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A review by cakt1991
Her Seafaring Scoundrel by Sophie Barnes
3.0
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
In the cruelest of ironies, Her Seafaring Scoundrel, the first Sophie Barnes book I’ve been able to get an ARC copy of, is something of a disappointment. I don’t know how to feel, given I was also underwhelmed by the previous book, and I’m wondering if it’s me and my dissatisfaction with a lot of historical romance in the “traditional” vein, or just my growing lack of patience with books that are too light to the point of feeling directionless.
There are the elements of a good story here. Cassandra has dealt with scandal due to giving birth to an illegitimate child after the father died before they could get married. Devlin proposes a marriage with the possibility of security for herself and her daughter, although she is still torn apart by grief. And there’s even a past connection between him and her deceased lover, which inspires guilt in him and some conflict in their fledgling marriage.
But other than that, I just didn’t feel the spark, and while I used to love Barnes for writing on the sweeter side, I still expected some sort of heat in their romantic interactions, and there is none.
This one was very much an “it’s not you, it’s me” sort of thing, and I hope it’s not a case of having grown out of her style. But if you love a nice sweet, low-angst historical romance, then I recommend this one.
In the cruelest of ironies, Her Seafaring Scoundrel, the first Sophie Barnes book I’ve been able to get an ARC copy of, is something of a disappointment. I don’t know how to feel, given I was also underwhelmed by the previous book, and I’m wondering if it’s me and my dissatisfaction with a lot of historical romance in the “traditional” vein, or just my growing lack of patience with books that are too light to the point of feeling directionless.
There are the elements of a good story here. Cassandra has dealt with scandal due to giving birth to an illegitimate child after the father died before they could get married. Devlin proposes a marriage with the possibility of security for herself and her daughter, although she is still torn apart by grief. And there’s even a past connection between him and her deceased lover, which inspires guilt in him and some conflict in their fledgling marriage.
But other than that, I just didn’t feel the spark, and while I used to love Barnes for writing on the sweeter side, I still expected some sort of heat in their romantic interactions, and there is none.
This one was very much an “it’s not you, it’s me” sort of thing, and I hope it’s not a case of having grown out of her style. But if you love a nice sweet, low-angst historical romance, then I recommend this one.