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Loading... A Good Debutante's Guide to Ruinby Sophie Jordan
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A Debutante's Guide to Ruin 4 Stars Content Warning: This book contains tropes that some readers may find offensive, i.e., Penniless and homeless, Rosalie Hughes has only one person to turn to, her step-brother, Declan whom she hasn't seen for over a decade. Declan, the Duke of Banbury, quickly decides that the easiest solution to Rosalie's situation is to marry her off as soon as possible. Of course, Rosalie has other ideas that include donning a disguise and infiltrating a notorious sex club of which Declan is a member . . . For me, the step-siblings-in-love trope was not an issue in this particular book as Rosalie and Declan are neither biologically related nor are they raised together as brother and sister. Both Rosalie and Declan are appealing characters. Although he starts out as a bit of a jerk, she handles his aloofness with aplomb, and their superficial familial connection grows into a strong emotional bond with intense attraction and chemistry. The secret-keeping trope revolving around Rosalie's disguise, which has the potential to ruin a book, is handled well here without any unnecessary prevarication or undue angst. The secondary storyline revolving around Rosalie's despicable mother is very disturbing with some skin-crawling moments. The climax and resolution are, however, quite similar to one of Jordan's other works - Wicked in Your Arms. In sum, this is an enjoyable read overall, and the hints at the love/hate relationship between Declan's cousin and his best friend has me looking forward to their story. Reading this romance, it felt much more in line with older romances I read from the 90s and early 00s, rather than its publication date of 2014. There's a lot more damsel in distress than I go in for these days and while usually things like cousin marriage doesn't phase me, I could not stop being a little weirded out by the fact that the romantic leads are step-siblings (why I'm not weirded out by the exact same dynamic in Clueless I honestly don't know. Paul Rudd makes everything ok, maybe?). The book isn't bad and Sophie Jordan's writing is good enough that I'd consider picking up another of her novels but I won't recommend this one. no reviews | add a review
Fiction.
Literature.
Romance.
Historical Fiction.
HTML: The last woman on earth he would ever touch . . . Declan, the Duke of Banbury, has no interest in ushering Rosalie Hughes, his stepsister, into society.Dumped on him with nowhere else to go, he's determined to rid himself of the headstrong debutante by bestowing on her an obscenely large dowry . . . making her the most sought-after heiress of the Season. . . . is about to become the only one he wants But Rosalie isn't about to go along with Declan's plans. Surrounded by fortune hunters, how is she supposed to find a man who truly wants her? Taking control of her fate, Rosalie dons a disguise and sneaks into Sodom, a private club host to all manner of illicit activityâ??and frequented by her infuriatingly handsome stepbrother. In a shadowed alcove, Declan can't resist the masked temptress who sets his blood afire . . . any more than Rosalie can deny her longing for a man who will send her into ruin. No library descriptions found. |
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3.5 because the story didn't really hit its stride until about 60% of the way through.
Genteel-bred ladies... at a whorehouse? ...Mmmkay...
Initially, I found Rosalie and Declan insufferable, but Declan won me.
It was cute and different. ( )