A review by shannonlangton
The Seduction of Lady Phoebe by Ella Quinn

3.0

I don't always write my review down (though I know I should, both for others' references and my own remembrance), but I couldn't NOT write something about this one.

I have really been enjoying the Regency Romance genre this past year and thought that the description on this one sounded like it would be fun.

I am not entirely sure, though, how to articulate my experience with this book. It was, in part, expectedly enjoyable, in part, anticlimactic, and in part so left field that I almost got whiplash.

How can one book be all three???
Excellent question.

The live story was cute, I liked the premise. Were there some problems with believability, exaggeration, and not enough depth? Yes, but generally forgivable, especially with a debut novel.

Did it drag on without diving deeper into character development or backstory details? Sure, but I wouldn't stop me reading or enjoying a book overall.

Was there an entire subplot that made no sense to the plot, had a tenuous context, didn't progress in any way that would be believable, and then just tied itself up neatly without fuss and as if the NEFARIOUS VILLAIN never happened? YES! It was so random, bizarre, and unnecessary that I am still baffled that it wasn't an entirely different story that somehow got tacked on to the end of a light romance book.

I'm very glad I experienced this book (and an experience it was!), but I'm not sure if I'd call it a good book. There were a lot of good elements and characters, a fun event conflict to love story line, and the chemistry between Phoebe and Marcus was great. But the prose needed work and making all the aspects work together in a logical way was lacking.