Unforgiven

These cowardly and foolish characters butt heads and sabotage their chance at happiness at every turn for an entire book. The actual writing and dialogue wasn't bad, so I'm not going to give it just a single star, but it was an awfully frustrating experience, and I'm glad it's over.

Content Warning spoiler Miscarriage on page.

The characters having sex, as apparently the only way!, to not freeze to death, (in a cabin for single night with a flame and at least one cot to burn, plus a blanket and large dog for additional warmth) was so entirely preposterous that it was difficult to move past. It would have been a tad more buyable if they had planned to just strip naked to share body heat and then one thing led to another, but it was show more beyond everything that they set out from the getgo to have sex as their way to survive the night. I ended up deciding that while they seemed determined to put hurdles in their own way, unconsciously they were sabotaging the sabotage, lol, by creating circumstances where they would *have* to be together. It's the only way two people convinced that they can't even stand the other would possibly go along with the notion of 'we must have sex or else we will freeze to death'. Honestly they're kind of idiots. show less

What just happened? [shaking my head to clear my thoughts] I just can’t believe that this book has been written by my all time favorite author [but then maybe I can, since this was first published by Jove in 1998?]. But wait. That can’t be it. The writing was very good and distinctly her own, so what went wrong? That’s the question I’m going to try and answer.

This is the second story in Ms. Balogh’s Horseman Trilogy series in which we meet four friends who’ve survived and returned from Napoleonic wars. Now, since I read and loved her Survivors Club series, I was pleasantly surprised that she’d decided to reprint this series and I liked the first book and Rex and Catharine’s story, so I was sure that this one would be show more just as good. Color me surprised as I dug deepper and deeper into this story.

Why write such a self-righteous, self-pitying and all round pathetic human being? I’ve said before that the reason I love Ms. Balogh’s characters is because she gives them flaws which makes them real, but she also gives them plenty of time to grow with the story so that by the end they are richer and well rounded. It’s what made them interesting and compelling. I genuinely cared for them and their plight.

Not so in this story. I not just didn’t like it, I detested it. I found myself livid with the heroine’s attitude and reckless actions. No amount of interior musings on the part of this heroine was ever going to make me like her. I couldn’t even pity her.

Plot wise, I was disappointed as well. This had a potential to be such a warmhearted and touching second-chance at love romance, but the characters did things that were peculiar and awkward. Even their love scenes felt forced and stilted, unbelievable. This was supposed to be a romance, yet I felt no chemistry between the two. None!

To make maters worse, the wrong assumptions these two had about each other and their refusal to communicate and give each other the benefit of the doubt, took 80% of the story. It was downright tedious. By the time they come to some sort of understanding, I felt frustration and by the time they resolve their differences, I’ve lost interest.

If you want to be depressed, go ahead and read it, otherwise, skip it!

Melanie for b2b show less

These cowardly and foolish characters butt heads and sabotage their chance at happiness at every turn for an entire book. The actual writing and dialogue wasn't bad, so I'm not going to give it just a single star, but it was an awfully frustrating experience, and I'm glad it's over.

Content Warning spoiler Miscarriage on page.

The characters having sex, as apparently the only way!, to not freeze to death, (in a cabin for single night with a flame and at least one cot to burn, plus a blanket and large dog for additional warmth) was so entirely preposterous that it was difficult to move past. It would have been a tad more buyable if they had planned to just strip naked to share body heat and then one thing led to another, but it was show more beyond everything that they set out from the getgo to have sex as their way to survive the night. I ended up deciding that while they seemed determined to put hurdles in their own way, unconsciously they were sabotaging the sabotage, lol, by creating circumstances where they would *have* to be together. It's the only way two people convinced that they can't even stand the other would possibly go along with the notion of 'we must have sex or else we will freeze to death'. Honestly they're kind of idiots. show less

I enjoyed reading this but felt that there was some lacking. Moira and Kenneth have a huge backstory that we barely understand until the last few pages; it almost felt like there’s a prequel out in the ether. Trigger warning for miscarriage and everything dealing with it, but I’m glad it was discussed over two decades ago in romance as it’s only finally being discussed now.

This is another of Ms. Balogh's older books. This trilogy has a lot of Jane Austen character types in it. Here, Sir Edwin Baillie reminds the reader of Mr. Collins or Sir Walter Eliot with his pomposity and good-hearted ridiculousness. But the main story is about Moira and Kenneth, scions torn apart due to a Romeo and Juliet type feud.
It took me almost to the end of the book to like the hero and heroine. They fight, nastily and a lot. Yes, it's due to that 'love being the other side of hate' trope, but it's hard to see it here. And the scene where they're caught in the snowstorm was clearly because they wanted to have sex, not just stay warm, so it came off pretty silly. It's pretty obvious that they are two people in denial.
But Ms. show more Balogh writes a good story and the couple got there in the end, despite all. show less

Kenneth Woodfall returns from war to his ancestral home. There, he finds that the girl he loved in childhood, Moira Hayes, has fallen on hard times and is engaged to marry a foolish prig. Sparks fly when Moira and Kenneth meet, and despite themselves they share one last waltz. Moira overhears Kenneth's relatives gossiping and is so upset that she immediately sets out walking for home.

In a blizzard. In her ball gown.

Kenneth chases after her on foot, and they take shelter in a little unheated cabin. And then the stupidst thing I have possibly ever read in a romance novel takes place. Kenneth says they have to share body heat. OK, sure. So they take off their clothes and spoon. But then he's like, no, that's not enough sharing, I have to show more be inside you or else we'll die of cold? And she takes him seriously? And they have dispassionate sex, like they're just doing it to save their lives, and then go their separate ways. WAAAAAHhhh?

Anyway, of course she ends up pregnant. It's the rule of soap operas everywhere. And of course she refuses to tell him. And of course he eventually finds out, and they feel forced to marry, and she has a miscarriage. The miscarriage is particularly convenient because A)then their kid doesn't have to grow up as basically a bastard and B)this way they can each weep and realize how much they mean to each other. I didn't much like this book, I didn't like the hero in the least, and I especially didn't like that his mean-spirited female relations (who provided so much driving force and narrative tension) randomly become kind-hearted in the last few pages. show less

This story was a bit boring also, as I thought the first one was. It never pulled at my sensibilities that at least the first book did a little at the beginning. The "situation" that cause their forced marriage seemed very contrived.

He was arrogant and cold and never warmed up for me. She was spiteful and uncommunicative. Why they would suddenly open up at the very end, I don't know. Never felt a chemistry.

She tries to get you tied to the past history of the two but the back story, told at the very end, was anticlimactic.

Overall the story was OK but the story was boring more than 1/2 the time. Very little chemistry between the two. 1 1/2 stars if I could've given 1/2. I didn't dislike it because it didn't have me angry about show more stupidities, but didn't really like it either.

Just OK, readable. show less