Review: An eye-rolling, cliched "romance"
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 16, 2013
One expects a certain amount of cliche in historical romance novels and this one certainly doesn't disappoint.  However in my experience,  if that is the sum and total of the story, then it gets old in a hurry.Tall, dark, and handsome hero first suspects the origins and motivations of the heroine who is, if course, tiny, beautiful and threatened by some mysterious thing.  If you've read historical romances before, trust me, you've read this one too. However, while the conventions of writing are well done, the author does far less than some others in this genre to set the scene, capture a particular period in history or even in entertain the reader.  In fact, I couldn't accurately tell when this story takes place since there is no reference to events other than those that directly engage to major characters.As to characterization, Sophie, our heroine, got on my nerves with her perpetual fear of 'discovery,' her defeatism and self criticism. Patrick, her male counterpart and love interest was just too 'dashing' to be believable.  The supporting cast just drifted in and out if the story providing distraction from time to time.  Patrick's best friend Steven was the most interesting of the lot of them.Bottom line: pass this one up as there are far better historical romances out there than this one.  Check out GoodReads for some suggestions.