readerbug2's review
3.0
You can tell it's a Willingham novel when she opens with a punch! Right away, you're dropped into the action, and the action is the heroine is being pressured by her dying husband to sleep with her former lover in order to beget an heir. What comes next is a roller coaster of will they or won't they with more horrible things being thrown at the couple to see if they can handle it. There's poison, murder, kidnapping, and quite a bit of sex. Since it's a romance novel, they obviously work it out, but it's fun going through the ups and downs and watching what's at stake.
I had a hard time understanding the heroine's reluctance to rekindle things with her ex. Everything was all set up in her favor, and her attitude was really the only roadblock. True, she was married, but she never wanted to be with her husband to begin with. She had his blessing to remarry her true love, and personally, that's enough of a green light for me.
Overall, Rosamund was wishy washy and easily the weakest point in the story. One of Willingham's pitfalls is that, while she creates very complex women who aren't afraid to be vulnerable, they're very passive at times. Rosamund fluctuates between taking charge of the manor and shying away from her responsibilities. Willingham kept telling me she was a brave woman and a force to be reckoned with, but I couldn't see it.
This book could've easily been 4 stars if Willingham spent more time setting the scene and showing versus telling. She does a lot of telling. That said, I still find her books enjoyable because I can never guess what's going to happen next, and I like that. Even though I said Rosamund annoyed me, she was still interesting as a weaker character. I recommend this book if you just want something to read through, not think too hard, but still be surprised. It's a fun read!
I had a hard time understanding the heroine's reluctance to rekindle things with her ex. Everything was all set up in her favor, and her attitude was really the only roadblock. True, she was married, but she never wanted to be with her husband to begin with. She had his blessing to remarry her true love, and personally, that's enough of a green light for me.
Overall, Rosamund was wishy washy and easily the weakest point in the story. One of Willingham's pitfalls is that, while she creates very complex women who aren't afraid to be vulnerable, they're very passive at times. Rosamund fluctuates between taking charge of the manor and shying away from her responsibilities. Willingham kept telling me she was a brave woman and a force to be reckoned with, but I couldn't see it.
This book could've easily been 4 stars if Willingham spent more time setting the scene and showing versus telling. She does a lot of telling. That said, I still find her books enjoyable because I can never guess what's going to happen next, and I like that. Even though I said Rosamund annoyed me, she was still interesting as a weaker character. I recommend this book if you just want something to read through, not think too hard, but still be surprised. It's a fun read!
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