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jrathkey's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
The hero was unlikeable, the story moved abruptly, and the heroine was not believable.
julie_m's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
marscandy37's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this story...but, perhaps I would have liked it more had the main character been a bit older.
The story was interesting enough. Lady Anastasia "Tasia" Kapterev is imprisoned for a crime she doesn't even remember committing. She had always been considered weird because of her strange pale stare and ability to "sense" things. She made people uneasy. They thought her evil, a witch and it was easy to assume she was guilty. Even though she doesn't remember a thing from that night, Tasia believes she too is guilty. She had motive enough. After all she was going to be forced into marriage against her will. But she didn't want to die, and that was inevitably what her imprisonment was leading too. In order to escape her fate, she fakes her own death, and willingly exiles herself to England. A penance she believes she deserves as she is leaving her privileged life in Russia, and family behind to be with complete strangers.
She isn't completely safe though, as her mysterious death in prison has aroused suspicion in Russia and she knows that if she is even presumed to be alive she would be brought back to Russia to face the consequences of her actions, and that time there would be no escape. She needs to remain completely invisible, and thus she assumes the false name of Karen Billings, and becomes a governess for an English noble family, believing that as a governess she will be dismissed as just another servant.
Hiring a governess wasn't something that Lord Lucas Stokehurst had set out to do when he went to visit his friends. He also didn't think that Miss "Billings" was capable of the task of teaching his twelve year old daughter, who was currently going through a very precarious stage. Since she had lost her mother in a fire when she was very young she had grown up without a real female influence and not even Luke understood her ever changing moods. Plus, he suspected Miss Billings wasn't at all who she said she was (for one he was sure she was much younger than her stated age of twenty two) and that there were some deep secrets in her past that he didn't want either himself or his daughter to be part of. Yet, he was curious by nature and something about Tasia compelled him to discover what she was hiding behind the her prim and proper facade. And so without meaning to he found himself with her in the carriage, telling himself that it was only a temporary situation, as a favor to his friends.
Soon enough Luke started to see a side of Tasia that drew him to her. He realized she was good for his daughter. Tasia understood Emma the way he never could and the two soon developed a strong bond. Tasia made Luke "feel" again. Even though he'd thought that part of him had died along with his wife. But when Tasia's past starts to slowly creep up on her, she's terrified that she may bring danger to those she has grown to love. Should she run and protect her new family or put her faith, and her life, in the hands of a complete stranger.
I should have liked Tasia, I don't know why I didn't. She seemed like a great character. She was strong, resourceful. I mean it takes guts to drink something you weren't sure wasn't going to kill you. But that was just it, that didn't make sense to me considering how she had been raised. I think it was more to do with how she was portrayed at the beginning as opposed to how she ended up being by the end. She was shown to be this very mature eighteen year old that stood up for her beliefs, and then by the middle of the book, she was talking about pretty dresses and throwing tantrums and acting like a complete brat about the stupidest things. Sometimes it felt like she was pretending to be an adult.
Then there was the little issue of the age difference. The hero was 34 years old and he was trying to seduce a teenager. I know an 18 year old and she just isn't mature enough for that. It made me so uncomfortable. It was worse because at first she didn't act like she was even interested in him. I really tried to get over this. I tried rationalizing it by saying that it was the time period and that she had lived through much more than what a typical eighteen year old would live through. Except I wasn't allowed to forget that she was technically a teen. It kept getting mentioned by the hero, how he was much too old for her, and by the description of her body, like the size of her breasts. It was so distracting. It got so bad that I cringe every time they were intimate.
The one I truly liked out of all the characters was Emma. She was a typical teen, dealing with teen angst. She was on the cusp of womanhood, so her behavior was normal. She was a lovable kid. She was described as lanky and tall. She was awkward about her height and unsure of her body. I liked the scenes with her much more than any romantic scene between Tasia and Luke.
There was a paranormal element to the story that was interesting. But I was a little confused by it at first. It wasn't explained very well in the beginning, so the whole time she was seeing the vision of her ex-fiance I wasn't sure if it was real or all in her head. Actually...I don't think that was ever explained. Did she or did she not see a ghost?
Like I said it was a good book. Not great...but if you can get pass the age difference then I guess you'd probably enjoy it much more than I did. I was considering the second book, but I heard it's even more pedo than this one and I don't think I can go through that again...
3.5 stars
The story was interesting enough. Lady Anastasia "Tasia" Kapterev is imprisoned for a crime she doesn't even remember committing. She had always been considered weird because of her strange pale stare and ability to "sense" things. She made people uneasy. They thought her evil, a witch and it was easy to assume she was guilty. Even though she doesn't remember a thing from that night, Tasia believes she too is guilty. She had motive enough. After all she was going to be forced into marriage against her will. But she didn't want to die, and that was inevitably what her imprisonment was leading too. In order to escape her fate, she fakes her own death, and willingly exiles herself to England. A penance she believes she deserves as she is leaving her privileged life in Russia, and family behind to be with complete strangers.
She isn't completely safe though, as her mysterious death in prison has aroused suspicion in Russia and she knows that if she is even presumed to be alive she would be brought back to Russia to face the consequences of her actions, and that time there would be no escape. She needs to remain completely invisible, and thus she assumes the false name of Karen Billings, and becomes a governess for an English noble family, believing that as a governess she will be dismissed as just another servant.
Hiring a governess wasn't something that Lord Lucas Stokehurst had set out to do when he went to visit his friends. He also didn't think that Miss "Billings" was capable of the task of teaching his twelve year old daughter, who was currently going through a very precarious stage. Since she had lost her mother in a fire when she was very young she had grown up without a real female influence and not even Luke understood her ever changing moods. Plus, he suspected Miss Billings wasn't at all who she said she was (for one he was sure she was much younger than her stated age of twenty two) and that there were some deep secrets in her past that he didn't want either himself or his daughter to be part of. Yet, he was curious by nature and something about Tasia compelled him to discover what she was hiding behind the her prim and proper facade. And so without meaning to he found himself with her in the carriage, telling himself that it was only a temporary situation, as a favor to his friends.
Soon enough Luke started to see a side of Tasia that drew him to her. He realized she was good for his daughter. Tasia understood Emma the way he never could and the two soon developed a strong bond. Tasia made Luke "feel" again. Even though he'd thought that part of him had died along with his wife. But when Tasia's past starts to slowly creep up on her, she's terrified that she may bring danger to those she has grown to love. Should she run and protect her new family or put her faith, and her life, in the hands of a complete stranger.
I should have liked Tasia, I don't know why I didn't. She seemed like a great character. She was strong, resourceful. I mean it takes guts to drink something you weren't sure wasn't going to kill you. But that was just it, that didn't make sense to me considering how she had been raised. I think it was more to do with how she was portrayed at the beginning as opposed to how she ended up being by the end. She was shown to be this very mature eighteen year old that stood up for her beliefs, and then by the middle of the book, she was talking about pretty dresses and throwing tantrums and acting like a complete brat about the stupidest things. Sometimes it felt like she was pretending to be an adult.
Then there was the little issue of the age difference. The hero was 34 years old and he was trying to seduce a teenager. I know an 18 year old and she just isn't mature enough for that. It made me so uncomfortable. It was worse because at first she didn't act like she was even interested in him. I really tried to get over this. I tried rationalizing it by saying that it was the time period and that she had lived through much more than what a typical eighteen year old would live through. Except I wasn't allowed to forget that she was technically a teen. It kept getting mentioned by the hero, how he was much too old for her, and by the description of her body, like the size of her breasts. It was so distracting. It got so bad that I cringe every time they were intimate.
The one I truly liked out of all the characters was Emma. She was a typical teen, dealing with teen angst. She was on the cusp of womanhood, so her behavior was normal. She was a lovable kid. She was described as lanky and tall. She was awkward about her height and unsure of her body. I liked the scenes with her much more than any romantic scene between Tasia and Luke.
There was a paranormal element to the story that was interesting. But I was a little confused by it at first. It wasn't explained very well in the beginning, so the whole time she was seeing the vision of her ex-fiance I wasn't sure if it was real or all in her head. Actually...I don't think that was ever explained. Did she or did she not see a ghost?
Like I said it was a good book. Not great...but if you can get pass the age difference then I guess you'd probably enjoy it much more than I did. I was considering the second book, but I heard it's even more pedo than this one and I don't think I can go through that again...
3.5 stars
14greentrees's review against another edition
1.0
Nope. Nonconsent and an asshole hero
I didn’t finish this book. Got only 36% through before I gave up. I couldn’t get over nonconsensual actions early on. There is a gross age difference between the hero and heroine (34 vs 18). The power dynamics aren’t sexy. Then the hero was an ass to his long-time mistress and I just stopped. The heroine was compelling, but it didn’t outweigh everything else.
I didn’t finish this book. Got only 36% through before I gave up. I couldn’t get over nonconsensual actions early on. There is a gross age difference between the hero and heroine (34 vs 18). The power dynamics aren’t sexy. Then the hero was an ass to his long-time mistress and I just stopped. The heroine was compelling, but it didn’t outweigh everything else.
missylynne's review against another edition
4.0
Lord/governess. Running from the past.
Russian heroine in hiding.
Hero missing a hand.
He falls first.
Russian heroine in hiding.
Hero missing a hand.
He falls first.
jo_jo77's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
eeyores_flowers's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Age gap was a bit concerning
afbaden's review against another edition
It’s hard not to think “the author should have known better” even though this was written in the 90s. There’s too much dubious consent, the relationship between Luke and Tasia isn’t super believable, and I have a hard time with Tasia and Emma only being 6 years apart (and so young). Nothing pulled me in so that I wanted to know more.