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esadday's review against another edition
4.0
A nice mystery woven into romance
I think this is my favorite so far. John Archer and Lady Vee again make an appearance, but Archer shows his more cunning rather than ornery side, a development I enjoyed.
Anemone is the eldest of her sisters and the only one unwed. Her friends have started having babies and it makes Anemone feel the ache of being on the shelf most strongly. She flees to her aunt and uncle’s house, where things are uncomfortable in a different way. Her uncle is feuding with Frederick Archer, the son of the man responsible for winning Comstock Hall in a game of poker, leaving her aunt and uncle with very little. AND the man keeps trying to steal her uncle’s flower. This makes Comstock frequently livid, with Anemone and her aunt frequently trying to quell his ire.
Lord Wraysbury has come to visit his cousin, Frederick, with the mission of mending the rift with the black sheep of the family. He is finding it difficult since he finds he doesn’t like Frederick very much. Something about him feels off, like he’s hiding something. He meets Anemone after church, when he saves her from being trampled. And so the romance is begun.
Like ‘A Lady in Hiding,’ there is a mystery to be solved: is the 40-year-old mystery about the wager true? John Archer finds the story fishy, especially with both men disappearing after the wager, abandoning their families when they fled.
For me, the mystery was better than ‘ALIH’ in that when the answer to the mystery is revealed, it wasn’t whom I expected. I often have a strong inkling of the culprit, but this time I was surprised :) Thinking back, there were some subtle clues, but they only became clues in hindsight.
Hopefully we will see this pair in subsequent books :) Overall, a solidly enjoyable reading experience.
I think this is my favorite so far. John Archer and Lady Vee again make an appearance, but Archer shows his more cunning rather than ornery side, a development I enjoyed.
Anemone is the eldest of her sisters and the only one unwed. Her friends have started having babies and it makes Anemone feel the ache of being on the shelf most strongly. She flees to her aunt and uncle’s house, where things are uncomfortable in a different way. Her uncle is feuding with Frederick Archer, the son of the man responsible for winning Comstock Hall in a game of poker, leaving her aunt and uncle with very little. AND the man keeps trying to steal her uncle’s flower. This makes Comstock frequently livid, with Anemone and her aunt frequently trying to quell his ire.
Lord Wraysbury has come to visit his cousin, Frederick, with the mission of mending the rift with the black sheep of the family. He is finding it difficult since he finds he doesn’t like Frederick very much. Something about him feels off, like he’s hiding something. He meets Anemone after church, when he saves her from being trampled. And so the romance is begun.
Like ‘A Lady in Hiding,’ there is a mystery to be solved: is the 40-year-old mystery about the wager true? John Archer finds the story fishy, especially with both men disappearing after the wager, abandoning their families when they fled.
For me, the mystery was better than ‘ALIH’ in that when the answer to the mystery is revealed, it wasn’t whom I expected. I often have a strong inkling of the culprit, but this time I was surprised :) Thinking back, there were some subtle clues, but they only became clues in hindsight.
Hopefully we will see this pair in subsequent books :) Overall, a solidly enjoyable reading experience.
mandyla's review
3.0
A very light historical romance / mystery that's really well paced, and just intriguing enough to have me overlook the many things I don't like about this genre typically! (That pretty much sums up the series for me, actually!)
I think this installment of the Archer Family series is a little weaker than #3 - the characters (especially the older male characters) are all a bit caricature-ish, and the plot is a little thin. The dialogue leaned heavily towards an idea of what people back then sounded like and thought, rather than seeming realistic. And the romance again was a little underdeveloped - it felt as though it was just assumed that the two main characters would fall in love and be together, rather than showing us how they might be attracted to each other, and giving us real stakes.
As always though, these are nitpicks from me, a person who doesn't usually read this type of book (unless it's LGBT - then I'm all over it, man!). Obviously there's something about the writing style that keeps me coming back, as I've read 4 of these now... So I'd say if this author / series can keep me reading, an actual fan of this genre would certainly enjoy these books.
I think this installment of the Archer Family series is a little weaker than #3 - the characters (especially the older male characters) are all a bit caricature-ish, and the plot is a little thin. The dialogue leaned heavily towards an idea of what people back then sounded like and thought, rather than seeming realistic. And the romance again was a little underdeveloped - it felt as though it was just assumed that the two main characters would fall in love and be together, rather than showing us how they might be attracted to each other, and giving us real stakes.
As always though, these are nitpicks from me, a person who doesn't usually read this type of book (unless it's LGBT - then I'm all over it, man!). Obviously there's something about the writing style that keeps me coming back, as I've read 4 of these now... So I'd say if this author / series can keep me reading, an actual fan of this genre would certainly enjoy these books.
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