Review: nicely done!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 4, 2013
Free book for review. The heroine, Ashleigh, is feisty, spirited, she rides a stallion in breeches, plays a mean game of chess and cheats at poker. Most importantly, she is quite perceptive. She feels an immediate attraction to Nicholas, the Duke of Sethe, and intuitively realizes it is a mutual pull. After learning about Nicholas' background, she catches on from the onset that Nicholas might be guarded and remote because of his past experiences with women who have failed him (his mother and an ex-girlfriend). She is mature for her age (17), I guess because she was raised by her grandfather under special circumstances, namely to take over her family's business and fortune. All in all, she's so sweet that it's hard not to like her.Nicholas is wounded and tortured and rejects his attraction for Ashleigh as soon as he discovers she's his grandmother's guest at their country manor. I disliked him for 70% of the book, he's arrogant and demeaning and it is both frustrating and annoying, I felt like shaking him and telling him to move on already. Inevitably at the end, I softened up to him, especially after a family mystery is finally resolved.The author often uses a rapid switch in POV that is sometimes abrupt but actually works well for me. We'll be in Nicholas' head and several paragraphs later in Ashleigh's head and rapidly back and forth in the middle of one scene. Some readers may find this choppy or prefer more dialogue and less introspection.The storyline flows well and I liked the author's descriptions. The chemistry between both is patent regardless of all the misunderstandings and doubts. The epilogue was great and I would love to find out what happens to Brendon, Tiffany and Alex...