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palomien's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
laurathexplorer's review against another edition
5.0
I may or may not have cried a lot over this. I remember the hero being a bit of dick, though it turned out alright in the end.
julyavenue's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
vivileave's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
readingmissfroggy's review against another edition
2.0
Considered giving it a 3 star rating but then I wrote my review and I knocked it down to 2.
I enjoyed the first book in this series well enough to want to pick up the sequel. The character of Sophia was intriguing enough in the first book that I was moderately excited to pick this one up. I don't think my excitement had changed the way I have experienced this book, sadly it was a let down.
Let me start with the thing that bothers me the most: I really think that, based on the 4 stories I have read by this author so far (2 full novels, 2 short stories), Tessa Dare should never ever write about animals again.
In 2 of the 4 things that I have read by her, animals are being killed. And in both cases were a) unnecessary details, b) unnecessary cruelty, and c) it didn't serve the plot in whatever way.
One of the two cases that I have read so far is in this particular book. And no Mrs Dare, telling your readers in the acknowledgements that it wasn't a dolphin but just a regular fish and that no dolphins were hurt writing this book hahaha is NOT funny and it does NOT change the fact that you felt the need to describe how a fish is fighting for it's life while being stuck on a harpoon while our "heroine" feels the need to extent it's suffering by being a freaking idiot.
Call me weak or emotional or whatever you want, I do not accept animal cruelty in something that should give me good feelings, like a historical romance. That particular scene left me extremely nauseous and very pissed off.
That one scene has pushed me into giving it 2 stars. The rest of the book was a 3 star at its best in my opinion. The characters were okay, the setting was okay, the romance was okay, the plot was okay. Everything was just okay.
The characters didn't jump of the page with their personality, the setting had some exciting moments but most of it was a bit more dull (walking on the ship, up and down stairs, in and out of a cabin again and again and again), the romance was fine in the beginning but quickly started to get annoying (how often can we get characters to go in the same circle again and again? I like you but I have a secret that I can't share-> You won't tell me your secret I will walk away and hurt you and then come back and ask you about your secret -> go back to the beginning of this sentence). The whole secret of Sophia was milked and milked and then milked some more until nothing came out but still the characters had to continue doing their little dance. Annoying AF.
Basically, nothing sparkled or shone in this book for me. And when we finally met Bel, our mc for the next and final instalment in this series... I just feel more apprehension because I do not like religion in my books. That, combined with my experience reading this book... I don't know if I should see the conclusion as a band-aid that I need to rip-off ASAP to get it over with or if I should avoid it like the plague until I can no longer.
If you have read this far in my frustrated ramble, I'm sorry and thank you for reading. I would love to hear about your experiences with this author. I want to love her work, maybe I just did it the wrong way by picking up an older series by her?
I enjoyed the first book in this series well enough to want to pick up the sequel. The character of Sophia was intriguing enough in the first book that I was moderately excited to pick this one up. I don't think my excitement had changed the way I have experienced this book, sadly it was a let down.
Let me start with the thing that bothers me the most: I really think that, based on the 4 stories I have read by this author so far (2 full novels, 2 short stories), Tessa Dare should never ever write about animals again.
In 2 of the 4 things that I have read by her, animals are being killed. And in both cases were a) unnecessary details, b) unnecessary cruelty, and c) it didn't serve the plot in whatever way.
One of the two cases that I have read so far is in this particular book. And no Mrs Dare, telling your readers in the acknowledgements that it wasn't a dolphin but just a regular fish and that no dolphins were hurt writing this book hahaha is NOT funny and it does NOT change the fact that you felt the need to describe how a fish is fighting for it's life while being stuck on a harpoon while our "heroine" feels the need to extent it's suffering by being a freaking idiot.
Call me weak or emotional or whatever you want, I do not accept animal cruelty in something that should give me good feelings, like a historical romance. That particular scene left me extremely nauseous and very pissed off.
That one scene has pushed me into giving it 2 stars. The rest of the book was a 3 star at its best in my opinion. The characters were okay, the setting was okay, the romance was okay, the plot was okay. Everything was just okay.
The characters didn't jump of the page with their personality, the setting had some exciting moments but most of it was a bit more dull (walking on the ship, up and down stairs, in and out of a cabin again and again and again), the romance was fine in the beginning but quickly started to get annoying (how often can we get characters to go in the same circle again and again? I like you but I have a secret that I can't share-> You won't tell me your secret I will walk away and hurt you and then come back and ask you about your secret -> go back to the beginning of this sentence). The whole secret of Sophia was milked and milked and then milked some more until nothing came out but still the characters had to continue doing their little dance. Annoying AF.
Basically, nothing sparkled or shone in this book for me. And when we finally met Bel, our mc for the next and final instalment in this series... I just feel more apprehension because I do not like religion in my books. That, combined with my experience reading this book... I don't know if I should see the conclusion as a band-aid that I need to rip-off ASAP to get it over with or if I should avoid it like the plague until I can no longer.
If you have read this far in my frustrated ramble, I'm sorry and thank you for reading. I would love to hear about your experiences with this author. I want to love her work, maybe I just did it the wrong way by picking up an older series by her?
lxc433's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
violetlanguage's review
4.0
Maybe it was partially because I'd read some awful books before and alongside this one, but it felt like such a comfort read to keep coming back to. It could definitely have been better paced and it really did feel long, so I'm sure it would have been much better if a few hours were trimmed off. But it really did have me wondering what would happen next so being pretty different from a standard plot structure may have been a good thing in the end. I found the ship setting really refreshing while still very much fitting the tropes I want in Regency romance. And the leads were so much more likable than the ones in other books I'd read before this one.
87% of the way in, I was still really liking this, but thenSophia's reasoning for needing to leave Grey just made no sense and frustrated me. Then when Grey tried to illogically sacrifice himself by not even trying to clear his name in court, I was so annoyed, I took a several week break before I could bring myself to finish the last hour of the book. I guess how things ultimately played out wasn't as bad as it could have been, but there was a lot of cringe getting there.
While I'm disappointed the end wasn't as good as the rest of this book, I still enjoyed this far more than other books I've read lately, just not as much as others from Tessa Dare
87% of the way in, I was still really liking this, but then
While I'm disappointed the end wasn't as good as the rest of this book, I still enjoyed this far more than other books I've read lately, just not as much as others from Tessa Dare
cmfricano's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
mollyjeannette's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
tessawall's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0