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jeannine's review
4.0
Our badass chocolate addicts are chasing down assassins in Vienna this time. I enjoy Andrea Penrose’s style so much that I kind of laugh at how sugar-obsessed she makes the leads in this series (another reviewer found it tedious). This installment is heavy on action, with Arianna flirting, sneaking, and even reprising her chef role from the last book.
I love the use of Spanish language and characters (even household staff) with Spanish backgrounds. So many books set in this time almost ignore Spain completely.
I’m glad I’m reading when the next book is available...the ending sets you up to want to start the next book in the series immediately.
I love the use of Spanish language and characters (even household staff) with Spanish backgrounds. So many books set in this time almost ignore Spain completely.
I’m glad I’m reading when the next book is available...the ending sets you up to want to start the next book in the series immediately.
krisrid's review
5.0
I loved the first book in this series, and book 2 was even better!
I absolutely love Arianna. She is a strong, smart, capable and independent woman in world where women are expected to be decorative at best. The back-story the author has given her makes it entirely plausible that Arianna would be able to do the things she does and I love everything about her. Her insistence on being involved in the action and danger that she and her newly acquired husband find themselves involved in made for a delightful read that kept me glued to the eReader the whole way through.
I also enjoyed the romance between Arianna and Sandro, as they come to terms with the fact that while their marriage may have started as a convenience for them both, it has developed into a genuine love between them. The fact that both of them take some time to realize and admit that they actually love each other was a fun and entertaining side-plot as they each battled their own inner demons about love and trust.
The action and intrigue component of the book was excellent as well. Exciting, well conceived and plenty of real historical activities and people made for a very engaging story for the characters to navigate through.
The supporting characters do their jobs well. From Henning as Sandro's best friend, to the various political big-wigs, everyone plays their part to add colour and layering to the rest of the plot and story.
My one gripe with this was the atrocious lack of copy-editing in the eBook version [which was the only version I was able to obtain, having read book one as a physical printed book]. There were multiple grammar errors, missing words, wrong words, etc., in every single chapter, and as a grammar and editing nerd, this seriously affected my reading enjoyment by distracting me continually as the errors jumped out and poked me in the eye every time they occurred. I still loved the book, but whoever is responsible for the epublishing of this book should be ashamed of themselves for charging $5.99 for such bad quality. Regardless of the format, the book should be properly edited if you are going to charge people good money for it. One or two minor text or grammar errors can be overlooked, but this book was LITTERED with errors. Shame on the publishers, because this reflects on the author and does not do her wonderful writing the justice deserved.
Aside from that one irritant, I loved this book, and look forward to reading the final book in the trilogy, which I have already purchased. This is a favourite historical fiction, Regency era series.
I absolutely love Arianna. She is a strong, smart, capable and independent woman in world where women are expected to be decorative at best. The back-story the author has given her makes it entirely plausible that Arianna would be able to do the things she does and I love everything about her. Her insistence on being involved in the action and danger that she and her newly acquired husband find themselves involved in made for a delightful read that kept me glued to the eReader the whole way through.
I also enjoyed the romance between Arianna and Sandro, as they come to terms with the fact that while their marriage may have started as a convenience for them both, it has developed into a genuine love between them. The fact that both of them take some time to realize and admit that they actually love each other was a fun and entertaining side-plot as they each battled their own inner demons about love and trust.
The action and intrigue component of the book was excellent as well. Exciting, well conceived and plenty of real historical activities and people made for a very engaging story for the characters to navigate through.
The supporting characters do their jobs well. From Henning as Sandro's best friend, to the various political big-wigs, everyone plays their part to add colour and layering to the rest of the plot and story.
My one gripe with this was the atrocious lack of copy-editing in the eBook version [which was the only version I was able to obtain, having read book one as a physical printed book]. There were multiple grammar errors, missing words, wrong words, etc., in every single chapter, and as a grammar and editing nerd, this seriously affected my reading enjoyment by distracting me continually as the errors jumped out and poked me in the eye every time they occurred. I still loved the book, but whoever is responsible for the epublishing of this book should be ashamed of themselves for charging $5.99 for such bad quality. Regardless of the format, the book should be properly edited if you are going to charge people good money for it. One or two minor text or grammar errors can be overlooked, but this book was LITTERED with errors. Shame on the publishers, because this reflects on the author and does not do her wonderful writing the justice deserved.
Aside from that one irritant, I loved this book, and look forward to reading the final book in the trilogy, which I have already purchased. This is a favourite historical fiction, Regency era series.
dulindiel's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.0
cynpra1520's review
4.0
The only thing that stops me from giving this book a 5 in that I hate the character of Grentham and I find it hard to accept the hold he has over the stories. I think that is why I like Penrose's other series with A.J. Quill slightly more. (THat and its hard to diet with all these chocolate recipes!)
rgalvsbooks's review
3.0
The second book turns this series more into a spies, coats and daggers story. Yes, there is still murder and mystery but a bigger part of the story has to do with networks of spies and involves many different disguises.
The romance is a little better but not really the way I thought it would be handled. It most definitely reminds me of a modern, fake relationship turn real, romance.
Even though it took longer to read and it's not exactly my style of romance, I still feel like I must continue. In the end I do want to figure out who's behind the horrid conspiracy and I want to see what and how the relationship will develop.
*** Slightly better than good read, 3.5 stars ***
The romance is a little better but not really the way I thought it would be handled. It most definitely reminds me of a modern, fake relationship turn real, romance.
Even though it took longer to read and it's not exactly my style of romance, I still feel like I must continue. In the end I do want to figure out who's behind the horrid conspiracy and I want to see what and how the relationship will develop.
*** Slightly better than good read, 3.5 stars ***
metta's review
3.0
Picked this up on a whim, not knowing what to expect (was hoping for a pleasant, historic-mystery type of book), and found it to be a nice read. I didn't know at the time that this is the second in a series, but the writing is good in a way that I didn't feel lost in the general scheme of things (it's not vague in the characters' histories, nor is it too detailed where if I had read the first, I'd probably be whining about stuff being rehashed too much, so it felt just the right balance -- kudos to the author for achieving just the right balance of that alone!).
I'll probably read the next in the series; and even though I like chocolate myself, I feel the recipes could be left out at each and every chapter's beginning. (If it's some sort of gimmick, the author certainly doesn't need it as her writing/storytelling stands quite well without it.) 3.75 stars
I'll probably read the next in the series; and even though I like chocolate myself, I feel the recipes could be left out at each and every chapter's beginning. (If it's some sort of gimmick, the author certainly doesn't need it as her writing/storytelling stands quite well without it.) 3.75 stars
murderbydeath's review
4.0
A very good follow up to the first in the series. Fast paced, with an interesting plot. Most of the book takes place during historically accurate events, so history buffs will find the setting interesting. I look forward to the third book.
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