Review: Much ado about nothing
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 04 17, 2014
This book is getting a lot of great reviews, but honestly I'm not sure why. To be honest, I didn't hate it, but I didn't finish it either.  To describe what I read of the book in a word, I would have to say ANNOYING.From almost the beginning it seemed to be much ado about nothing.  The story begins with the leading man being banished for bad behavior, but even when the story leaps ahead 8 years it's not clear exactly what he did to earn a banishment.  Then, of course, there was his last encounter with Lady Phoebe just before his banishment. I agree with another reviewer, the drama lent to the scene itself and all of the allusions to it after would make a reader think it was an attempted rape.  It was not.  It was a besotted, drunken, romantic overture by a very young man to a very very young woman. It was inappropriate (even by today's standards) but not the egregious crime Phoebe seemed to feel it was.  If it was so terrifying for our leading lady, why then did she take the time to lecture him afterward??  Phoebe as a character was overly dramatic. While drama can lead to a good story, a drama queen does not make for a good leading lady in my book.As for the characters themselves,they seemed to be over done and poorly done carbon copies of characters I've read in many other historical romances. From the main characters down to the supporting cast, there was just something about them I found to be very annoying. There was nothing compelling about them.  Phoebe's family seemed to be a cast of busy-bodies.  One busy-body can be annoying enough, a family of them is too much for me.I understand from reading other reviews that this is the author's debut novel, so let me say. I definitely see potential.  I am sure that as she continues to write she will perfect her craft. There are several writers whose early books aren't the best but they did get better with every book.  I do believe Ms. Quinn's story telling will get better and better as she writes more and more.My recommendation would be to skip this one but to keep and eye out for this author, there is definitely potential here.