The Perils of Pleasure (Pennyroyal Green, #1)

by Julie Anne Long

[Amanda]

Holy crumb. I was all ready to be very annoyed with The Perils of Pleasure. What the synopsis won't tell you -- but you learn very early on in the story, so it's not a spoiler -- is that beyond Colin wanting (needing!) to prove his innocence, he also wants to reach Pennyroyal Green to stop his brother from marrying Louisa Porter -- aka, not Madeleine Greenway, the heroine of the story.

Naturally, Colin is drawn to Madeleine as they dodge people who want them dead and, you know, everyone who wants a piece of Colin for the 100 pound reward for bringing him in. But even as Colin is drawn to Madeleine, he continues this quest to marry Louisa, and it. was. annoying. That kind of thread in a romance drives me crazy.

But I took a short break and realized that when you've been nearly hanged for a murder you didn't commit, you probably need something to hold onto to keep you moving. And that's what Louisa was for Colin, though it took him far too long to realize it.

Anyway. Toward the second half of the book, we see less of Colin's thought process about Louisa and more of Madeleine's feelings toward Colin. So you get an idea that Colin is going through THINGS, but not really what those are. Which kind of also contributed to the annoyance I had, but I also think that maybe it's better we didn't have to go through the angst of his thoughts/feelings.

Moving on.

This felt very much like a first book of the series, in that it wasn't the best representation of Julie Anne Long's writing, especially compared to later books in the series. There were some rough spots, and the ebook version I read didn't have clear markings where POVs changed, so sometimes the switch was more jarring than I would have liked.

Some POVs were of lesser characters, and although I can see why they were important for the story, I didn't spend a lot of time reading them, preferring instead Colin and Madeleine's journey. But. You've gotta read the first of a series -- even if it's not in order -- and I liked seeing how this all got started.

Plus, there's a revelation at the end that had me raising an eyebrow and wanting to reread everything I've read thus far to see how it's brought in. (Or if it is at all.) Which also leads me to wonder how a new reader to the series would process all the people and players here -- it's a huge cast of characters, and many of them I "recognized" from other books.

Still. Good book. I have a couple more of the Pennyroyal Green series books on my Kindle -- the earlier ones I haven't gotten to yet -- and I'm looking forward to diving into those, since I have a feeling these books get better as they go.