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julie2525's review against another edition
3.0
Themes: Boss-Employee, Age difference, Working class romance (upper-middle)
I mostly liked it. It's not her best work as a romance, but I quite liked the Hero & Villain. I could give or take Sophia, mostly give. Honestly, this seems like it is a prologue to Bow Street Runners #3. The story begins as Sophia seeks a job with Ross. Ross gives her the jobs of an assistant and a housemaid. Implied sexual chemistry leads to so. much. sex. Boss-employee sex. Then—gasp—jealousy. More sex. Marriage. Plot things. Intrigue. Finale. The climax is bit slow on the uptake and doesn't happen until the very, very end. In retrospect, I like the resolution a lot.
I mostly liked it. It's not her best work as a romance, but I quite liked the Hero & Villain. I could give or take Sophia, mostly give. Honestly, this seems like it is a prologue to Bow Street Runners #3. The story begins as Sophia seeks a job with Ross. Ross gives her the jobs of an assistant and a housemaid. Implied sexual chemistry leads to so. much. sex. Boss-employee sex. Then—gasp—jealousy. More sex. Marriage. Plot things. Intrigue. Finale. The climax is bit slow on the uptake and doesn't happen until the very, very end. In retrospect, I like the resolution a lot.
nrppiap's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Second book in Bowstreet series. Its a easy reading with fun plot line!
jody_diou's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
liketheainapple's review against another edition
4.25
Banger. Really hot romance. Loved Sophia's conflicting loyalties. Shoutout socked feet and exercise chairs during sex. Still figuring out how I feel about centering a book on a cop, but I did actually learn more about London policing and incarceration, and it was super interesting.
One issue I had was that I thought it would've been more interesting if Ross maintained more love for his first wife. One of his main character traits in the previous book is that he loved his wife and no one has ever matched up, so I didn't initially love that Sophia transformed his character and made him renounce that level of devotion. People can have multiple loves and they can be expressed differently but one doesn't have to be better.
One issue I had was that I thought it would've been more interesting if Ross maintained more love for his first wife. One of his main character traits in the previous book is that he loved his wife and no one has ever matched up, so I didn't initially love that Sophia transformed his character and made him renounce that level of devotion. People can have multiple loves and they can be expressed differently but one doesn't have to be better.
emilykateduvall's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
bysarahalexander's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
tiredfangirl's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, not up to Kleypas’s usual standards. If you didn’t like this, I would still recommend her more recently written series.
While in the first book I found the tropes soap-opera-esque and enjoyable, in this book I found them underdeveloped and misused. Plotlines get resolved at a speed where I’m confused why they were there in the first place. At a certain point, it just felt like she was pulling classic romance plot points out of a hat.I think you could cut out the whole brother revenge plot and I don’t think it would even make a difference in the development of the romance.
That being said, I enjoyed the characters all the way through, so I will be finishing the series. I didn’t hate it THAT much. But every time a new conflict appeared, it came with a major eye roll.
While in the first book I found the tropes soap-opera-esque and enjoyable, in this book I found them underdeveloped and misused. Plotlines get resolved at a speed where I’m confused why they were there in the first place. At a certain point, it just felt like she was pulling classic romance plot points out of a hat.
That being said, I enjoyed the characters all the way through, so I will be finishing the series. I didn’t hate it THAT much. But every time a new conflict appeared, it came with a major eye roll.
bkmaes's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
clurff's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-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? Yes
2.5