3 stars I received an ARC of this book from the author, and if this were the first book from her that I’d read, I imagine I’d be giving it a higher rating. However, since I have read so many of her books, I kept comparing this one and it came up short. It shared many of the same attributes that I have loved about some of her other books, but the witty banter and the interactions between characters didn't compensate for the annoyances. My biggest complaint was the use of the word “er” in conversation. From the start, Rupert’s speech was peppered with er’s and it made him seem wishy-washy and utterly unappealing. It was hard to overcome that impression, no matter how heroically he might act in certain circumstances. I’d have rathered ellipses to indicate hesitation in speech or even a narrative that described the pauses. Having Rupert say “er” all the time was very off-putting. And why was he so solicitous toward his cousin, who was a complete jerk at every opportunity? I couldn’t have any respect for him because he came across as a bumbling idiot. The other complaint I had was that I couldn’t figure out the logistics of Rupert and Aria, and later Demon, traveling through the countryside. Sometimes they seemed to be inside of the carriage while other times they were outside of it. I think Demon was driving while Rupert and Aria were inside of the carriage, but then he seemed to be a part of the conversation. That just didn’t make sense to me. I rely on the words to relay a picture to my imagination. The travel scenes were murky to me and I just couldn’t see what was happening. Overall, it’s a pretty good story and it was nice to see Princess Aria get her happy ending after she had been such a good friend to Daisy in The Duke Meets His Matchmaker (a 5-star book). I recommend this book with one caveat: it’s not Bianca Blythe’s best. March 27, 2021
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
Categories |