Historical Romance

I think JQ might be getting a little sloppy with the anachronisms, particularly when it comes to how her characters speak, but I still enjoy her books and will continue to read them. This one was a bit run of the mill for me. It reminded me of another historical romance I read a few years ago where the hero also had a bum leg. What sets JQ apart from many other romance writers is the sense of fun her books have. The heroine's funny little sisters and the threat of the horrid Smythe-Smith musicale are classic JQ. ( )

I'm honestly not happy writing this review. Quinn's books tend to make me smile and feel all warm about the the joys of love. Her heroes and heroines all have issues they have to contend with that aren't (for the most part) contrived feeling or ridiculous given their circumstances. Several of the Bridgerton Novels are my go to books when I feel down and the first two Smythe-Smith books entertained me greatly.

So I thought, as those books progressed, that a book about Sarah (who you'll remember ducked out of performing in Book 2 and thus led to Anne and Daniel's meeting) and Hugh (the fellow who dragged Daniel back to England) would be remarkably fun. Sarah and Hugh, what we saw of the two previously, seemed lively and well up to snuff when it came to being contenders in the Smythe-Smith clan.

Except...

Well...

I was so let down by them both.

Quinn interweaves events from the first books into this one (much as she did in the Bridgerton Saga), fleshing out odd looks, weird disappearances and crazy conversations to round out what was happening around the principle characters of those books. Moreso then other historical romance writers who write Sagas, Quinn does this really well. I've always enjoyed that and pleased when I can spot something in one book that is otherwise an offhand gesture and then later read what that gesture meant.

In small amounts Sarah and Hugh were charming. As the center of an almost comically ludicrous romance I want to ring both their necks. We see the events the led up to the fateful duel that had Daniel running from England from Hugh's point of view and quite frankly Hugh comes out the worst for it. Rather then something that escalated to an unfortunate degree between two friends, it was a matter of pride on Hugh's part. He was so drunk off his keester that his pride could not tolerate the fact that he made a mistake. And thus was Daniel's life (almost) completely ruined.

Sarah meanwhile came off as a judgemental shrew at times. Even at the end, in a scene between her, Hugh's jackarse father and Hugh I was too peeved at the main chars to enjoy the fun of it.

This wasn't not an easy book to read or get through. The moments of sparkling wit did little to curb my irritation and though I'm always a fan of the guy realizing he's in love first, I honestly had no clue WHY Hugh was in love. Or why Sarah was. Or why anyone supported the match AT ALL.

In the end I just wasn't happy like I expected to be. ( )

I liked everything except the climax. The villain was terrrrrible but the actions of the hero/heroine were not proportional. Bothered me. ( )

Adorable. I loved both of the main characters. ( )