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jujudepamplemousse's review
2.0
The premises were kind of unusual and I was interested in seeing how the author would make it work.
But honestly I couldn’t get past the premises. It was kind of fucked up. Kitty has no difficulties lying and deceiving (and she don’t go with small lies) and Alexander is just fascinated and half in love with her even though they never met and she is usurping identity.
While Stacy Reid writes fairly good physical chemistry between her characters I didn’t like neither Kitty’s nor Alexander’s personalities and the repetitions in their relationship were just annoying.
I also hated how Stacy Reid dealt with Alexander’s « disability ». Alexander’s physical ailments was just a pretense for some part of the story to work. It was totally inconsistent. One moment he is in a wheelchair, the other he is climbing a tree (I re-read this scene several times because I thought I misunderstood something but no, he did climb a tree, easy !). And don’t even get me started on his impotence.
Talking of inconsistency, "And is this from Iraq ?", surely it wasn't since the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was only founded on 23 August 1921 and was before that known as Mesopotamia. I know this is fiction but it don't excuse everything...
This book would have deserved a little bit more editing. English is not even my first language and I could still picked problems with wrong or missing words or weird turns of phrase.
I enjoyed Stacey Reid before but this book disappointed me.
But honestly I couldn’t get past the premises. It was kind of fucked up. Kitty has no difficulties lying and deceiving (and she don’t go with small lies) and Alexander is just fascinated and half in love with her even though they never met and she is usurping identity.
While Stacy Reid writes fairly good physical chemistry between her characters I didn’t like neither Kitty’s nor Alexander’s personalities and the repetitions in their relationship were just annoying.
I also hated how Stacy Reid dealt with Alexander’s « disability ». Alexander’s physical ailments was just a pretense for some part of the story to work. It was totally inconsistent. One moment he is in a wheelchair, the other he is climbing a tree (I re-read this scene several times because I thought I misunderstood something but no, he did climb a tree, easy !). And don’t even get me started on his impotence.
Talking of inconsistency, "And is this from Iraq ?", surely it wasn't since the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was only founded on 23 August 1921 and was before that known as Mesopotamia. I know this is fiction but it don't excuse everything...
This book would have deserved a little bit more editing. English is not even my first language and I could still picked problems with wrong or missing words or weird turns of phrase.
I enjoyed Stacey Reid before but this book disappointed me.
heulynn's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
sunwhoohoo's review
3.0
it was a fine book. I did not realize it was a beauty and the Beast retelling but I really felt it throughout the time of reading it. I liked Kathrine and Alexander but something about them felt lacking to me in way. It just felt like nothing the characters did set them apart from another similar plot. I think I wanted more unique characterization so that I could connect with them further
bookishnerdyandcurious's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my. This book. Y'all, I experienced all the emotions with this one. This is one where I had to change my initial rating - initially, I wanted to give it 4.5 stars, but I have not been able to get this book out of my head since finishing it last week. That's the sure sign of a 5 star book to me. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend listening to it; the narrator was fabulous - and honestly, hearing her say the word "cock" delighted me and was only eclipsed by hearing her say "cockstand." It's not like it was funny, but like she relished saying it and that brought me lots of joy. Our tortured hero is simply the perfect kind of tortured - the kind where you just want to lavish all the attentions on him. I really am a sucker for a damaged hero, literally. And our heroine's bravery and pluck to do what she needed to for her sisters - that unending well of love and devotion... and when it's turned on our hero? DAYUM. So.
nanoreadsxo's review against another edition
4.0
This is so sweet and tender. A real slowburn but oh the yearning is really good.
winemakerssister's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable re-telling of Beauty and the Beast where the 'beast' is not only disfigured from scars, but also believes himself to be impotent. It's a subject you don't normally see in romances and I applaud the author for tackling it. The MCs were completely likeable - I do like a Regency with a smart wallflower heroine.
Now let's get to the narrator, Mary Sarah. She was just awful. There is a big difference between narrating and acting, and her performance was more in the acting realm than the narrating one. Her delivery was in a breathy whisper, while sometimes swallowing words. I had such a hard time understanding her! I had to slow it down (but not too slow because the word swallowing got less tolerable at slower speeds) and turn up the volume. Often when I am bothered by a narrator, I get used to him/her by the end but that was not the case here. She was terrible up until the last word.
Now let's get to the narrator, Mary Sarah. She was just awful. There is a big difference between narrating and acting, and her performance was more in the acting realm than the narrating one. Her delivery was in a breathy whisper, while sometimes swallowing words. I had such a hard time understanding her! I had to slow it down (but not too slow because the word swallowing got less tolerable at slower speeds) and turn up the volume. Often when I am bothered by a narrator, I get used to him/her by the end but that was not the case here. She was terrible up until the last word.
mooching's review against another edition
4.0
Relatively unique premise with good execution! I normally hate it when the MMC has those "no I can't be with her because I am flawed" mentality but it honestly made a lot of sense here and it wasn't dwelled on for too long. Also I liked how both characters tried to repair their relationship after the 3rd act breakup.
cherki_amina's review
5.0
Historical romance perfection ✨✨✨ fake dating, disability rep, he’s obsessed with her. And good writing what more you would want ??
geekxgirl's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 Stars
*disappointing sigh*
This was not my first Stacy Reid book but it was probably my most disappointing one, sadly.
Man, this trope/plot was so fascinating. I even suspended my belief for most of the book so I could try and enjoy it without rolling my eyes at the likeliness of such things happening. But even after all of that the book was so unsatisfying!
Once I hit 75% I began skimming to the end. I was bored. I hadn't been interested in the heroine since about the 50% mark if not sooner. I wasn't the least bit interested in seeing their happily ever after either.
The heroine was twenty-three but came across as seventeen most of the book with her endless inner thoughts about the hero. I found her annoying. I didn't like her. Which sucked because I did admire her for doing what she did for her family. Was it ridiculous and likely never could have worked in real life? Yes. But in the end she was just plain silly. And frustratingly contrary!!! The author obviously couldn't pick a personality type for the heroine to be so she swung through a variety of three. 1) The sensible young lady determined to protect her family and her virtue. 2) The hellion, hoyden, and brave one who introduced this ridiculous plot to protect her family who had a quick wit and didn't follow societies rules. And 3) the seductress who appeared to have no idea how babies were made. Who liked to make out and admire the hero's handsomeness and who outright seduced him at the end.
Honestly I couldn't figure her out. It wasn't even a case of showing different sides of her character. She genuinely acted like three different characters depending on the scene. I was so confused.
The hero was rather boring. I did like him though. He was everything I expected and honestly that's about as much as I have to say about him.
The plot became irrelevant once they had met in person. The hero somehow blackmails her into coming back to his estate in Scotland without a chaperone. It was all ridiculously silly. And annoyingly whimsical.
And I'm sure if I counted how many time the word impudent, or its relatives were used or thought it'd be near 70 times or more. Apparently the author had no ability to exercise her thesaurus.
And worst of all was how utterly DUMB the end was! The hero was essentially bound to his chair by the end due to injuring himself again. But who cares when the heroine got the notion in her fool head to charge back to Scotland and SEDUCE the impotent cripple, right???? Who needs logic and common sense!
For whatever reason it seemed the heroine fixated on that single aspect about him. I guess she desperately wanted to ride his dick but who's to say. All I know is it was incredibly dumb and unimaginative.
Not to mention for a man confined to his bath chair, as the book blurb states, he was walking around with and without his cane nearly the entire book. So much for committing to your plot huh? Especially when his "impotence" wasn't fully addressed (other than a throwaway sentence here or there) until basically the end which was, again, disappointing.
Ugh. I actually disliked this book so much. I felt duped too because the plot and characters weren't anything like the blurb hinted at along with how different they became after the 30% mark.
I'm not sure I care for the "Sinful Wallflower" group her friends created for themselves. I don't hate the idea of this series and I'll admit two other girls stories do intrigue me but I feel gun shy now. I despised the cheesy, whimsical silliness that this book became.
I'll give the next book a shot and cross all my fingers and toes it's not an outstanding disappointment.
*disappointing sigh*
This was not my first Stacy Reid book but it was probably my most disappointing one, sadly.
Man, this trope/plot was so fascinating. I even suspended my belief for most of the book so I could try and enjoy it without rolling my eyes at the likeliness of such things happening. But even after all of that the book was so unsatisfying!
Once I hit 75% I began skimming to the end. I was bored. I hadn't been interested in the heroine since about the 50% mark if not sooner. I wasn't the least bit interested in seeing their happily ever after either.
The heroine was twenty-three but came across as seventeen most of the book with her endless inner thoughts about the hero. I found her annoying. I didn't like her. Which sucked because I did admire her for doing what she did for her family. Was it ridiculous and likely never could have worked in real life? Yes. But in the end she was just plain silly. And frustratingly contrary!!! The author obviously couldn't pick a personality type for the heroine to be so she swung through a variety of three. 1) The sensible young lady determined to protect her family and her virtue. 2) The hellion, hoyden, and brave one who introduced this ridiculous plot to protect her family who had a quick wit and didn't follow societies rules. And 3) the seductress who appeared to have no idea how babies were made. Who liked to make out and admire the hero's handsomeness and who outright seduced him at the end.
Honestly I couldn't figure her out. It wasn't even a case of showing different sides of her character. She genuinely acted like three different characters depending on the scene. I was so confused.
The hero was rather boring. I did like him though. He was everything I expected and honestly that's about as much as I have to say about him.
The plot became irrelevant once they had met in person. The hero somehow blackmails her into coming back to his estate in Scotland without a chaperone. It was all ridiculously silly. And annoyingly whimsical.
And I'm sure if I counted how many time the word impudent, or its relatives were used or thought it'd be near 70 times or more. Apparently the author had no ability to exercise her thesaurus.
And worst of all was how utterly DUMB the end was! The hero was essentially bound to his chair by the end due to injuring himself again. But who cares when the heroine got the notion in her fool head to charge back to Scotland and SEDUCE the impotent cripple, right???? Who needs logic and common sense!
For whatever reason it seemed the heroine fixated on that single aspect about him. I guess she desperately wanted to ride his dick but who's to say. All I know is it was incredibly dumb and unimaginative.
Not to mention for a man confined to his bath chair, as the book blurb states, he was walking around with and without his cane nearly the entire book. So much for committing to your plot huh? Especially when his "impotence" wasn't fully addressed (other than a throwaway sentence here or there) until basically the end which was, again, disappointing.
Ugh. I actually disliked this book so much. I felt duped too because the plot and characters weren't anything like the blurb hinted at along with how different they became after the 30% mark.
I'm not sure I care for the "Sinful Wallflower" group her friends created for themselves. I don't hate the idea of this series and I'll admit two other girls stories do intrigue me but I feel gun shy now. I despised the cheesy, whimsical silliness that this book became.
I'll give the next book a shot and cross all my fingers and toes it's not an outstanding disappointment.