caaaaaaaaaaassie's review
4.0
Maybe more of a 3.5. I really liked all of the individual pieces of this book, but something didn’t click for me when it all got put together. The two leads were well done and had obvious chemistry. Loved a bi protagonist, loved that she owned her own business and was independent. But somehow when it all came together it was a little rushed and also too fast at parts? I need to think this over some more.
abbythompson's review
emotional
hopeful
slow-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
3.5
Cat Sebastian is who I turn to for deep, languid stories that are full of introspection, internal monologue, and pining. OH! THE PINING! SO PINEY!
This hit all the marks.
This hit all the marks.
misskrislm's review
3.0
Sebastian loves to put her strong-willed and highly capable heroines in positions where they are forced to recon with their very natures and beliefs. They never get precisely what they say they want at the start, no matter how certain they are, how clearly correct for them, or how easily attained by the heroines. No, they must always compromise on something, not for themselves but for those around them. It's an interesting take on the strength and necessity of women to bring order and life to the lives of men.
andrearaereads's review
3.0
Loved parts of this book - obviously going to keep going through Cat’s catalog because her writing is so fun and immersive and playful. The main couple was okay - I didn’t quite feel their connection.
BUT. Bi protagonist and virgin simp subby love interest??? Adore that. When she ties him up and degrades him just a little??? Like WHAT. I literally had to put the book down.
Off to read more of Cat Sebastian because yes to queer historical romance
BUT. Bi protagonist and virgin simp subby love interest??? Adore that. When she ties him up and degrades him just a little??? Like WHAT. I literally had to put the book down.
Off to read more of Cat Sebastian because yes to queer historical romance
nebelgazer's review
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
whiskeyinthejar's review
3.0
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.
He held out a hairpin.
“When did you start carrying those in your pocket?” she asked, recalling that this was not the first time he had produced a timely hairpin. A very faint blush darkened Ash’s cheekbones and Verity felt her lips curl upward in response.
“I find them all over the house,” he said. “You ought to consider what conditions you’re subjecting your hairpins to if they’d rather plummet to their death than work for you. Here,” he said, lifting a loose tendril of hair. “You expect your pins to do the work of subjugating the masses. It’s oppression. Your hair clearly wants to be free.”
Second in the Regency Imposters series, A Duke in Disguise, stars Verity Plum and John “Ash” Ashby. Verity runs Plum & Co., a publishing company and her long-time friend Ash does illustrations for them. I have not read the first in the series, so I'm not sure if these two were introduced there or if some of their story was already given but I felt a little lost in the beginning, as if I should already have some comfort with these people and their world.
Verity's brother likes to flirt with writing, just about line crossing, seditious editorials, so we have her worried about him and the worry of trying to get him to leave the country. Ash is friends with both of them, which is why he has tried to keep to himself his deep feelings for Verity. When Verity asks him to draw accompanying illustrations to an erotic leaning book, the sexual tension heats up between the two. The beginning was mostly about the danger to the brother, letting the readers know about Ash's long standing feelings for Verity, and Verity starting to warm to the idea of exploring a different kind of relationship with Ash. It was a bit of a bumpy start, as I mentioned, it felt like I should already know these characters and their world and it wasn't until around the mid-way mark that I finally felt placed in the story.
He was going to lose everything that made him who he was.
By the mid-way point, the brother has been dealt with and along with the hesitant touch and go between Verity and Ash, we get a switching of gears with Ash. In a very serendipitous occurrence, he gets commissioned to draw plants for a Lady, who turns out to be his aunt. Ash grew-up in foster care until pre-teens was apprenticed to a man named Roger. For how close and loving his relationship seemed to be with Roger, the reader never gets to meet Roger or see him with Ash, which left an emotional hole in the story for me.
Turns out his aunt faked his death, after his uncle pushed him down the stairs, to protect him because Ash is actually the heir to the Arundel dukedom. His father was put into an asylum because he suffered from, what we would call today, epileptic seizures, which Ash also occasionally suffers from. Ash's uncle is a very cardboard cut-out villain, who acts like a mindless brute when he appears on page. His grandfather, who apparently doted on him when he was a child but barely wants to speak to him now, also ended up feeling like a frivolous character. These two were supposed to round out this storyline but ended up feeling very empty. Ash's aunt gets more page time and has more quality to her character and I would love to see her get a happy ending of her own in the future.
She was necessary to him, and he thought he might be necessary to her.
Ash doesn't act on his feelings for Verity because he doesn't want to ruin the friendship he has with her or her brother. Verity is more of a self-contained person, not wanting to lose her independence, which ties into her vulnerability in being emotionally hurt and how society is currently structured to give all the power to men over women. She had a previous relationship with a woman but ended it after the other woman developed deeper feelings than Verity had. She also doesn't want to jeopardize her friendship with Ash, as the story goes on she begins to realize how important he is to her. Add in how she is against the injustices of a monarchy government and the nobility and you can see the conflicts affecting these two.
When Ash learns he is the Arundel heir, he decides to give himself a month to act on his feelings for Verity, as he doesn't think she will want to see him again once he becomes a part of the nobility. I didn't enjoy this lying by omission to Verity plot and as it folded pretty quickly, I thought it was a weak way to get these two in bed together. I enjoyed Verity's hardness and Ash's congenial personality mesh but with the rocky beginning and then Ash dealing with the dukedom, I had a problem really diving into their characters and feeling them as a couple. It felt like everything was at once impossible for them to be together and then suddenly they were, I didn't feel their emotional journey to get there, which is what I enjoy the most in romances.
And yet, for Ash, she thought she could live with almost anything that let them be together.
The story had a rocky beginning and a busy plot that didn't always have well rounded supporting characters. However, I did enjoy the author's writing style and this world does have some intriguing threads and characters; Ash's aunt, Verity's brother, and one of their friends, Amelia, who writes about infamous historical figures in scandalous settings. I felt Verity and Ash's friendship but I'm not sure I made it to their romance.
He held out a hairpin.
“When did you start carrying those in your pocket?” she asked, recalling that this was not the first time he had produced a timely hairpin. A very faint blush darkened Ash’s cheekbones and Verity felt her lips curl upward in response.
“I find them all over the house,” he said. “You ought to consider what conditions you’re subjecting your hairpins to if they’d rather plummet to their death than work for you. Here,” he said, lifting a loose tendril of hair. “You expect your pins to do the work of subjugating the masses. It’s oppression. Your hair clearly wants to be free.”
Second in the Regency Imposters series, A Duke in Disguise, stars Verity Plum and John “Ash” Ashby. Verity runs Plum & Co., a publishing company and her long-time friend Ash does illustrations for them. I have not read the first in the series, so I'm not sure if these two were introduced there or if some of their story was already given but I felt a little lost in the beginning, as if I should already have some comfort with these people and their world.
Verity's brother likes to flirt with writing, just about line crossing, seditious editorials, so we have her worried about him and the worry of trying to get him to leave the country. Ash is friends with both of them, which is why he has tried to keep to himself his deep feelings for Verity. When Verity asks him to draw accompanying illustrations to an erotic leaning book, the sexual tension heats up between the two. The beginning was mostly about the danger to the brother, letting the readers know about Ash's long standing feelings for Verity, and Verity starting to warm to the idea of exploring a different kind of relationship with Ash. It was a bit of a bumpy start, as I mentioned, it felt like I should already know these characters and their world and it wasn't until around the mid-way mark that I finally felt placed in the story.
He was going to lose everything that made him who he was.
By the mid-way point, the brother has been dealt with and along with the hesitant touch and go between Verity and Ash, we get a switching of gears with Ash. In a very serendipitous occurrence, he gets commissioned to draw plants for a Lady, who turns out to be his aunt. Ash grew-up in foster care until pre-teens was apprenticed to a man named Roger. For how close and loving his relationship seemed to be with Roger, the reader never gets to meet Roger or see him with Ash, which left an emotional hole in the story for me.
Turns out his aunt faked his death, after his uncle pushed him down the stairs, to protect him because Ash is actually the heir to the Arundel dukedom. His father was put into an asylum because he suffered from, what we would call today, epileptic seizures, which Ash also occasionally suffers from. Ash's uncle is a very cardboard cut-out villain, who acts like a mindless brute when he appears on page. His grandfather, who apparently doted on him when he was a child but barely wants to speak to him now, also ended up feeling like a frivolous character. These two were supposed to round out this storyline but ended up feeling very empty. Ash's aunt gets more page time and has more quality to her character and I would love to see her get a happy ending of her own in the future.
She was necessary to him, and he thought he might be necessary to her.
Ash doesn't act on his feelings for Verity because he doesn't want to ruin the friendship he has with her or her brother. Verity is more of a self-contained person, not wanting to lose her independence, which ties into her vulnerability in being emotionally hurt and how society is currently structured to give all the power to men over women. She had a previous relationship with a woman but ended it after the other woman developed deeper feelings than Verity had. She also doesn't want to jeopardize her friendship with Ash, as the story goes on she begins to realize how important he is to her. Add in how she is against the injustices of a monarchy government and the nobility and you can see the conflicts affecting these two.
When Ash learns he is the Arundel heir, he decides to give himself a month to act on his feelings for Verity, as he doesn't think she will want to see him again once he becomes a part of the nobility. I didn't enjoy this lying by omission to Verity plot and as it folded pretty quickly, I thought it was a weak way to get these two in bed together. I enjoyed Verity's hardness and Ash's congenial personality mesh but with the rocky beginning and then Ash dealing with the dukedom, I had a problem really diving into their characters and feeling them as a couple. It felt like everything was at once impossible for them to be together and then suddenly they were, I didn't feel their emotional journey to get there, which is what I enjoy the most in romances.
And yet, for Ash, she thought she could live with almost anything that let them be together.
The story had a rocky beginning and a busy plot that didn't always have well rounded supporting characters. However, I did enjoy the author's writing style and this world does have some intriguing threads and characters; Ash's aunt, Verity's brother, and one of their friends, Amelia, who writes about infamous historical figures in scandalous settings. I felt Verity and Ash's friendship but I'm not sure I made it to their romance.
wynwicket's review
4.0
This was wonderful--best friends become lovers; the heroine is sex-positive, bisexual, and SMART; and the hero is a sweetheart. Also, a little bit of history and insight into the, erm, erotic literature publication industry of the early 1800s. NICE.
accidentalspaceexplorer's review
emotional
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? No
3.75
Honestly, I spent most of this book trying to figure out how these people were connected to the previous book in the series. Finally clicked at the end. But it was fun and sexy, although it's definitely not my favorite of her books.
melbsreads's review
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Trigger warnings: fire, domestic violence, loss of a sibling, institutionalism, ableism, child abuse (in the past)
I freaking LOVED Unmasked by the Marquess, so I was pretty excited to read this. And it didn't disappoint in the slightest. I loved Verity and Ash as narrators, from the mutual pining to the dynamic between them to admitting their feelings and falling in love.
The story DID take a little too long to get going for me, especially given how much the second half of the book focused on Ash's story and possible future, but whatever. I think my biggest pet peeve here is the cover, because there's frequent discussion of their poverty and how Verity only has two dresses - one serviceable brown, and one black for mourning - and that both frequently have ink stains on them. So IDK who the girl in bright pink is on the cover. But it's whatever in the grand scheme of things so I shall stop being a pedantic brat.
I freaking LOVED Unmasked by the Marquess, so I was pretty excited to read this. And it didn't disappoint in the slightest. I loved Verity and Ash as narrators, from the mutual pining to the dynamic between them to admitting their feelings and falling in love.
The story DID take a little too long to get going for me, especially given how much the second half of the book focused on Ash's story and possible future, but whatever. I think my biggest pet peeve here is the cover, because there's frequent discussion of their poverty and how Verity only has two dresses - one serviceable brown, and one black for mourning - and that both frequently have ink stains on them. So IDK who the girl in bright pink is on the cover. But it's whatever in the grand scheme of things so I shall stop being a pedantic brat.
mdvlspencer's review
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was, as always, so good and truly no one is out there doing it like Cat. I LOVE a bisexual female main character and I loved their romance and their personal journeys…