A review by bubblewombat
Tempting the Scoundrel by House Devon, Tracy Sumner
3.0
When we first see our hero Christian, he's fifteen and staying at his cousin's house after the loss of his brother. An aspiring watchmaker, he's on his way to an internship that's destined to change his life, when he happens upon a maid, reading a book under the light of an oil lamp and he's instantly smitten. If only he had the courage to speak to her.
Ten years later, the maid, Raine, is now a part of a different household, one that Christian visits to fix a watch or something or other. None of that matters when they come face to face. For Christian, who's been fantasising about her for a decade, it's hard to contain his emotions, while for Raine it's a completely new experience.
Christian is ready to marry her, because no other woman has ever come close to the feeling she gave him and he loves her even more now, but Raine is a bit reluctant, thinking she could bring nothing to the marriage. Do these two have a future?
This book started off promising and sweet but only went downhill from there. Okay, not completely downhill, but from five stars it dropped to four and then to three.
We didn't get to properly meet young Raine, or see inside her head which is fine, her love of books stays constant. But young Christian seemed adorable and then older Christian...I don't get it.
How did that sweet boy become, well THAT? It's not like he had anyone else to lose during the ten year period. And the wenches were a bit excessive.
Raine is his "white whale" so his attraction is justified but I do think he praised her a bit too much for the few words they'd shared. Meanwhile Raine's attraction develops too fast. If she met him or at least SAW him, outside of that one time out of the corner of her eye ten years ago then it would be more believable.
It almost feels as if he loved her, convinced her she loves him and then married her before she had time to think about it. YOU HAD TEN YEARS, SHE HAD THREE DAYS, COME ON.
Regardless, the writing style was nice and I did enjoy this a good amount. The supporting characters were great. I'm also happy that there was no antagonist. I was expecting one near the end because that's just when they appear but when one didn't come I was glad. Their strange fast paced romance didn't deserve to get ruined like that.
*Thank you to BookSirens for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Ten years later, the maid, Raine, is now a part of a different household, one that Christian visits to fix a watch or something or other. None of that matters when they come face to face. For Christian, who's been fantasising about her for a decade, it's hard to contain his emotions, while for Raine it's a completely new experience.
Christian is ready to marry her, because no other woman has ever come close to the feeling she gave him and he loves her even more now, but Raine is a bit reluctant, thinking she could bring nothing to the marriage. Do these two have a future?
This book started off promising and sweet but only went downhill from there. Okay, not completely downhill, but from five stars it dropped to four and then to three.
We didn't get to properly meet young Raine, or see inside her head which is fine, her love of books stays constant. But young Christian seemed adorable and then older Christian...I don't get it.
How did that sweet boy become, well THAT? It's not like he had anyone else to lose during the ten year period. And the wenches were a bit excessive.
Raine is his "white whale" so his attraction is justified but I do think he praised her a bit too much for the few words they'd shared. Meanwhile Raine's attraction develops too fast. If she met him or at least SAW him, outside of that one time out of the corner of her eye ten years ago then it would be more believable.
It almost feels as if he loved her, convinced her she loves him and then married her before she had time to think about it. YOU HAD TEN YEARS, SHE HAD THREE DAYS, COME ON.
Regardless, the writing style was nice and I did enjoy this a good amount. The supporting characters were great. I'm also happy that there was no antagonist. I was expecting one near the end because that's just when they appear but when one didn't come I was glad. Their strange fast paced romance didn't deserve to get ruined like that.
*Thank you to BookSirens for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*