Review: A Good Grovel (The Hero) Book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2012
This book is a good regency read. It has all the elements I expect in a regency romance: the exhilaration of that first crush or first love and courting, it has the mystery of danger, of the brutality of ton and its gossip, mistress issure (though just peripherally in this book), vile villains and of course the rake and his beautiful and innocent bride.We met the hero in his anguish just after a monumental loss, to his decline as the degenerate rake that he is and then he was knock off his high throne by our heroine and decided he can enter matrimony if she is the other party (it feed his ego that he might as well have bought his bride). Then we see him struggle in the marriage and become more negligent (than despicable) to our heroine. Finally to see him reform and truly work for his HEA.The heroine was introduced as that perfect biddable (yet romantic) young virgin. We see her suffer and come out stronger from her love of our hero that I believe (and do not begrudge) her HEA.Typical regency story right? Not quite, because in most stories the courtship is emphasized, the ton, and the fashion. What made this book quite unique despite its predictable elements is that half the book is dedicated towards the hero's effort to become the kind of man he himself (and the heroine) respects and maybe love again. We can really see and read (not told) his reform - his resolve, his effort, his mistakes, then his resolve and try once more. From what he did to the heroine, even I doubt I would forgive him but he really did sweat and labor for his HEA.In most stories, the groveling is just a chapter or in some really lame stories, just a paragraph. Not so in this book. I can say the book really did live up to its title.Why just four stars? Formatting problem - my major issue in this book (a sentence is cut in half and the next word will be the beginning of the next paragraph), predictable villain (or maybe I just read tons of regency books). Mostly, the hero seeing the proverbial light is too sudden and very convenient. The heroine left him and he sees the light because she was not beside him? He left/neglected the heroine for months on end and...you get the point.Overall, it's a good grovel book.