Review: A Mixed Bag With Potential
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 6, 2014
This quiet little Regency book takes a bit to get started. At first the heroine and hero both seem immature and shallow. I didn't like either of them very much and I was disgusted by the hero's behavior. Halfway through, the story changes and takes a more solemn tone. The story then describes a lot of the seedier aspects of Regency society as the plot moves forward. I found the story from that point on more interesting than the beginning. The characters show more depth and the plot is more interesting. It's different from the standard plots most authors follow but in a good way. The romance develops quickly, yet it's slow paced. It seems based on shallow pretenses but develops into a more once the characters get to know each other. It's a sweet, slow romance. There's nothing more than kisses.I really liked the hero for the most part, except in the beginning and during the misunderstanding. The heroine is rather underdeveloped and I don't know really anything about her except that she's rich, pretty, sweet, and a bit lively. She longs for more than her circumscribed life but she seems to ignore that longing in favor of romance which I didn't like. I could see the romance being the basis for a longer novel or shortening the beginning and then making the story advance a few years before the h/h come together. I found the ending just a bit too rushed for my taste.The author has done extensive research on the Regency era. The descriptions of Bath are excellent but sometimes the research shows up in a forced manner. There are constant references to the streets and where locations the characters are at any given moment, one major stand-out of a fashion trend that clearly comes from a cartoon of the period. I love research and period details and I liked the attention to detail but sometimes it was a bit too much.My criticism with the story is largely with the writing. The story is told in a rather detached manner. The characters never really come to life nor are they memorable in any way. We're told how Cecily is feeling at any given moment and what she's thinking but it doesn't really show through in the story. The character interaction is bland and the dialogue pointless. I think the author was trying to write in the style of Jane Austen without mimicking it exactly, which I appreciate, but I found the writing style a bit too slow for bedtime reading. I liked the story though. It was free on Amazon the day I bought it so I was nervous about the quality but it was worth the time I spent reading it. The story is better than average and the writing quality is better in the authors more recent novels, she will definitely be one worth reading.  I would recommend it to those who like Jane Austen and some of the slower Regency set novels.