Review: 2.5 Good story telling...bad, bad editing and frustrating errors
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 10, 2013
I had a lot to say in my review of this book, but I see that most of it has been said already. I liked the story and would have given it four stars if not for all the problems that I had with the execution of it. The author gets a thumbs up from me for storytelling, characters and the romance...but not for her writing skills or editing. My issues with the book are as follows:-as has been stated by many reviewers, this author needs to find a skilled editor. I am usually able to ignore the typos that seem to be inevitable with ebooks, but this one just had so many. I am no expert, but there were numerous cases of missing punctuation and run-on sentences. Frankly, a good editor can mask the poor writing of a good storyteller but unskilled writer.-several times the author used words completely incorrectly, making it clear that she did not know what they meant or the proper context in which to use them. One instance that vaguely springs to mind is the word "fulsome". Ms. Harper, this word does not mean what you think it does. Look it up.-I almost threw my tablet against the wall every time the author used a phrase similar to "she was loathed to...". The expression is "LOATH TO". As in, "She was LOATH to  encounter him again."...meaning that she was reluctant to, or was unwilling to, or would dislike to encounter him...apparently the author would have written it as, "She was LOATHED to encounter him again."...meaning she was disliked or hated because she encountered him. UGH! This mistake occurred over and over!-also mentioned by other reviewers, the author's significant lack of understanding of the way titles work, particularly the courtesy titles afforded to the offspring of peers, was very frustrating. It is ridiculous that these mistakes still happen so often in historical fiction. It literally requires about twenty minutes of internet research to have a pretty thorough understanding of British titles.If you are a reader that can overlook these flaws for the sake of a good story, then I recommend this book. If the errors will drive you crazy, give it a pass.