s also a suspense/mystery. Olivia is part of an unusual, aristocratic family. The large family is headed by intellectual parents who educated their children and have a laid back attitude about appropriate behavior. For Olivia, the lead of this first book, it means going out unchaperoned at night to reveal mediums who have taken London society by storm as charlatans. She meets Stephen, the male lead, at a seance where he assumes she’s in league with the medium. Once he realizes that she has a business dedicated to exposing mediums, he invites her to his home to ruin a medium who has become his mother’s obsession.
We have two skeptics dealing with one fake medium and a very real haunting at the same time and falling for each other along the way. It’s a fun, short romp!
We have two skeptics dealing with one fake medium and a very real haunting at the same time and falling for each other along the way. It’s a fun, short romp!
rainnbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Back to my light and fun reprieve and 'Mesmerized' completely mesmerized me with its engaging story. Olivia and Stephen made for a charming couple. This is the first book in the series and Mad Morelands definitely looks like a family to follow. There is a bit of everything in this book, romance, suspense, ghosts and kind of time-travel when Olivia gets a lot of flashback to her ancestor whose story starts mirroring her life. The history mad uncle is lovely and I loved the whole unconventional and quirky aspect of the Moreland family. Looking forward to continuing the series.
elemeno's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0