Review: Unique heroine deserves a far more interesting story!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 15, 2014
***2.5 Stars***The hidden problem in falling in love with a certain author's writing style is that my subsequent expectations of her work tend to be too high, setting me up for inevitable disappointment! I love the witty, charming, insightful, sneakily literate writing of authors like Eloisa James, Loretta Chase, Connie Brockway, Meredith Duran (etc., etc., etc.!) so much that I forget loving HOW they write doesn't mean I'll always love WHAT they write. Eloisa James creates a great heroine here in plainspoken, artistic, quietly observant Grace, but, alas, she's stuck in a decidedly lackluster, choppily paced story. I had high hopes that I'd like the hero, Colin, who's actually (*gasp*) kind rather than the icy, snarling jerks that dominate way too many recent romances. Unfortunately, Colin proved as insipid as the story he's stuck in, and I had trouble buying into his alleged love for our heroine. It felt more like friendship and gratitude...and, hey, nothing says romance like a guy who initially thinks he's in love with your own sister instead! ;) (That's not a spoiler, by the way---that plot point is given away by the book's synopsis!)Three stars for a likable, interestingly atypical heroine and a few good lines and moments, but overall this one fell fairly flat for me. The first part showed the most promise. The third felt like nothing but a couple of ridiculously drawn out, repetitive sex scene, but then I tend to like that aspect of most romance novels less than most! I'd recommend it only if you get it at a very low price or just feel compelled to own anything and everything written by the normally much more interesting and clever Eloisa James!