Reviewed by Katie King on
wow so i had a really hard time with this one. i enjoy the occasional romance novel, don’t get me wrong. i’ve liked a fair number of them. and i’ve also read sarah maclean before.
this was just...NOT her best work by FAR. first of all, calpurnia/callie is the whiniest girl ever. we are constantly reminded of her virtue and stellar reputation, but not really shown that? and the entire book, she’s trying to ruin it anyway?
the constant miscommunications/misunderstandings between her and gabriel where they would do something sexual, then someone would make a comment/do something to be misinterpreted, and the other person would think ‘tis not meant to be/won’t work, i must treat them like shit from now on’ was SO EXHAUSTING. i get foreplay, i get cat and mouse games, but DAMN.
and interspersing that was...nothing i cared about. the subplot about a bastard child trying to prove her worth to some snobby assholes was boring. the reputation conflict (?) with callie’s brother what’s-his-face was boring. the maybe-love-triangle with gabriel’s brother what’s-his-face-st.-john was boring. i was just either bored or frustrated the entire time.
the ONLY reason this doesn’t have one star is because i think part of what i felt was intended by sarah maclean, and for that, her execution was good.
this is book 3/105 of my 2020 booklr challenge! check out the full list here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5714101?shelf=challenge-booklr-2020
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 9 January, 2020: Finished reading
- 9 January, 2020: Reviewed