Review: A sweet romance, but ...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2013
This is my first encounter with this author. Apparently, this book is part of an overall series, but it easily stands alone, which is how I read it.If you had asked me my rating at the half-way point, I would have said 2.5 stars, but by the last page, the characters had pulled my opinion up to a 3-star rating.First the good:1) What fun characters. They were flawed and believable, which in turn, made them 3-D with authentic reactions, beliefs and feelings.2) The dialog was realistic and remained consistent with the individual's character POV and personal growth.3) It was fun to watch EACH of the characters mature and grow (even the secondary characters grew in their own way).The disappointing:1) Unfortunately, the author has a big tendency for information dump and a nasty habit of trying to explain every little reason to the reader before the characters even learn it. Two examples (details are vague to keep away from spoilers), and there were many of these types of examples. I enjoy a smattering of well placed details that are dropped with care, not a fire hose approach that bogs down and detracts from the story (found myself skimming way too much):(i) The story should have started at the end of chapter 2. We didn't need to know every reason for why Bella was on the road that fateful night (a full chapter description) and we definitely didn't need to know why Wyndham was on the road (another 1/2 chapter). I almost stopped reading entirely, but opted instead to skim read.(ii) Part way through Bella notices something odd about the relationship between Colin (the young son) and his grandmother. The very next page (after page after page...) you get a complete detailing for why the grandmother acts that way and then wade through another telling expo for how Wyndham feels about it. It's easily goes on for a dozen pages (but feels like twenty), which then has to get rehashed when Bella figures out and discovers the reasons. I groaned and skimmed again.2) I agree with the other reviewers that some of the wrong time period vocab jolted me out of the story to go confirm that the word had not been in use during the Regency era and that the entitled inheritance shouldn't have gone to Bella, only the wealth.3) The ending didn't feel right. Rushed possibly or missing a depth to the relationship arc. Yes, there was a happy-ever-after feel, but only a hint. I guess I always believe there's more growth in  a couple's relationship after the wedding day in their transition than before the proposal. A treasure trove to mine for an author. So like some of the others that have mentioned, an epilogue would have helped, though I think several more chapters would have been better.That said, the personality of the characters shining through counter balanced some of these negatives. I might consider reading some of the other works, but I am hesistant knowing I'll probably end up skimming large chunks again. As a matter of disclosure, I received a free Kindle copy from Story Cartel [dot] com in exchange for an honest and balanced review.