Reviews

The Art of Victory by Martha Keyes

jnak's review

5.0

Loved this book! From just a few chapters in it had me smiling uncontrollably with the war waged between Dianna and Duke, it as such a fun read but it also had real depth of feeling. Great second book in the Donovan Series and I am anxiously awaiting Valentine’s book.

swhence's review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing

5.0

st3fwithanf's review

3.0

I’m conflicted. I’ve never felt this way towards a book. I didn’t like the FMC, Diana for 85% of the book. But I enjoyed the book itself. The Art of Victory flows seamlessly, the banter was brilliant, the chemistry, the story…all wonderful. I absolutely loved the MMC (Duke), so much so that I would have preferred his point of view. Diana didn’t have any growth until the very end of the book, she had her moments but as a whole I didn’t like her.

This was my first book by Martha Keyes, I will definitely be reading more from her.

mackinziereads's review

challenging funny hopeful medium-paced

4.25

janallan's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted slow-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

4.75

Very fun! Couldn’t put it down. 

brittsbooknook's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

-Single POV (FMC)
-Guardian to niece (MMC)

Likes: 👍
-Diana is strong and indpendent.
-Duke is perfect for Diana, the calm to her fierce.
-Meetings in the library.
-Characters admitting when they're wrong.
-Marmaduke being called "Marm" 
-The hand holding

Dislikes: 👎
-Single POV, I wanted to read from Duke's perspective as well.

brokenrecord's review

4.0

Definitely liked this more than Unrequited. I enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers aspect of it, although I suppose they're never truly enemies (especially from Russell's perspective — he's pretty clearly into Diana from the beginning) — more people-with-opposing-goals to lovers, if that's a thing. But their banter was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed them getting to know one another and Diana gradually developing feelings for him. The main plot wasn't bad either and actually kept me guessing about whether Diana or Russell was right about Pike.

Spoiler

I had started to think that he would turn out to be a bad guy, so I found the ending slightly surprising and really enjoyed the resolution.

I will say that, while I understand the time period this was set in, I still hated the whole, "Lucy can't know about her inheritance, she's too trusting/naive, she can't make up her own mind about who she wants to marry, etc." aspect of the plot. I also get that it was part of Diana's character, but I got super tired of the devotion she had to The Art of War and her constantly quoting it (

Spoiler

especially for her and Russell's first kiss to be framed as a "clash of enemy forces" or whatever — sorry but I just don't find that at all appealing!

morganj's review

funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

bookwormwordnerd's review

5.0

The Art of Victory has perfect wit, amazing tension, unexpected twists—it was an entirely delightful read!

Things I Loved:
-Epic banter & wit
-The Donovan brothers
-Pretty epic first kiss & reaction
-Lip-to-lip combat soldier
-“Excellent alliteration.”
-Overflowing cup toast
-Reading with a backdrop of flirting
-Secondary love story
-A perfect HEA

I literally could not stop smiling while I was reading this book. I can’t even stop smiling while writing this review! Duke and Diana are just absolutely hilarious and amazing together. This will definitely be a top read for the year for me.

eb00kie's review

It's just a bit stupid. Try [a:Georgette Heyer|18067|Georgette Heyer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1336748892p2/18067.jpg] instead.

If the heroine is struggling so much to control herself during an average dialogue, then it's drama for the sake of drama