showmethemonet's review against another edition
3.0
3.25 Stars. Easily the best book in Bowman's Secret Brides series. These just can't compete with her Playful Brides books, but it was interesting to read these and watch her grow as a writer!
laurla's review against another edition
3.0
-3 stars. kindle 324 pages.
-a very romance-trope book with her refusing to marry him, and then him refusing her. eventually they both realize they're fucking idiots and live happily ever after.
"the mind is its own place and in itself, can make a heave of hell, a hell of heaven."
"you're always trying to fix everything. always trying to make things right. don't you know by now that not everything can be fixed?"
"it smells worse than i feel." [in regards to a hangover cure he's supposed to drink.]
"if you're going to be a scandal, darling, be a complete scandal."
-a very romance-trope book with her refusing to marry him, and then him refusing her. eventually they both realize they're fucking idiots and live happily ever after.
"the mind is its own place and in itself, can make a heave of hell, a hell of heaven."
"you're always trying to fix everything. always trying to make things right. don't you know by now that not everything can be fixed?"
"it smells worse than i feel." [in regards to a hangover cure he's supposed to drink.]
"if you're going to be a scandal, darling, be a complete scandal."
thenia's review against another edition
3.0
The story of the publisher of the scandalous pamphlets, "Lord Perfect", and a duchess accused of the murder of her estranged husband.
I enjoyed the first half of the story but after a point I felt that the story lagged a bit and became needlessly dramatic. It didn't help that the female lead starts behaving idiotically because she thinks it's the right, selfless thing to do.
While I usually enjoy Justine Eyre's narrations, this time her interpretation of Kate exaggerated the problem for me, making her sound whiny and overly dramatic. Also, as in the previous book, there's entirely too much winking!
Medford remains the character I liked most in the series and his story, at least from his side, did not disappoint.
I enjoyed the first half of the story but after a point I felt that the story lagged a bit and became needlessly dramatic. It didn't help that the female lead starts behaving idiotically because she thinks it's the right, selfless thing to do.
While I usually enjoy Justine Eyre's narrations, this time her interpretation of Kate exaggerated the problem for me, making her sound whiny and overly dramatic. Also, as in the previous book, there's entirely too much winking!
Medford remains the character I liked most in the series and his story, at least from his side, did not disappoint.
stellar_raven's review
3.0
*I won this book through Goodreads FirstReads Giveaways.*
Actual rating 2.5 stars
This book...was just not my cup of tea.
I found I could not really care for either the hero or the heroine all that much as they didn't feel like three dimensional characters to me. The hero was too perfect at first (and by the time that facade cracked a little, it was too late), and it never bodes well for the heroine when her most defining trait seems to be her beauty. I am not sure more than five pages went by at a time when we weren't reminded how exquisite she was.
The book was slow to get going, but did get much better during the middle sections, before losing me again at the end. I think the murder was resolved way too easily and too soon, and the last quarter or so of the book was a bit too melodramatic with the push and pull between the H/h for my personal taste.
And...I'm actually pretty good at suspending my disbelief when reading, but there were instances in this book that really strained that ability. The whole ball thing was the biggest one. It totally took me out of the story.
Actual rating 2.5 stars
This book...was just not my cup of tea.
I found I could not really care for either the hero or the heroine all that much as they didn't feel like three dimensional characters to me. The hero was too perfect at first (and by the time that facade cracked a little, it was too late), and it never bodes well for the heroine when her most defining trait seems to be her beauty. I am not sure more than five pages went by at a time when we weren't reminded how exquisite she was.
The book was slow to get going, but did get much better during the middle sections, before losing me again at the end. I think the murder was resolved way too easily and too soon, and the last quarter or so of the book was a bit too melodramatic with the push and pull between the H/h for my personal taste.
And...I'm actually pretty good at suspending my disbelief when reading, but there were instances in this book that really strained that ability. The whole ball thing was the biggest one. It totally took me out of the story.
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