Review: Meh
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 1, 2013
I learned about this book via an ad on Goodreads that was promoting it as a combination of Downton Abbey and FSOG. I'm a bigger fan of the former than the latter, and the sample chapter was well-written enough to capture my interest (despite being written in first person POV, of which I am not a fan). I had a gift certificate to purchase, otherwise I would not have bought it. 8.89 for an ebook, especially by a relatively unknown author, is way too much. After reading this book, I wouldn't pay more than 2.99 for it.The book starts off well. You get a good sense of time and place, a young girl (Sophie) in pre-World War I England, forced by circumstances to work as a scullery maid at a Duke's estate. A handsome stranger helps her get the job. He asks her to write to him. The reader knows before Sophie does that they will meet again. The exchange of letters is sweet, the tension builds towards their meeting again when she is a few years older. But then the story takes a path I wasn't expecting, and enters into territories that I, frankly, am just not interested in reading about. And after the h and H do meet again, everything just fizzles from that point. It's almost as if the first and second half of the book were written by two different people. The ending was very disappointing. I was left thinking, "I just spent three hours reading this for THAT?"  It isn't clear if this is the first in a series, or a stand-alone. Doesn't matter. I just didn't feel a strong enough connection with either the h or the H to want to read anything more about them in the future.I won't reveal any spoilers, but I DO feel that the blurb should have come with the following warning: This book contains f/f sex and non-consensual sex (a woman forced to have sexual relations in public with several men). Also, if you're a FSOG fan, you will be extremely disappointed. This isn't a BDSM book (not that FSOG was a genuine BDSM book either), and you won't find spanking, handcuffs, floggers or canes here. Just a few tame scenes where the h is tied to the bed and blindfolded.Thank me for saving you a few dollars. If you're still interested in reading this, wait until the price gets below 3.00. Unlikely it will ever be offered for free. The publisher has to pay for all that expensive (false) advertising somehow!