Review: Fine writing and fun story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 19, 2012
As I think very highly of Eloisa James, I was very happy to find and download this book when it was offered for free.  As with all Eloisa James that I have read, this novella was well written and the pace, dialogue and characters (for the most part) were well enough done that I wanted to finish the story even though I wasn't swept away by the magic of it.I think the main thing that bothered me was partway through the story, the heroine made an about-face in her personality and pulled it off so flawlessly that it truly had me scratching my head.  I agree with other reviewers that that change is not in keeping with the stringent "moral code" of the time, but James wrote it well enough that that isn't what bothered me.  What bothered me was that the change in the heroine's personality was a conscious decision (on the heroine's part) and it was so sudden and so completely and thoroughly done that it was like reading about two different characters from one page to the next.  There was no internal doubts, struggles, slip-ups in her actions, etc.  She literally was insecure and shy one page and the next she decided she was done with that persona and became outgoing and beautiful.  The sudden change was too quick and absolute for me to accept it.That said, Eloisa James is a tremendously talented writer, I have enjoyed many of her books and despite the above flaw that kept me from really loving this particular story, it was overall well written and fun.