Reviews

Always by Lynsay Sands

radioativaa's review

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lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

julie_m's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

espurrr's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-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

4.0

I liked the farting horse.

lyratorg's review against another edition

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1.0

It had a promising start but devolved into annoying tropes and utter stupidity from the main characters. I usually like this author but I don't know what happened with this one.

izmc's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

  1. Men suck. 
  2. I have read four different versions of this exact book. The next time I’m insecure, I will think about how no one cares about this book existing in so many different exact versions. 

roxnn2000's review against another edition

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3.0

Gave this audiobook version 3 stars

I don't know if it was the way that the story was read or if was just the story itself, but there were moments that I felt really bored.

Rosamunde is the the king's bastard daughter, raised in a convent and ready to take the veil and become a nun. That was until her father declared she would marry Aric and she found herself promising to love, honor and obey. Rosamunde's education didn't include what would happen the wedding night, but Aric is all too willing to teach his new bride everything she could ever want to know. Although they were pushed together under incredible circumstances they can't help but fall for the other.

When I read the summary of this story I felt like this would be full of laughs as Rosamunde fights with her husband at every turn and there are a lot of crazy misunderstandings between them, especially with the gaps in her education. At first that was exactly what I got and was pulled in easily as they spend their first night together. However, that lead me into several chapters of slow moving events and boring conversations.

There were moments when the danger the King was worried about would pop up and those were interesting, but only slightly. Within seconds of the first incident happening, I was able to figure out who was trying to hurt the main characters, even with all the red herrings floating about. This pulled me away from the story and I just wanted to get to the end.

While I expected Rosamunde to be strong-willed and defiant against her unwanted husband, I instead got an obedient wife. There were moments when she would show that defiance, but it was few and far-between. I was expecting her to be one way and she ended up another, which pulled me out of the story a bit.

Aric was kind of annoying as well. I can understand being wary of women after his last relationship ended with his girl cheating on him, but he automatically assumes that Rosamunde will be the same and continuously keeps comparing the two of them and punishing Rosamunde for the other woman's mistake. It went on for way too long in my opinion as I figured at some point he would realize that she wasn't the same without basically having to be told that, as he was several times.

Overall, I liked parts of the story, but found that I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was able to figure out what the threat was pretty quickly and felt disconnected the longer the story went on. Don't think that I will listen to this story again, but I might pick it up and give it an actual read to see if maybe it improves the story. It will be a bit though.

excel_spreadsheet_book_nerd's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

balletbookworm's review against another edition

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3.0

Interesting historical idea, if Henry had just one child who didn't turn on him and she was the one he actually gave a care for....

winterreader40's review

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3.0

3.5 stars
A bride that was supposed to be a nun, a farting horse and a jealous hero.
The night before Rosamunde is to become a nun her father(the king) forces her to marry Aric instead, who just two days before broke his betrothal to his cheating ex.
Awkward is the best way to describe how this book starts, especially when a nun explains to our heroine how sex works, my jaw dropped a few times and the eye rolls where many, and then based on this terrible explanation and her impatience/embarrassment she forces the act and hurts herself. His awkwardness and embarrassment are just as intense, but he is immediately concerned and tries help her avoid hurting herself more.
Watching him be an over protective jerk got old before he started to learn but at least he did learn.
This was entertaining, not sure I'd read it again but it was a good one night/read stand.