i_hype_romance's review against another edition
3.0
Sooooo..... I could not connect with the characters. The dialogue was meh and the plot was weirdly predictable.
tawnyad2004's review
4.0
I listened to the audio book of this and rather enjoyed it. Sophie was a shy gentle lady who had a streak for the naughty. She enjoyed learning about it and experiencing it with Nate. She didn’t back down when it came to exploring her feelings. Nate’s background of why he can’t love was rather sad. It made you feel bad for him. He didn’t try to play with her heart. He told her upfront he could never love or marry her. I didn’t feel like he used or abused her. It was a struggle for him. Overall an easy book to listen too while I work.
whiskeyinthejar's review
3.0
2.5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Sophie was sent to a young ladies' academy to hopefully make connections so that she can marry well and save her family from impoverishment. While she makes three great friends and they form the Society for Enlightened Young Women, they end up getting expelled for breaking some rules. Now three years later, she may be forced to marry a man she despises to save her family. When one of her friend's invites her to London to spend the season with her, Sophie jumps at the chance.
Nathaniel is a man of his day, he is a viscount, an heir, fought in Waterloo, and lives a life of gentlemanly leisure. However, when some of his antics catch his father's attention, he is given the ultimatum to grow up or be cut off. He doesn't want to marry quite yet but his younger sister's friend is having him thinking thoughts he never has before.
The first in the Disreputable Debutantes series, I enjoyed the friendship between our heroine Sophie and her three friends. We are introduced to them at the ladies' academy and how their curiosity and wanting the same knowledge as their male counterparts gets them thrown out and causes severe consequences for them. I liked how the author aligned the juxtaposition of the rather mild actions of Sophie and her friends with the debauched antics of Nate and his friends and the severe consequences the women faced and the almost complete lack of any for the men. This had me feeling for Sophie but even though Nate was a man of his time, I struggled with how immature him and friends came off and how childish their bets and pranks were.
She bit her lip to suppress a small smile. It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps the viscount might be a little bit infatuated with her too.
The friends decide to hone their flirting skills on rakes, the excuse of already having a scandalous reputation for being thrown out of the academy as their reason, and Sophie's friend caught Nate in Sophie's room due to a drunken mix-up and decides to blackmail him to help them in their quest. This was all a bit shaky to go along with and neither really pans out as the story goes along. I had the same issue with Sophie writing a child's novel and Nate's pain from Waterloo. Both were introduced and occasionally revisited but felt more like afterthoughts in the story, they ended up feeling like “what was the point?” because they didn't add any emotion to the story.
Well, she wouldn’t beg. And if Nathaniel Hastings had a change of heart, he knew where to find her.
With the consequences of Sophie and her friends' actions, along with the lifestyle of Nate, this did have more of a Regency time period feel to it. There also felt like a hint of naughtiness just around the corner. In the beginning with Nate and his friends, there was some threesome talk and just an overall vibe of sexuality. However, I didn't think it completely compromised the historical mood and I actually thought it gave this a bit of a fresh feel because of, for the most part, keeping it to more of teasing the idea. I did struggle with the ending; throughout, Sophie and Nate acknowledge the danger of acting on their feelings only to, what felt like to me, act in a way that wildly went against what felt true to their previously written characters. This not fitting into the fabric of the story or characters ruined any romance I was supposed to get out of it.
Overall, I believed in the lust attraction between the two but not sure I felt the depth of emotion, Sophie and Nate never spent enough quality time together to build this up for me. Sophie's novel writing to try and save her family and Nate's Waterloo pain felt more like footnotes than incorporated into the story enough to provide emotion but the covertly contrasting of consequences for men and women of the time was nicely done. The author lined up enough secondary character series baiting teasers that I will find myself picking up the next Disreputable Debutante's story. There was some emotional depth missing for this but Nate does read Pride and Prejudice, Sophie mentions it is her favorite book, because he is missing Sophie and I can always get enjoyment out of a reading hero.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Sophie was sent to a young ladies' academy to hopefully make connections so that she can marry well and save her family from impoverishment. While she makes three great friends and they form the Society for Enlightened Young Women, they end up getting expelled for breaking some rules. Now three years later, she may be forced to marry a man she despises to save her family. When one of her friend's invites her to London to spend the season with her, Sophie jumps at the chance.
Nathaniel is a man of his day, he is a viscount, an heir, fought in Waterloo, and lives a life of gentlemanly leisure. However, when some of his antics catch his father's attention, he is given the ultimatum to grow up or be cut off. He doesn't want to marry quite yet but his younger sister's friend is having him thinking thoughts he never has before.
The first in the Disreputable Debutantes series, I enjoyed the friendship between our heroine Sophie and her three friends. We are introduced to them at the ladies' academy and how their curiosity and wanting the same knowledge as their male counterparts gets them thrown out and causes severe consequences for them. I liked how the author aligned the juxtaposition of the rather mild actions of Sophie and her friends with the debauched antics of Nate and his friends and the severe consequences the women faced and the almost complete lack of any for the men. This had me feeling for Sophie but even though Nate was a man of his time, I struggled with how immature him and friends came off and how childish their bets and pranks were.
She bit her lip to suppress a small smile. It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps the viscount might be a little bit infatuated with her too.
The friends decide to hone their flirting skills on rakes, the excuse of already having a scandalous reputation for being thrown out of the academy as their reason, and Sophie's friend caught Nate in Sophie's room due to a drunken mix-up and decides to blackmail him to help them in their quest. This was all a bit shaky to go along with and neither really pans out as the story goes along. I had the same issue with Sophie writing a child's novel and Nate's pain from Waterloo. Both were introduced and occasionally revisited but felt more like afterthoughts in the story, they ended up feeling like “what was the point?” because they didn't add any emotion to the story.
Well, she wouldn’t beg. And if Nathaniel Hastings had a change of heart, he knew where to find her.
With the consequences of Sophie and her friends' actions, along with the lifestyle of Nate, this did have more of a Regency time period feel to it. There also felt like a hint of naughtiness just around the corner. In the beginning with Nate and his friends, there was some threesome talk and just an overall vibe of sexuality. However, I didn't think it completely compromised the historical mood and I actually thought it gave this a bit of a fresh feel because of, for the most part, keeping it to more of teasing the idea. I did struggle with the ending; throughout, Sophie and Nate acknowledge the danger of acting on their feelings only to, what felt like to me, act in a way that wildly went against what felt true to their previously written characters. This not fitting into the fabric of the story or characters ruined any romance I was supposed to get out of it.
Overall, I believed in the lust attraction between the two but not sure I felt the depth of emotion, Sophie and Nate never spent enough quality time together to build this up for me. Sophie's novel writing to try and save her family and Nate's Waterloo pain felt more like footnotes than incorporated into the story enough to provide emotion but the covertly contrasting of consequences for men and women of the time was nicely done. The author lined up enough secondary character series baiting teasers that I will find myself picking up the next Disreputable Debutante's story. There was some emotional depth missing for this but Nate does read Pride and Prejudice, Sophie mentions it is her favorite book, because he is missing Sophie and I can always get enjoyment out of a reading hero.
raciethereader's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 for a solid and saucy historical romance. I never read this author before but would love to continue this series. It feels like a fresh take. I adored Sophie and Nate and am glad they found their HEA.
jbrooxd's review
4.0
I liked the chemistry between the two main characters in this book. The story wasn't necessarily anything new or revolutionary in the genre, but it was well written and enjoyable. (Language, sex)
mslori's review
3.0
I enjoyed most of this book, up until the last 15% or so. Which I really didn't like, so this is more of a 2.5 than a full 3 stars.
I didn't feel much for Nate and his drama and his "why I can't love" bull, he came off a whiny man-child too me.
And Sophie's whole I'll only marry for love, even though she had a reasonably good man offer for her, she's poor and needs a stable marriage for her and her family, and by not excepting the reasonable man she would likely be forced into another marriage for money with someone awful. All that made her stupid and selfish.
And then the ending was just silly.
Spoiler
I didn't feel much for Nate and his drama and his "why I can't love" bull, he came off a whiny man-child too me.
And Sophie's whole I'll only marry for love, even though she had a reasonably good man offer for her, she's poor and needs a stable marriage for her and her family, and by not excepting the reasonable man she would likely be forced into another marriage for money with someone awful. All that made her stupid and selfish.
And then the ending was just silly.
Spoiler
Sneaking off together after having lunch with her parents, I get that they wanted to bang it out, but Nate dragging her off the local inn where you are likely to just cause additional scandal Sophie doesn't need.erinleader's review
1.0
This is the first audiobook I have ever listened to and not been able to finish. It was free on Audible so I have it a try but wasn’t able to get through chapter 5. I think the story had potential but narration was just awful and because of that I couldn’t get into the story and had to turn it off.
taisie22's review
5.0
Sophie Brightwell and her friends are expelled from their elite ladies academy due a mischievious exploit that tarnishes their reputations with society. Three years later, Sophie visits her friend Lady Charlotte in an attempt to burnish their soiled standings. Nate, Lord Malverne and Charlotte's rakehell brother, is fascinated by his sister's friend but has no intention of marrying.
I love both Sophie and Nate. Her combination of shyness and boldness works here, and Nate's rue over his reputation and stubbornness is only endearing. The story moves along nicely; I stayed up late reading it.
I'm looking forward to the next books in the series. All the characters are fascinating in their distinct ways, and I really like this new-to-me author's style of writing.
I love both Sophie and Nate. Her combination of shyness and boldness works here, and Nate's rue over his reputation and stubbornness is only endearing. The story moves along nicely; I stayed up late reading it.
I'm looking forward to the next books in the series. All the characters are fascinating in their distinct ways, and I really like this new-to-me author's style of writing.