Review: Very long and frustrating at times - 2.5 stars
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 11, 2014
I can't say that I wasn't warned that this book was a bit long and tedious. If it had been cut in half it might have worked way better. The author put a lot of work into the historical details but my goodness, the last 10 chapters really did my head in. I felt like I was reading a history book. There are quite a few reviews already so I'll just say what my issues were. I think the author tried to put too many things into one book e.g. the music, the war, the issues with the H's parents etc. There were quite a few modern words and phrases that jarred but considering the length, it wasn't surprising. For a big part of the book the H is known as Nicholas then suddenly, about halfway through the book he becomes Nick and Nicky. On one page all three names were used by the h. It was a little off-putting and not very natural.+++Spoilers+++The first 17 chapters had me wanting to throw my Kindle at times because of the way the H treated the h. He never communicated, blew hot and cold towards the h, despite knowing that she had feelings for him. He came across as quite callous at times and I really wanted the h to choose one of the secondary characters, who was really quite wonderful and so good to the h. The h truly chased after the H quite a bit, which isn't a plot line that I love and she never gave up, no matter how awful he was to her. When she goes off to rescue the H when he could've been implicated in a murder, the H is never grateful and is again awful to her. The H doesn't consummate the marriage immediately but doesn't tell the h why. It all just made me dislike the H a lot. However the book is so long that you do eventually forget about it because the marriage happens about halfway through the book and so you've got time to get over it.What I liked though, was the respect the author gave to the time period she was writing about. There isn't loads of gratuitous sex or threats of annulment like you find in today's mistoricals. The author accurately details what happened to a couple that eloped in those days. So many authors romanticise elopement in historicals but the repercussions were serious and this author gives us this insight.