Review: short & disappointing, yet necessary intro to the second book
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 30, 2012
I wouldn't exactly call this `book 1.5' as it is very, VERY short and it's an intro to the second Donovan Sisters' book, Olivia Donovan. If you've read the first one, then you've met these women with pluck. I liked them all, and after reading the 1.5 and 2.0, I can honestly say I loved the first one, so far, the best.The blurb above tells you basically the whole story of 1.5 so my review will be of what worked and what didn't, for me at least.Meg aka Serena Donovan and Jonathan Dane worked for me because I just fell in love with both, and the way they approached their memories of that faithful night long ago.You see, seven years ago, they were caught making love, in an alcove, and made to feel ashamed of it. This night, they were ready to face the `shame' and both are realizing that they did nothing wrong by expressing their strong attraction and love for each other in a way that they both found pleasurable.Olivia Donovan on the other hand finds herself admiring her dance partner, one Leonard Reece, Marquis of Fenwicke, and after he plies her with a few glasses of champagne, he manages to talk her into going with him in search of her two sisters who were not present in the ballroom after the waltz had concluded.As soon as he's left alone with her, unobserved by other guests, he shoves her through the door to another alcove, and drops his `polite and charming' demeanor for this `domineering and creepy' self, and our heroine quickly realizes that she needs to use her wits to escape this vile man and not attract the attention of the other guests and have Serena's repeat performance of seven years ago.And here is where I had a problem. These girls were brought up by a strong woman (their mother lost her husband to malaria as soon as they arrived in Antigua; survived the elements, and raised FIVE girls to be proper, independent, and strong women so they could make advantageous matches), and after the fiasco of seven years ago, this twenty-one year old woman was acting like a ninny! Yes, I know she was sheltered by them all because of her illness, but I expected her to be smart, and the situation she finds herself in was unnecessary, even from the plot's perspective. I would have had more respect for her if she `read' him better and paid attention to her screaming instincts.I'm a bit disappointed in this read, only because I loved Jennifer Haymore's previous series and I'm hoping this one will just get better with the next book.Mel* I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*