I was well on my way to giving this one four stars, but ultimately I got annoyed by the end and that knocked it down a star. Loved Lydia though, and vI was well on my way to giving this one four stars, but ultimately I got annoyed by the end and that knocked it down a star. Loved Lydia though, and very much enjoyed her story.
Some parts of this I really liked, and then some parts of this felt either very poorly developed or very unnecessary. That feels pretty typical of theSome parts of this I really liked, and then some parts of this felt either very poorly developed or very unnecessary. That feels pretty typical of the books I've read by Lorret recently, unfortunately....more
I liked Nate and Daisy, but I think the stuff with Liam and Aidan went a bit too far. Not my favorite of the novellas, but also gets credit for being I liked Nate and Daisy, but I think the stuff with Liam and Aidan went a bit too far. Not my favorite of the novellas, but also gets credit for being a book I actually managed to get through, which has felt like a tall order of late. There's something to be said for coming back to familiar worlds....more
This had potential but just didn't hit the emotional highs of How to Tame a Wild Rogue for me. I was left pretty ambivalent about how some of the minoThis had potential but just didn't hit the emotional highs of How to Tame a Wild Rogue for me. I was left pretty ambivalent about how some of the minor subplots wrapped up, and I think I needed more from the romantic resolution. There were also some points where I really could not suspend disbelief here. Why was Catherine staying at the the Grand Palace on the Thames instead of with her (alleged) chaperone???...more
Admittedly not my favorite thing I've read by Bateman - the plot here was a little disjointed, which affected the stakes a bit, and (view spoiler)[theAdmittedly not my favorite thing I've read by Bateman - the plot here was a little disjointed, which affected the stakes a bit, and (view spoiler)[the entire sojourn into the Tower of London was a bit much for me (hide spoiler)] - but even with that said, there's something about the way she writes characters and relationships that really works for me, and I had a good time reading this anyway. Right now that's honestly all I can ask for!...more
This was long, but mostly fine. I finished it a week ago, and mostly I remember how much I didn't like her brother.This was long, but mostly fine. I finished it a week ago, and mostly I remember how much I didn't like her brother....more
Legitimately one of the worst books I’ve ever read. A train wreck I couldn’t look away from.
Follow up on 7/13/24:
Okay, so I finally have some time to Legitimately one of the worst books I’ve ever read. A train wreck I couldn’t look away from.
Follow up on 7/13/24:
Okay, so I finally have some time to write some thoughts out on this one. Buckle up, this one was wild.
The concept here was totally fine! She needs a husband to keep custody of her nieces and nephew, he also needs a wife (by the end of the week???) to get an inheritance (which he wants to keep from a poetry society - yeah this part is weird, more on this later). So they decide they should marry! That's about where this whole thing falls apart (if it already hadn't based on the poetry society thing).
-She has custody of her nieces and nephew after the death of her older sister and brother in law. Who died of food poisoning (??) while staying at an inn on a trip to London. It is later revealed in the book that London is only a two hour trip from the home, so I'm not sure why they were staying overnight at an inn. Additionally, the FMC urged her sister to go on the trip to reconnect with her husband, which the FMC feels guilty about because that's why her sister died. HOWEVER, it is also revealed at other points in the book that her sister's husband was physically abusive (as in, the kids are terrified that the MMC may hit the FMC because their father used to behave that way towards their mother). And there is ABSOLUTELY no reflection in the book about how the FMC was urging her sister to reunite with her abusive spouse. (IIRC, I do not think the FMC knew about this at the time, but there's still no reflection about how that behavior isn't okay and if she'd known, she never would have urged her sister to reconnect with her spouse.) -This, however, is not surprising because the entire premise of the book is that the FMC's childless cousin wants custody of the three children (or, maybe just the one boy - there was one paragraph where the author stated the cousin only wanted the boy and would have let the FMC keep the two girls, which is then never mentioned again). The childless cousin was approximately the same age as the FMC's older sister, and when FMC and her sister were orphaned, the cousin's parents took them in. Wherein the cousin and older sister either absolutely bullied the hell out of the FMC, or maybe just... were older siblings who sometimes didn't want the approximately 5-7 year younger kid tagging along with them. It's not clear because sometimes it's treated as the latter and sometimes as the former, and there's actually a really big difference. But what I can say is that no matter what the history was, the on page behavior of the cousin in the book itself was ABSOLUTELY horrendous - she repeatedly gaslight the FMC, spread vicious rumors about her, reported hurtful gossip specifically for the purpose of hurting her, and encouraged her husband to take out publicly humiliating bets about the FMC's marriage, among other things. Her behavior in this book was that of a middle school mean girl. Which made the book eventually having them "make up" in the epilogue to be an extremely poor choice. (And at the insistence of the MMC, at that! What a romantic epilogue! Forcing your spouse to make up with the cousin whom you witnessed be deliberately cruel to her!) -Also this all makes the supposed good relationship the FMC and her sister had very strange??? Were they close? Were they not close? I NEVER COULD TELL. -Let's touch a bit on the romance itself. -Starting out: the MMC reached out to the FMC (whom he had never met before) because his lawyer knew she was looking to get married ASAP. Something only her lawyer knew. So that means her lawyer broke privilege in communicating her legal situation to someone else without her permission. (Yes, privilege did exist in England then. I know this because I give the privilege & confidentiality presentation at work multiple times a year, and the history of privilege is part of it.) -Then, when they decide to marry, they MUST get married by the end of the week. I don't remember the exact timing, but I think they meet on Monday and have to be married by Friday. It's definitely five days or less. HOWEVER, somehow the banns were properly read between the time they met and were married. (This comes up later when the cousin is spreading rumors about the FMC and MMC's marriage, and the FMC again counters that the banns were properly read.) But... that's not how that works! -They get married and then think they're just going to go on about their lives, with her living in the country and him returning to London to return to his regular lifestyle, and that somehow that's going to fix everything re: custody of the children without any further work on their part. And then are shocked when the evil cousin stops by the country house and reports that she knows it's not a real marriage. -Honestly a lot of the fun of the concept of people getting married to help each other out is them actually talking to each other to help each other out, which simply did not happen here. At all. Throughout the entire book. Once they do actually start living together, they still basically lead separate lives, except for when they're together and playing good cop/bad cop with the kids. They never actually sit down and talk about how to work to keep custody of the kids. -Speaking of the whole good cop/bad cop thing, neither one of them are very good with the kids. She insists that they behave perfectly at all times, and he seems to think that they don't need any structure or supervision - which, of course, always resulted in them getting into very bad situations that were witnessed by other people and got back to the evil cousin. (And on one of the occasions, resulted in the FMC insisting like six times that a young pickpocket needed to be thrown in jail and shown no leniency, which was not a great look.) -Also, the MMC accused the FMC of not loving the kids????? I didn't realize I had to put that on my list of "oh absolutely not" points for romance novels, but apparently I do. Authors, don't do this. -As to the custody battle itself, what is the point of marrying a duke if said duke is going to be so bad at being powerful and keep getting outwitted by the evil cousin's husband, who is just the younger brother of a viscount. -Oh, also! Let's revisit the MMC's inheritance, which he could only get if he married within a week (this seems... like not enough time and a very poorly drafted will) otherwise it would go to some poetry society. The MMC absolutely hated poetry because when he was in school, he couldn't memorize some lines of poetry, and his abusive schoolteacher decided that he couldn't abuse the MMC, a future duke, so instead he would take his cane to the MMC's friend. Said friend sustained extensive damage to his hand, which was broken in many places and never healed properly. The damage to the friend's hand persisted to adulthood. -There is a small subplot about the injured friend, who was well educated but not titled or especially wealthy. He has a younger sister who made her debut that season, and so the MMC threw a party in her honor shortly after getting married (while the FMC was still in the country with the kids, because the MMC and the FMC didn't think their lives otherwise would change at all!!!!). The MMC and the friend's sister share a special solo dance during the party. The MMC does not at all consider how this would look, and naturally this is the moment when the FMC arrives in London after being confronted by the evil cousin that morning. Just another moment showing how weird it was that the two characters (especially the MMC) didn't think about how their behavior would play publicly. -Anyway, the MMC hates poetry because the professor who injured his friend loved it, and naturally the FMC writes poetry and loves it. I don't really know why the book did this because there was so much else going on, but this also happened.
This is all I care to remember at the moment. This book was genuinely very, very bad, and extremely poorly edited. An absolute shitshow from start to finish....more
Generally a lot to like about this one. So much good family stuff here. Still feeling the fact that these have gottWell, now what am I supposed to do?
Generally a lot to like about this one. So much good family stuff here. Still feeling the fact that these have gotten shorter, but I can't wait for the next one....more
These feel shorter (because they are), and that means that some of the plot points feel a little rushed. Still, this one I definitely thought was moreThese feel shorter (because they are), and that means that some of the plot points feel a little rushed. Still, this one I definitely thought was more of what I love about this series. (view spoiler)[Interesting choice to add Beau here, given that they said they didn't want to have more kids. I was surprised by it, and I'm curious to see where it goes. (hide spoiler)]...more
My least favorite in a while. Good, but just not as good as some of the others! While I liked some aspects of this (the remote location/clo3.5/5 stars
My least favorite in a while. Good, but just not as good as some of the others! While I liked some aspects of this (the remote location/closed universe was fun), I also thought parts of the mystery didn't work as well. (view spoiler)[I also think I'm kind of tired of the wronged wife being the villain. I feel like that's happened in quite a few of the books recently, and I'm ready to mix it up. (hide spoiler)]
I can't believe I only have two more of these left until I'm caught up. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself after....more
This may have been my favorite one so far! I really liked the settling into marriage of it all, and all the ways Anarchy showed up for and supported EThis may have been my favorite one so far! I really liked the settling into marriage of it all, and all the ways Anarchy showed up for and supported Ellison.
Oh, and the swim team stuff in this one was so fun and real for me. It brought back so many memories....more
Okay so my one nitpick with this one was I really didn't love how the Charlie storyline was handled. (view spoiler)[I know that he's clearly sticking Okay so my one nitpick with this one was I really didn't love how the Charlie storyline was handled. (view spoiler)[I know that he's clearly sticking around since I've both read ahead and I know from later book summaries that he and Libba are still together. But his introduction was a bit too much for me. I didn't mind it from Ellison's standpoint because she's clearly not interested in revisiting it, etc., but I kinda want more for Libba than a guy who was this sure he wanted to get back with Ellison almost immediately after ending his marriage. I realize this has completely been forgotten in later books, but unfortunately, I do not forget. (hide spoiler)]
Anyway, other than that I am having a lot of fun in this world!...more
Well, once again I've read these too fast and am struggling to distinguish one from the other. I think this one involved the kid who was sick. I'm glaWell, once again I've read these too fast and am struggling to distinguish one from the other. I think this one involved the kid who was sick. I'm glad she ended up being okay!! (view spoiler)[I never really got why the victim gave her name as Mrs. Anarchy Jones, though. That was odd. (hide spoiler)]...more
Mostly really liked this, as usual. I liked how the body at the gala was handled. I did think (view spoiler)[Anarchy's big secret ended up being too eMostly really liked this, as usual. I liked how the body at the gala was handled. I did think (view spoiler)[Anarchy's big secret ended up being too easy. It was also a bit weird to me that David wasn't mentioned in this at all until his name was listed as one of the family members who attended the wedding. I was legit wondering if he'd been forgotten/written out of the series. (hide spoiler)]
Pansy is great, though. I'm glad she's sticking around....more
It was fun to read something from Frances' POV, although the placement of this in the series was a bit weird to me. I understood it in that Ellison anIt was fun to read something from Frances' POV, although the placement of this in the series was a bit weird to me. I understood it in that Ellison and Grace were in Europe between books 1 and 2, but this also really felt like a book that was written well into the series (as it was). Didn't take away from my enjoyment, but just was definitely evident that it was not written sequentially....more
I could write a dissertation on all the problems with this book, but it mostly boils down to: the way music and playing in an orchestra was written waI could write a dissertation on all the problems with this book, but it mostly boils down to: the way music and playing in an orchestra was written was very bad, and that was so much a part of the setting that it made the rest of the story impossible to separate from it. I considered DNF'ing this very early on, and I probably should have, because it was clear from the very beginning that the author did very basic research and then did the rest on vibes, but I was curious so I forged on. It did not get better.
Just one example: Gwen is supposedly making a career out of playing the violin professionally, but she's only gone on ONE audition before??? Or Alex's father apparently kept a violin and cello "tuned" for him at his house in New Jersey???? Is his father taking them out and tuning them daily???? What?? Also, why??? And why wouldn't Alex just bring his own instrument, which would be infinitely more comfortable for him and probably a better fit for his skill level. All instruments are not the same, and it's not like we're talking about a grand piano here. String instruments can be easily transported, and if Alex was staying with his dad for any significant period of time, then he'd want his own instruments! What a silly and unnecessary side tangent that particular throwaway line took me down!
Anyway, I also didn't care for the characters much, but it's hard for me to figure out if it was because of the major plot/orchestra setting issues or if it was the characters themselves. That said, some of Alex's early comments about Gwen's talents or abilities were just nonstarters for me.
Also, on an unrelated point, how did Gwen get from the UES to the UWS to Jackson Heights and then back again on Thanksgiving morning all before noon so they could drive to Boston??? I mean, you CAN do it, but not if you're going to start out after 8 am (and where are you going on the UWS - you have to be careful crossing CPW if you're anywhere below 81st street to avoid the parade) or if you want to spend more than 10 minutes in any one of those locations. The trains run on a Sunday schedule on holidays. Also, that was cutting it extremely close on getting there for the Boston show. (What if the car broke down? What if there's traffic? It's extremely unprofessional to be cutting things that close imo.)...more
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