by Vicky Dreiling
Publisher: ForeverRelease Date: March 27, 2012
Source: sent by publisher
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Summary from goodreads.com:
Amy Hardwick has one last Season to shake off her wallflower image and make a love match. If she can't, she'll set aside her dreams of romance and return home to a suitor who can provide security-if little else. What she doesn't count on is the inappropriate-and irresistible-attention lavished on her in a darkened library by rake extraordinaire Will "The Devil" Darcett . . .
When Will is caught in a tryst with the ton's shyest miss, he knows he must offer for her hand. Yet Amy is not the shrinking violet she seems to be. Passion lies beneath her prim exterior and Will is eager to release it. But winning Amy isn't simply a matter of seduction; first, Will must convince her that he's mended his wicked ways . . .
My Review:
I've been hoping for one of the author's books to live up to her debut, but it hasn't happened yet. This book was okay, but it just wasn't on that fantastic level of her first book. There were aspects that I did enjoy about this story, but I think the focus on the bedroom scenes and the silliness of their wager left a bad taste for me.
I've loved the characters of Amy and Georgette since the first book in the series, so maybe I was hoping for more in "their story" (Amy gets to be the lead, while Georgette has a small supporting love story). However, I do still love Amy and how she grows out of her awkward wallflower role into a Regency fashionista.
I also enjoyed Will's growth from the bad boy into a sweet, caring husband. I liked that the sweetness was always there, it wasn't a 360 degree change in his character. The bad boy image turned out just to be a facade to keep people out of his life.
Where the story hit roadblocks for me was that there was just so much focus on the bedroom. There were some scenes with an overall eww factor and it just seemed to take over the sweet story. Also, the wager the couple made between each other was just silly to me, and then the REAL conflict of the story wasn't even fleshed out or resolved until the very end of the book.
Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 3/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Bottom Line: This book was nice, but it could have been a lot better with some tweaking.
GIVEAWAY RULES:
Hachette books has generously provided three copies of this historical romance for readers of my blog!
All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address! Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addyExtra Entries:
+1 Tweet this contest (leave link in comment)
+1 Post link in sidebar of your blog (leave link in comment)
Rules:
- US and Canada only
- No PO Boxes please
- Must be a follower to enter
- Extra entries are optional and can all be left in the same comment
- Leave a comment with your email address
- Books will be mailed out by Hachette, it is the publisher's responsibility to mail out the prizes. Please allow up to 8 weeks for delivery.
- Must be 18 or over
Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!
- Ends Mon April 16
If you think this book sounds good, here are some reviews of other books that I've read by this author:
"How to Marry a Duke" Review (my favorite by the author)
Thanks for hosting Vicky!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win this.Thanks for the honest review.
ReplyDeleteGFC follower-elaing8
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I'm really looking forward to reading How to Ravish a Rake. There's just something about a rake that I can't get enough of, especially when he has met his match in an intelligent lady.
ReplyDeleteBarbed1951 at aol dot com
GFC follower - Barbara E.
I follow you!
ReplyDeleteEven though you weren't crazy about the book, my interest is still piqued-I love a reformed bad boy :)
kathryn.clewell[at]gmail[dot]com
I haven't read her debut I like the sound of this story. Also it's nice to hear former main characters do make an appearance so if I like one story I can search out the character's story in another book.
ReplyDeleteCambonified{at}yahoo{dot}com
Too bad it has not lived up to the debut..any of the books
ReplyDeleteMmm. this sounds interesting, I think I got the first book somewhere in my tbr pile, probably because of your review! I shall dig it up :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review and the giveaway, I like the sound of the hero, though it also sounds like there wasn't a solid conflict
Sounds ike it didn't meet your expectations. It would be disappointing that the the main conflict isn't fleshed out.
ReplyDeleteHow DOES one ravish a rake? :) I'm sorry it was a so-so book for you, but you know, I don't always mind a lot of bedroom scenes if they're done well. (Hopefully my saying that doesn't come back to bite me in the butt.) Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm so happy we connected on Pinterest, too! I was aware you had a vintage blog but never actually checked it out. I LOVE the beautiful stuff you pin--I find it kind of frustrating to see some of the ugly stuff, hah. I know, I'm terrible.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
wendydarling (at) themidnightgarden (dot) net
Love the site, and thanks for the great contests.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool giveaway. I would like to be entered! :) My email is mkrick127 (at) gmail (dot) com
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your recent nomination for a RITA!
ReplyDeleteGFC follower- LilMissMolly
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