Review: Not as fun as the first but still an exciting book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 1, 2013
I guess there are some mixed reviews of this story and so I want to first say, this was a very engrossing story. I was forewarned by the author that it is a very different and darker story then book one which was plain fun and full of romance.Book one if you did not read it features Jack and Giddy, supporting characters in book 2 so read book one first and you won't be confused. Book two features Sabre and Quince and the author is right its very dark. Not because of the blackmail which is what she originally said but because the book is not full of love and lightness and flirting.Essentially Quince sees Sabre and falls into instant lust/love and thinks she is a mistress of a friend. In essence she is a virgin and the sister of a friend and I use friend very loosely. Sabre is offended and convinces her bff Jack to be her second in a sword fight duel. Quince is Giddy's bff and Giddy is also Jacks husband. Our hero does not want to fight a woman in a duel but Sabre and her friend guilt him into complying. Why this is important is during the duel Sabre falls for Quince. After the duel she runs after Quince who is also a duke and the fact that he is a duke plays a significant part in why he does not want to marry Sabre.So they are in love, we don't see them fall in love as we do with in book one and that's I think why this is a darker book. And now the spoilers really start so if you don't want to know stop reading this review....The real issue between our hero and heroine is that their fathers were both evil and part of a hell hound type of group. However Quinces is dead and Sabre's isn't and someone else is blackmailing them. Which means if he married her his father in law would have a hold on him and aside from hating him, he does not want him to have a hold on him.I love my stories with more romance and love and fun and this book was more centered on the blackmail. I also wanted to know why Quince hated Sabre's dad with such a passion.Even the sex for the majority of the book was not pleasant. Quince is very moral and as such has never been with a woman before Sabre, and so seeks Giddy's help on how make it not painful. What I would like to have seen is him explain all that to Sabre but its a topic they never talk about.Another part of this book I did not like was that Sabre essentially moves in with Quince, her family knows it and he says he will never marry her and everyone is okay with that as long as society never finds out or if they do...ohhh well. That did not set well with me and its a topic never broached. The brother even essentially gives Sabre to Quince to appease him at some point and that disgusts Quince, yet he still is saying he can never marry her if he is a duke.At some points I found the book confusing like the scene with the brother and where Quince offers to give up being a duke to marry Sabre. Even the confrontation with the blackmailer seemed overly dramatic with pokers and knifes at what essentially is a societal dining room. Instead of reading dramatic, it read more of a farce.So if after reading all this you think, I hated the book, you would be very wrong. I will probably re-read it before book #3 and in the end I enjoyed it. I just wished it was more lighter and fun and more romantic like book #1.That said this was a fantastic story with great characters, good writing, a good plot and as the authors second effort its a homerun. I think as time goes by the author will get better hopefully make things more releastic and the characters follow more societal rules.