lorenalee

I could easily have given this book two stars, the only saving grace of this book was the male mc, Rhodrick, who is utterly adorable. The female mc, Geer, was so fucking annoying and in my opinion didn’t deserve him.

So, in the previous book we learned that Greer travelled to seek her Welsh inheritance. On the way she met Mr. Percy, in the beginning of this book, we learn that Greer’s elderly traveling companion has died and she has been convinced by Mr. Percy to continue her mission, without a chaperon, in his company, while she paid for everything. Now Mr. Percy could not have been a more obvious evil villain if he had constantly twirled his evil mustache and rubbed his hands together maliciously. Greer of course notices nothing, and lets herself be manipulated and used by Mr. Percy, now I can chalk that up to her naivety, but even that has its limits. And she fucking believes his every word without question and without thinking for herself and forming an own opinion.

Well, they continue on their journey to remote Rhodrick, the Earl of Radnor and the Prince of Powys, who holds both of their inheritances. Greer is stranded there with not enough money to return to London and Rhodrick demanding proof of her identity – because she arrived with an obvious bad guy who has a bad history with Rhodrick, who understandably doesn’t’ trust either of them.

After Rhodrick saves her from Mr. Percy, instead of being grateful to him for saving her from ruin she acts childishly and immature, like refusing to eat and throwing her food on the floor, and generally acting like a five year old on an anger tantrum. She convinced herself that she is a prisoner of the “evil” Rhodrick and at her first chance to “escape” she runs off, right into a huge storm, wearing unsuitable clothes for winter, on foot, with no hope of reaching the next town! She is the TSTL kind who would cut of her nose to spite her face and doesn’t think ahead and doesn’t think for herself.

Seriously, Rhodrick saved her from an OBVIOUS bad guy and understandably wants proof of her identity before he just hands over four thousand pounds to her! He is not being unreasonable, not the most friendly sure, but he does give her place to stay. But Greer doesn’t giving him a chance, instead of actually listening to him and forming an own opinion; she acts stubborn and immature.

And this was really fucking annoying I could really have enjoy this story and the male mc is quite intriguing. But the female mc is fucking stupid and annoying.

In the beginning I found her brave, but she fast became a stupid and immature TSTL heroine who wouldn’t stop bemoaning the fact that she is such a poor prisoner to an evil beast, even though she’s fucking not. Which is so disappointing, because this book has so much potential. She didn’t get much better throughout the book, she continued to annoy me, but the male mc saved this book.

His opinion of her (at least in the beginning) match mine exactly:

”A silly young woman from London who, by all indications, has no more sense than a woodchuck?”

”I suppose I don’t think silly young women who go chasing about the Welsh countryside with men they scarcely know as being terribly disposed to improving their minds.”

He is an adorable character that you just want to hug and make everything right in the world for him. The story has a bit of a Beauty and the Beast aspect, Rhodrick has grown up hating his face and his scar hasn’t helped him either, living alone in his remote castle he’s lonely, but Greer doesn’t deserve him!

I’ll give it 3.5 stars but only because of Rhodrick.

I enjoyed the overall story but I felt it a bit hastily written. Certain parts of the book were rather hurriedly resolved, and I think that it could have been expanded on more and the main characters’ initial relationship should have been more in depth.

The story takes place over several years, which is usually pretty hard to write, because you have to fit a lot of character development into the book, so at times that made the story go along almost too fast and left things out. I didn't really get much of a feel of the characters' past and their relationship toward each other; sure we are told that they grew up together, but that leaves much up to interpretation, and just sprinkling random facts of their childhood in the storyline whenever they needed to underline their love for each other felt a bit weak.

I did have a major problem with James cheating on Theo and felt that she forgave him much too easily for it (I mean: "in justified anger you told me that you didn't consider us married anymore, so I ran away, and when my Dad died, I couldn't handle the guilt for leaving, so I slept with other women because I considered that part of my life over" is in my book really not a grown up reasoning).

3.5 stars

I enjoyed the overall story but I felt it a bit hastily written. Certain parts of the book were rather hurriedly resolved, and I think that it could have been expanded on more and the main characters’ initial relationship should have been more in depth.

The story takes place over several years, which is usually pretty hard to write, because you have to fit a lot of character development into the book, so at times that made the story go along almost too fast and left things out. I didn't really get much of a feel of the characters' past and their relationship toward each other; sure we are told that they grew up together, but that leaves much up to interpretation, and just sprinkling random facts of their childhood in the storyline whenever they needed to underline their love for each other felt a bit weak.

I did have a major problem with James cheating on Theo and felt that she forgave him much too easily for it (I mean: "in justified anger you told me that you didn't consider us married anymore, so I ran away, and when my Dad died, I couldn't handle the guilt for leaving, so I slept with other women because I considered that part of my life over" is in my book really not a grown up reasoning).

3.5 stars

I love Billie, she's a strong, tough, and independent female mc, this is really difficult to do realistically in HR, but of course Julia Quinn masters is wonderfully, as usual.
The Rokesby series is set one generation back from Julia Quinn's well known Bridgerton series. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and can't wait to read on into it!

Couldn't finish, I couldn’t even get into the story.

There is instant attraction between the two main characters, and the reason that they are drawn to each other is really not clear and so flimsy that it didn't grip me and I didn't care. Basically there is insta-love and so much boring dialogue between the two, when they barely know each other, that is not fitting to their non-existent relationship.

DNF at 21%

Couldn't finish, I couldn’t even get into the story.

There is instant attraction between the two main characters, and the reason that they are drawn to each other is really not clear and so flimsy that it didn't grip me and I didn't care. Basically there is insta-love and so much boring dialogue between the two, when they barely know each other, that is not fitting to their non-existent relationship.

DNF at 21%

If you're interested in a complete rip-off of the manga series Boys Over Flowers then you'll like this book.

If you're looking for an original story or even a retelling of Boys Over Flowers, this book isn't for you. It's literally Boys Over Flowers, just not as good, and has a whole lot of really annoying characters; like a bubbly TSTL best friend, the four hot, rich guys from Boys Over Flowers, a bubbly, annoying heroine, and a super obvious villain...

Seriously, don't waste your money on this. Go and watch and/or read Boys Over Flowers instead!!!

I was expecting a bit more, Vlad was an awesome character from the Night Huntress, a PR series that I really like. I almost felt a little let down...

Vlad turns into some insta-love sap who falls in love with a human because of reasons...


Is it just me, or did everyone expect a little more from Vlad the Impaler?


It's like, you're expecting this Dracula:


And instead, you get this one:


And by this I mean a caricature of the "real" Dracula, who instantly upon meeting a (boring) human falls head-over-heels in love with her (even if he doesn't admit it).


And instead of becoming some totally awesome, kick-ass partners, killing-machine dream team (like Bones and Cat), Vlad constantly tries to make Leila stay at home, barefooted waiting for him in the kitchen (and she does), while he goes out fighting his enemies and burning people and shit...


Now Leila was not necessarily a bad character, I found her interesting and she could have been great, but I wanted a cooler, more kick-ass love interest for Vlad; someone who would actually be an equal partner in the relationship, and not an eternal damsel in distress, with her own powerful abilities, enemies, and a backstory - someone a bit like:

or


I mean, I feel like we missed out on a much cooler story, where Vlad and a-totally-awesome-tough-as-nails-vampire-assassin pair up - as equals - and become the most feared couple in the world etc. etc.

MAJOR RANT AHEAD.


What. The. Fuck. Was. That?!

Up until this book I didn't like Ryodan.

Now I fucking hate him!



Jericho fucking Barrons is on line. Actually he is the fucking line. A deep, awesome chasm of a line.

Rhyodan crosses that line too much.

-he manipulates Dani constantly and forces her to work for him

-he uses physical violence to keep her in line

-he uses people she cares about to threaten her and force her to do what he wants - making her friend Jo work in one of his subclubs Dani hates most, dressed as a little schoolgirl catering for pedophiles…wait…I get it...it’s a metaphor for what Ryo wants of Dani. God! He even makes her wear that outfit once. This is so fucking wrong!

-Dani for all her posturing is in many ways way too young and naive. And he fucking exploits it, manipulates her and fucking keeps making innuendos about sex with a fourteen year old - and Dani just showing how young she really is doesn't even realize it. Because. She's. Fourteen.

-He takes her ONE fucking weapon she has against the fae away from her, her only defense when there are fae hunting for her. And actually fucking says that he likes her better this way; weak, defenseless, dependent on him for protection.

-He expects her to not question him and argue with him in public – because he is king of his underworld – so the fae he protects respect or fear him or shit, while it’s Dani who has to fight them and be strong. And when she doesn’t, he fucking beats her up publicly and humiliates her to enforce this.

-He never makes and concessions, or meets her halfway, it's always Dani who has to give something up, to bend.

-He knows that she can’t stand having people lock her in a cage, literally and figuratively, yet he constantly enforces his rules on her, knowing exactly she can’t follow them because she needs her freedom.

And I don't fucking care that Ryo is probably thousands of years old and comes from a time when girls were forced to marry and have babies at that age (a fact that he actually tells her). Because regardless of all that, Dani never had a childhood, and thus needs one all the more. Because all she wants is a place to belong and someone to love her. And he fucking exploits that.


This was such a major fucking disappointment. I loved the previous books so much, I enjoyed the general plot of this book and I really like Dani. But I fucking hate Ryodan!

Her wish was more along the lines of, I hope that Lord Westcliff will meet a woman who will bring him to his knees.

Lillian and Marus, the Earls of Westcliff, are a well matched couple. While he is proper and at times cold and reserved, she vivacious and doesn’t let him boss her around.

As a girl who had always been inclined to throw an egg in the face of authority, Lillian found lord Westcliff to be an unholy temptation.

This book is hilarious written, the constant battle between Lillian and Marcus was adorable, and one gets to see more of the Wallflowers and heir amazing friendship.

This was definitely my favorite in the Wallflower series. Lilian and Marcus are a great match and it was hilarious watching headstrong Lilian bring uptight Marcus to his knees. As usual Lisa Kleypas writes extraordinary with great characterization and vivid storytelling.

It was perverse and irrational and likely the sign of some severe mental defect-but the further Spencer displayed his gross incompetence as a sensitive human being, the more he engaged her sympathy. The worse he bungled every opportunity to put her at ease, the greater her own desire to soothe. And the longer he kept her at arm’s length-emotionally speaking, at least-the more she yearned to hold him tight.

This quote basically sums up the heroine Lady Amelia d'Orsay’s character pretty well.



Because who doesn’t like to be constantly treated less than dirt?

Or less than a horse?

And this whole book is this way, Spencer Dumarque the Duke of Morland treats Amelia like shit, or demands she choose between him and her family, or forbids her from helping her beloved brother, or throws said beloved brother out of the house etc.

Whatever he does to her, five minutes later she is hot for him and they have sex…. Sigh.

Despite her anger, she was a breath away from launching herself into his arms and begging him to hold her, kiss her, pleasure her, care for her.

Love her, and understand.

And then quietly, “Jack is already lost, Amelia”.

He’d exhaust his fortunes for an ill-tempered horse, but write off her brother with a single remark?

No more consoling, no more cajoling. No more money. If you’re not strong enough to cut the ties, I’ll do it for you.

Jack his her beloved brother by the way, who has a gambling problem, but instead of helping him, Spencer writes him off as a lost cause, while he spends tens of thousands of pounds to help his lost cause of horse.

But not that this horrible treatment of her family and of her (or his demands that she choose him over her family and cut all ties with her brother) makes Amelia not want to have sex with Spencer literally five minutes later.

“You’ve just threatened to forcibly separate me from my family. Now you expect me to behave as if nothing has changed? Lie back on the bed like a good, obedient wife?”

“No. I’ll take you right here, never mind the bed.”

And of course she does, because that’s what a good doormat does. Let people walk all over her.

Despite all her anger and wounded feelings, she still yearned for the pleasure he could give.

And this pattern is followed through constantly throughout the book, Spencer does something near irredeemable and Amelia “despite all her anger and wounded feelings etc.” still wants him and then lets him have his way with her. All the fucking time.

In the end like the good doormat that she is, Amelia chooses Spencer over everything else. She would set about convincing her husband that she was devoted to him, above all...

Of course, only she promises to put him first, he still has his horses…

I can already imagine how it’ll be when they have children, Spencer being jealous whenever Amelia shows them love or puts them above him, complaining: “but you said that you’ll always but me first!” *storms off to sulk*


I loved Tessa Dare’s other books, which makes this one so very disappointing. I really hated this book, we have insta-love, a possessive, jealous, controlling, and near emotionally abusive emotionally abusive hero, and a doormat heroine who lets herself be commanded around, gets treated badly by her husband the entire time, but still jumps him five minutes afterwards because he’s sooooo hot.


Spencer is constantly jealous of Amelia's love for her family and her brother and wants to take all that away so that he is the center of her world and her number one priority. Their relationship shows many signs of an abusive relationship, including ‘isolating one from friends and family’, ‘unreasonable jealousy’, ‘domination and control’, ‘extreme moodiness’ etc.

I definitely do not recomend this book, unless one wants to see a whole lot of this:

He made a sound of exasperation. “Amelia, turn around.”

She turned. And immediately berated herself for it. Why did she obey his arrogant commands so instinctively? He said “sit”, she sat. He said “stand”, she stood. He told her to remove her bodice, she stripped herself to the waist faster than a master chef skins an eel.

It was perverse and irrational and likely the sign of some severe mental defect-but the further Spencer displayed his gross incompetence as a sensitive human being, the more he engaged her sympathy. The worse he bungled every opportunity to put her at ease, the greater her own desire to soothe. And the longer he kept her at arm’s length-emotionally speaking, at least-the more she yearned to hold him tight.

This quote basically sums up the heroine Lady Amelia d'Orsay’s character pretty well.



Because who doesn’t like to be constantly treated less than dirt?

Or less than a horse?

And this whole book is this way, Spencer Dumarque the Duke of Morland treats Amelia like shit, or demands she choose between him and her family, or forbids her from helping her beloved brother, or throws said beloved brother out of the house etc.

Whatever he does to her, five minutes later she is hot for him and they have sex…. Sigh.

Despite her anger, she was a breath away from launching herself into his arms and begging him to hold her, kiss her, pleasure her, care for her.

Love her, and understand.

And then quietly, “Jack is already lost, Amelia”.

He’d exhaust his fortunes for an ill-tempered horse, but write off her brother with a single remark?

No more consoling, no more cajoling. No more money. If you’re not strong enough to cut the ties, I’ll do it for you.

Jack his her beloved brother by the way, who has a gambling problem, but instead of helping him, Spencer writes him off as a lost cause, while he spends tens of thousands of pounds to help his lost cause of horse.

But not that this horrible treatment of her family and of her (or his demands that she choose him over her family and cut all ties with her brother) makes Amelia not want to have sex with Spencer literally five minutes later.

“You’ve just threatened to forcibly separate me from my family. Now you expect me to behave as if nothing has changed? Lie back on the bed like a good, obedient wife?”

“No. I’ll take you right here, never mind the bed.”

And of course she does, because that’s what a good doormat does. Let people walk all over her.

Despite all her anger and wounded feelings, she still yearned for the pleasure he could give.

And this pattern is followed through constantly throughout the book, Spencer does something near irredeemable and Amelia “despite all her anger and wounded feelings etc.” still wants him and then lets him have his way with her. All the fucking time.

In the end like the good doormat that she is, Amelia chooses Spencer over everything else. She would set about convincing her husband that she was devoted to him, above all...

Of course, only she promises to put him first, he still has his horses…

I can already imagine how it’ll be when they have children, Spencer being jealous whenever Amelia shows them love or puts them above him, complaining: “but you said that you’ll always but me first!” *storms off to sulk*


I loved Tessa Dare’s other books, which makes this one so very disappointing. I really hated this book, we have insta-love, a possessive, jealous, controlling, and near emotionally abusive emotionally abusive hero, and a doormat heroine who lets herself be commanded around, gets treated badly by her husband the entire time, but still jumps him five minutes afterwards because he’s sooooo hot.


Spencer is constantly jealous of Amelia's love for her family and her brother and wants to take all that away so that he is the center of her world and her number one priority. Their relationship shows many signs of an abusive relationship, including ‘isolating one from friends and family’, ‘unreasonable jealousy’, ‘domination and control’, ‘extreme moodiness’ etc.

I definitely do not recomend this book, unless one wants to see a whole lot of this:

He made a sound of exasperation. “Amelia, turn around.”

She turned. And immediately berated herself for it. Why did she obey his arrogant commands so instinctively? He said “sit”, she sat. He said “stand”, she stood. He told her to remove her bodice, she stripped herself to the waist faster than a master chef skins an eel.

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to my village looking for a wife.

She that he chose of us would be a hero. She would give the others life. Lo-Melkhiin would not return to the same village until he had married a girl from every camp, from every town, and from each district inside city walls-for that was the law, struck in desperation though it was. She that he chose would give hope of a future, of love, to those of us who stayed behind.

She that he chose of us would not be forgotten.

She would still be dead.

It still did not matter to me that Lo-Merlkhiin had once loved his mother and his people. He shed blood and kept peace, but only the peace was of note. I was not content with that, though did not wish for some other girl’s death to pay the price instead. Seven days in the qasr had made me determined to get seven more, and then more besides.

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to my village looking for a wife.

She that he chose of us would be a hero. She would give the others life. Lo-Melkhiin would not return to the same village until he had married a girl from every camp, from every town, and from each district inside city walls-for that was the law, struck in desperation though it was. She that he chose would give hope of a future, of love, to those of us who stayed behind.

She that he chose of us would not be forgotten.
She would still be dead.

Lo-Melkhiin has killed three hundred girls he took as wives before coming to our unnamed protagonist’s small desert village, sacrificing herself in place of her beloved sister, she is taken as his bride. She knows that she will not survive, yet she tries to anyway not letting him win.


I absolutely loved this book, E.K. Johnston paints a wonderful, lush, and magical world. The story, a retelling of the storyteller Scheherazade from One Thousand And One Nights, is much, much better than the original:

Already, the story is changing.

When men tell it in the souks and in the desert, they shape it to fit their understanding.

They change the monster into a man, and they change her into something that can be used to teach a lesson: if you are clever and if you are good, the monster will not have you.

You should not believe everything you hear.

It is a wonderfully, magical story and deeply underlining feministic. The heroine is unnamed, all women in this story are, and it works wonderfully, for it’s a tale of their power and strength, and how they fight back against the monster that, using patriarchal tools killed three hundred girls with the men in their society simply accepting this in favor their own prosperity. E.K. Johnston took that 1001 Nights story and created a new story, which tells us of the power of those unnamed women.

Always, it seemed, men would overlook unpleasant things for the sake of those that went well. The statues’ eyes for the melodious sounds of the fountain. The deaths of their daughters for the bounty of their trade.

There was great beauty in this qasr, but there was also great ugliness and fear. I would not be like those men who turned their eyes from one to see the other. I would remember what those thing cost.

The heroine, is tough and strong, she doesn’t sit around helplessly, waiting for Lo-Merlkhiin to kill her. Instead she searches for answers, becomes active, and learns about her growing power.

There was some strange power to him, even as there was some strange power to me, and I would not learn of it hiding in my room

She chooses not to ignore what happens around her – as the men in the country do, condemning three hundred girls to die, rather than stop a monster.

Lo-Merlkhiin is a monster, and he is also described as a monster, the heroine knows this, and she doesn’t romanticize him, she sees him for what he is. There is none of the usual YA nonsense where a heroine falls in love with the ‘dark’ hero who is not a good person (even though he has some goodness left in him). This was such a refreshing change, I truly enjoyed reading this book without an overwhelming romance.

It still did not matter to me that Lo-Merlkhiin had once loved his mother and his people. He shed blood and kept peace, but only the peace was of note. I was not content with that, though did not wish for some other girl’s death to pay the price instead. Seven days in the qasr had made me determined to get seven more, and then more besides.

The prose and descriptions in this book are simply wonderful, I loved the vivid pictures this book evoked. It was wonderfully written, with beautiful descriptions of the Persian culture, the harsh beauty of the desert, the exotic food and clothes, and the profound fairy-tale. The story takes place in a desert kingdom, and I was instantly transported into this magical world.

In the daytime it gleamed, gathering the sun’s rays into itself, heating slowly as the day progressed. As night approached and the desert cooled, the heat came out of the walls and tried to find the sun again, but since the sun was setting, the heat moved in weaving lines, seen from a distance like through a veil of the finest silk, blurred and indistinct.

I received this book as an advanced review copy from Netgalley.

Probably not one of Julia Quinn's best works, I however really enjoyed it. A Night Like This made me smile and left me with a soppy smile throughout the book.
It was an adorable, light, and utterly sweet story; there was a bit of insta-love, but I found that I didn’t mind as much as usually.

The Smythe-Smiths, famous for their horrendous musicales, make up a hilarious assemble of supporting characters

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this book and can't wait to pick up the next.