Sunday, March 13, 2016

A Breath of Scandal, Elizabeth Essex

This book was an absolute delight, with a couple of caveats. First, the good: I loved the hero. It's rare to find one with no dark secrets or lurking man pain. He's a sailor and he's lost his job since the defeat of Napoleon, and he's kind of bummed, but eh. It'll work out somehow. And I loved the heroine. She's feisty and competent. And they LIKE each other. Sure, their loins throb for each other, but they also just LIKE each other a lot. He calls her Preston, which I think is adorable.

On to the caveats: the bad guy (and the heroine's mom) are really bad. Like, super over the top ridiculously bad, with no redeeming qualities. That's fine, I don't need nuance in my villains, but there was nuance in the last Essex book I read, so I was startled. Second, there's a scene at the end where the heroine does something that's honestly just dumb. I rolled my eyes and briefly put the book down. Third, it ends kind of abruptly.

But overall, this whole series is a definite thumbs-up DO recommend.

Grade: B

#17 in 2016

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