seffra's review
5.0
5 stars!
WOW. I loved this story so much! I loved the characters and the plot.
Yes, I was SOOOOOOO NOT EXCITED about certain THINGS in this book but I felt that even with those events, this story flourished. These characters, they were a force on their own. They stay with you until you pull you back in after putting it down for a bit. I couldn't stop.
Olivia, she was a bit of prude and so snobbish but that was due to her upbringing and it totally made sense. I actually came to love her.
JACK. OMG I loved him in the first book because of how heartless he seemed. Seemed, being the key word because seriously this man's heart knows no bounds. He is a gorgeous man and seeing him fall in love was such a treat.
Oh this book.
WOW. I loved this story so much! I loved the characters and the plot.
Yes, I was SOOOOOOO NOT EXCITED about certain THINGS in this book but I felt that even with those events, this story flourished. These characters, they were a force on their own. They stay with you until you pull you back in after putting it down for a bit. I couldn't stop.
Olivia, she was a bit of prude and so snobbish but that was due to her upbringing and it totally made sense. I actually came to love her.
JACK. OMG I loved him in the first book because of how heartless he seemed. Seemed, being the key word because seriously this man's heart knows no bounds. He is a gorgeous man and seeing him fall in love was such a treat.
Oh this book.
veronian's review
emotional
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
5.0
Welcome to Episode 2 of The Gang Eliminates Another Aristocrat. This book is an onion, it's got many layers and some of them make my eyes water!!
The setup feels like a commentary by Lorraine Heath about the unfairness of how even wealthy women could get fucked over by the legal system overnight, but compared to Cora's in Forever Your Rogue (which also has a single mom at risk of losing custody of her children), Olivia's immediate situation at the beginning of this book is worse despite us knowing that she'll be safe in Jack's hands. Although we know she and her son Henry will be OK, the feeling of Olivia having the rug pulled out from under her and having lost security and autonomy is pretty terrifying and dominates her POV throughout the first half of the book.
Though it's not explicitly stated, it's easy to see that Olivia's hostility towards Jack is out of fear and the loss of that autonomy. It felt like it was a deliberate author choice not to name the source of this fear to challenge us to empathize with Olivia. It's a beautiful thing when they start to trust each other. Reading the first book in this series also helped draw parallels with Jack taking scared kids under his wing turning them into a family, and doing the same thing again with Olivia and Henry.
Re: the ending, though there were hints about what the plot twist was, I kept thinking the whole time that there was no way LH would go there (especially after The Return of the Duke) but not only did she go there!!! but she did it in a way that nailed the character development and made the ending better. Was relieved that the ending also still held that Olivia's previous husband was an absolute coward who was willing to put her in a very Not OK situation, even if it worked out for the best.
Finally, ending spoilers as summarized by my SO: "I'm not the stepdad, I'm the brother who stepped up"
The setup feels like a commentary by Lorraine Heath about the unfairness of how even wealthy women could get fucked over by the legal system overnight, but compared to Cora's in Forever Your Rogue (which also has a single mom at risk of losing custody of her children), Olivia's immediate situation at the beginning of this book is worse despite us knowing that she'll be safe in Jack's hands. Although we know she and her son Henry will be OK, the feeling of Olivia having the rug pulled out from under her and having lost security and autonomy is pretty terrifying and dominates her POV throughout the first half of the book.
Though it's not explicitly stated, it's easy to see that Olivia's hostility towards Jack is out of fear and the loss of that autonomy. It felt like it was a deliberate author choice not to name the source of this fear to challenge us to empathize with Olivia. It's a beautiful thing when they start to trust each other. Reading the first book in this series also helped draw parallels with Jack taking scared kids under his wing turning them into a family, and doing the same thing again with Olivia and Henry.
Spoiler
Re: the ending, though there were hints about what the plot twist was, I kept thinking the whole time that there was no way LH would go there (especially after The Return of the Duke) but not only did she go there!!! but she did it in a way that nailed the character development and made the ending better. Was relieved that the ending also still held that Olivia's previous husband was an absolute coward who was willing to put her in a very Not OK situation, even if it worked out for the best.
Finally, ending spoilers as summarized by my SO: "I'm not the stepdad, I'm the brother who stepped up"
shms's review against another edition
3.0
2.5* This has had a couple of false starts as I had difficulty getting into it, mainly due to an unlikeable heroine. She seemed pretty abrasive at the beginning. I stuck with it and it improved with a likeable hero and a heroine who mellows over time. It was pretty soap opera'ish in its plot line but hey ho, I went with it.
shmsy's review against another edition
3.0
2.5* This has had a couple of false starts as I had difficulty getting into it, mainly due to an unlikeable heroine. She seemed pretty abrasive at the beginning. I stuck with it and it improved with a likeable hero and a heroine who mellows over time. It was pretty soap opera'ish in its plot line but hey ho, I went with it.
hilwithonel's review
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
5.0
I liked this more than the first book of in the Scoundrels of St James series. The tension between the main couple was palpable and I love a forced proximity storyline.
Check trigger warnings on this one!
Check trigger warnings on this one!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia
heyhaley17's review
4.0
Heath as usual does not fail to disappoint. The background for our hero is obvious but it does not go unnecessarily into those details but instead use his past of being sexually abused as a child to move the present plot along-- sometimes background can take over current plot, but in this novel that is not the case. Jack and Olivia are hilarious, they obviously are attracted to each other but they spend the first half of the book rubbing each other the wrong way. It is in the quiet moments and Jack's growing relationship with Henry, Olivia's son, as he takes up the role as guardian. The only down side for me was Olivia's tartness to Jack for so long when he doesn't really deserve it.
lady_wallflower_reads's review
3.0
While I do really enjoy enemies to lovers, this one had a bit too much headbutting. For the first half of the book, it didn't seem like any of their interactions even held the undertone of desire. The amount of times Olivia *screeched* at Jack was 10 times too many to convice me she was into the guy. I did like seeing more of Jack's story after being introduced to him in the first book, but overall I wasn't all that convinced at his and Olivias love story.
maariya_r's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
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
3.5
clairetrellahill's review
4.0
Well this was good but the conclusion did throw me for a loop. I suspected but thought surely not. However, the author goes for it and gives it the weight and discussion it deserves between the characters so I think I’m ok with it. Otherwise this was a very fun scoundrel romance.