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tearainread's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
wildfaeriecaps's review
5.0
I'm such a sucker for this series. Give me spies and misunderstandings and desperate pining, thank you. I read both book 2 and 3 before this and it worked fine, though reading them in order might have been nice. I adore both Lottie and Alec and loved getting to see how it all started.
winterreader40's review
4.0
Childhood friends to lovers driven apart and given a second chance because our heroine Lottie decided to ruin her reputation.
She is slowly suffocating and stagnating in her life so she decides to fake running away with an Italian man she "met" in Florence to escape her uncle's plan to have her married by the end of the year. Enter Lottie's childhood BFF Alec, her uncle's favorite spy who left Lottie without a word five years prior, after asking her the night before if she would let him court her, he’s tasked now with getting her home safe to England.
Alec and Lottie have enough pining going on to grow a forest, they go on a road trip to Venice, we have only 1 bed, she hit so many tropes in this one and didn't linger on any of them, yet it didn't feel rushed or scattered which was kind of refreshing. The fact that it takes place mostly in Italy added to the atmosphere of the story as well.
This was a slow build with low to moderate steam.
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley
She is slowly suffocating and stagnating in her life so she decides to fake running away with an Italian man she "met" in Florence to escape her uncle's plan to have her married by the end of the year. Enter Lottie's childhood BFF Alec, her uncle's favorite spy who left Lottie without a word five years prior, after asking her the night before if she would let him court her, he’s tasked now with getting her home safe to England.
Alec and Lottie have enough pining going on to grow a forest, they go on a road trip to Venice, we have only 1 bed, she hit so many tropes in this one and didn't linger on any of them, yet it didn't feel rushed or scattered which was kind of refreshing. The fact that it takes place mostly in Italy added to the atmosphere of the story as well.
This was a slow build with low to moderate steam.
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley
tessanne's review
2.0
I’m sorry but this book was an utter snooze fest, insofar as I am a terrible sleeper and usually read for hours before going to bed, but after 15-20 minutes of this boring, repetitive, too-much-introspection and not-enough-interaction book, I was drifting off easily.
There’s a story here, in between all of the nothing happening, but it’s hard to get to.
There’s a story here, in between all of the nothing happening, but it’s hard to get to.
emilyconnord's review
5.0
Oh my good lord - this book! This was a wake up an hour before I need to in the morning to read a few chapters before work situation over here.
I think the thing I loved most about this book was that it just jumped right into it. So many books I read spend so much time on the exposition that the plot doesn't really start until 30% in - not the case here! The book hits the ground running while also not making me feel like I was missing any key information about the characters. A+
5/5 A+
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I think the thing I loved most about this book was that it just jumped right into it. So many books I read spend so much time on the exposition that the plot doesn't really start until 30% in - not the case here! The book hits the ground running while also not making me feel like I was missing any key information about the characters. A+
5/5 A+
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
cristina_isabel's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Sadly, the final chapters were, although not perse predictable, pretty cliché.
Following Lottie and Alec through their Italian advanture was a delight. It was so intriguing to hear about his spy work and their shared past. I didn't mind the odd misunderstandings - the plot has to come from somewhere, duh - but there are quite a few details that irked me.
I absolutely hated how Lottie and Alec kept making excuses for each others' behaviours instead of owning up to them, although they simultaneously kept repeating how "untraditional" their future expectations were. I mean, Lottie cannot aspire to be an independant and self-determined woman but at the same time excuse every little misstep of Alec's by herself.
I also missed some more historical background: They talked about women's sufferage and such but a lot of their story was not at all aligned with historical reality... I would have wished for Lottie to be a lot more realistic and understanding of a woman's reality in her time (although she did acknowledge her superior opportunities as a wealthy women towards the end).
In general I did enjoy their romance and their steamier scenes but I don't feel compelled to follow up on the series.
Following Lottie and Alec through their Italian advanture was a delight. It was so intriguing to hear about his spy work and their shared past. I didn't mind the odd misunderstandings - the plot has to come from somewhere, duh - but there are quite a few details that irked me.
I absolutely hated how Lottie and Alec kept making excuses for each others' behaviours instead of owning up to them, although they simultaneously kept repeating how "untraditional" their future expectations were. I mean, Lottie cannot aspire to be an independant and self-determined woman but at the same time excuse every little misstep of Alec's by herself.
Spoiler
Sir Alfred's and hsi housekeeper's lovestory was also super unnecessary and only served to make him seem more apologetic and better understood, which I didn't like. The same goes for Alec's reconciliationw ith his forgotten family at the end - highly unlikely and a little ridiculous.I also missed some more historical background: They talked about women's sufferage and such but a lot of their story was not at all aligned with historical reality... I would have wished for Lottie to be a lot more realistic and understanding of a woman's reality in her time (although she did acknowledge her superior opportunities as a wealthy women towards the end).
In general I did enjoy their romance and their steamier scenes but I don't feel compelled to follow up on the series.
strandedinbooks's review
4.0
3.5 stars, actually? 3.5 to 4?
This was good! Not my fav historical romance out there, but I’m not gonna deny that I was quite invested in our two main characters and some scenes really had me HOOKED. Mainly those taking place during the final third of the book. And don’t even get me started on those hot scenes, WHEW!
However, I felt like the pacing was off at times and some endings just...ended too fast? A few loose ends I was still left wondering about, as well as a few questions about this whole spy thing that didn’t really go anywhere. I actually didn’t even really mind how quick these two were at getting (back) together, even within the span of a few days, but I didn’t believe how fast that years-long conflict just ended. There’s also so much family history that needed to be unfolded and a quick little synopsis within didn’t satisfy me.
And wouldn’t it have been awesome to have gotten more of Alec’s spy history and just had gotten a high-stakes historical spy romance??
Overall, I was a fan of this author’s writing, these characters, would recommend the print over audio, and will definitely be around for this author’s next release!
OH!!!! And the miscommunication trope needs to DIE, thanks
This was good! Not my fav historical romance out there, but I’m not gonna deny that I was quite invested in our two main characters and some scenes really had me HOOKED. Mainly those taking place during the final third of the book. And don’t even get me started on those hot scenes, WHEW!
However, I felt like the pacing was off at times and some endings just...ended too fast? A few loose ends I was still left wondering about, as well as a few questions about this whole spy thing that didn’t really go anywhere. I actually didn’t even really mind how quick these two were at getting (back) together, even within the span of a few days, but I didn’t believe how fast that years-long conflict just ended. There’s also so much family history that needed to be unfolded and a quick little synopsis within didn’t satisfy me.
And wouldn’t it have been awesome to have gotten more of Alec’s spy history and just had gotten a high-stakes historical spy romance??
Overall, I was a fan of this author’s writing, these characters, would recommend the print over audio, and will definitely be around for this author’s next release!
OH!!!! And the miscommunication trope needs to DIE, thanks
lady_wallflower_reads's review against another edition
Typically I would be all about this! But I just found myself bored. Plot seems (so far) to mostly take place in Italy which is a great change of pace. I hope to maybe come back to this one day.