I found the plot, dialogue and romance to be quite weak in this book. Also I thought it was quite short in pages. It could have been really good - the plot sounded great from the synopsis on the back of the book, but the idea was far better than the actual story.
Not as good as some of her other books. It was really promising, really romantic, I loved the 'eyes meeting across a crowded room' thing that she had in the first few chapters. But once the characters left the bar all the tension seemed to leave the book. Everything became about the baby the female character was carrying, her heart condition that made continuing to carry the baby so dangerous, and the best way to save both her and the baby. Then at the very end, after the baby was born, the tension from the beginning returned, but still, only in a smaller way.
I felt that this book had a lot of the same ideas as a number of more well-known romance writers, and so, felt it was pretty much same old, same old with the plot - nothing new or exciting here.
I've read other Mary Balogh books and found this to be one of her least engaging. The plot of the story called for an arranged, mostly romance free marriage. Supposedly, they fell in love with each other during the last 2 thirds of the book, but I found the romance scenes to be quite passionless, even the "honeymoon scene." Not recommended for someone who enjoys a real "love" story, as I didn't feel the love in this story. In the back cover description it says this is the first in a quartet of regency romances, hopefully the others are more engaging.
I did not think this romance book had enough romance (which I found surprising for Debra Mullins, as most of her other books are quite romance filled). There was only one and a half romance scenes and I was expecting more.
Both the stories were good, although they had the familiar theme of the males seeing/smelling THEIR WOMAN and just knowing that she's THE ONE for them forever. That seems to be a common theme among romances at the moment. The romance scenes were appropriately frequent, but too short. I liked the fact that the two stories were the start of a group of stories involving the same two or three families. I look forward to reading other books in the series.
The plot was good and the action scenes were engaging, but the writing was a bit weird. Clancy added too much description of details that were completely unnecessary to the narrative of the story. For example he would write something like "Jack retrieved the steaks, which he'd picked up from the butcher on his way home from work before marinating them in his own special steak sauce, from the fridge and placed them on the barbeque, where they started sizzling immediately." I don't think Clancy should have spent so much time and energy describing mostly irrelevant information like this in such detail. As I said before the action scenes were engaging, but the long, slightly boring and overly wordy breaks in between the action scenes left me feeling bored and wanting to skim the pages to find the action and parts of the plot relevant to the story. I would recommend the first few chapters while they are in London and then the final few chapters while they are on the final chase for the terrorists - they were the most interesting parts. Most of the story in the middle could be condensed into one or two chapters quite easily without losing anything of the plot. Might try one of Clancy's later books to see if his style of writing has changed in the 25 years or so since he wrote Patriot Games.
I enjoyed this book but enjoyed the movie version more. I found the book dragged on a bit (especially after watching the movie first, and therefore already knowing what was going to happen next). I also found some parts of the plot a bit tame.
Really enjoyed this first in a four-part series. I liked the tension and fun between Annabelle and Simon and I also liked the personalities of the other girls, especially the American debutantes Lilian and Daisy, who seem fiery and good heroines for future books in the series.
Ignore the warning on the back cover at your own peril - this is VERY HOT. I wouldn't call this a romance book, it's a bit too gritty for that, more of a raunchy, rough love book. No sweet, heart-warming romance scenes in this book.
I found some of the dialogue in this book a bit awkward and stilted. The romance was pretty good, but I wasn't a big fan of the 'Robin Hood is a girl using ninja skills' plot idea, I found it a bit silly.
For the first two thirds of the book I found this really quite slow and a bit of a struggle to stick with (the only reason I was able to keep going was the fact that it was only a couple of hundred pages long and I felt that I would be giving up too easily if I couldn't finish a book that short). The last third of the book was quite a bit better and more interesting. I intend to read more of Peter Ackroyd's books so I hope that this book is not a sign of things to come or the best of them all.
This was a very interesting book, a little bit gruesome, so if you're squeamish or a young person, this isn't the book for you. The author gained the trust of a number of serial killers and so got a very detailed account of a number of murders of men, women, and children. I love true crime and so found this fascinating, but it isn't for everyone.
Not a very interesting romance. Not enough naked gentlemen :). I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and I probably wouldn't read any of her other books.
Great book!! My first Cassandra Clare book. I just happened to see it on the new and recently returned books shelf. I loved the dark and grimy late 19th century London setting. Very atmospheric, almost a character in the book like Tessa or Will. I look forward to the rest of this series and to reading the original series too.
Another great romance from Elizabeth Lowell, except that I think that when they re-released it she should have written a few extra chapters to give the story a bit more body and the characters a bit more personality and back-story. She did this about 10 years ago when they re-released Summer Games as Remember Summer. I haven't read the original version, but Remember Summer is one of my all time favourite romances. I think Lowell could have done something similar with Sweet Wind, Wild Wind and improved it as she most certainly did with Remember Summer.
