To Catch an Heiress

Reseña (muy dolida porque amo a Julia Quinn) de Fantasía Mágica

Me duele en alma hacer esta reseña porque amo a Julia Quinn pero... este libro es un bodrio.
Éste fue uno de los primeros libros que escribió, así que no sería justo guiarse por él. Se nota que iba encaminándose al que luego será el estilo que tantas adoramos (como en la serie Bridgerton) pero todavía le faltaba un tramo para llegar.

Por si no quisieron leer la muy extensa sinopsis... Caroline Trent es huérfana y está en manos de un tío que solamente quiere la fortuna que ella heredará. Después de que su primo (por órdenes de su padre) intentara violarla sin más éxito que el de recibir un balaso, Caroline se escapa durante la noche y en su huída conoce a show more Blake Ravenscroft (de profesión: espía de la Corona), quien por la descripción física la confunde con Carlotta de León, una espía española. Blake se la lleva prisionera (aunque Caroline no se resiste demasiaaaado) y ahí comienza todo.

Primer problema del libro: Caroline es bastante irritante. Y no me refiero a la tierna muchachita terca que suele protagonizar los libros de Quinn, sino que es realmente una persona irritante. Sus reacciones, sus pensamientos, su comportamiento... irritante.
Blake por otro lado es un personaje simpático y en cierta forma inusual para el estilo de la autora. Ya estuvo enamorado una vez, estuvo comprometido incluso, pero la mujer con la que iba a casarse fue asesinada en una misión y el juró que nunca volvería a amar a nadie.
Por supuesto, todos esperamos que Caroline cambie eso.

El mejor personaje para mi es el Marqués Sidwell, amigo de Blake y futuro protagonista de la segunda parte de la saga. Tengo mis esperanzas puestas en ese otro libro, porque Sidwell realmente es un personaje divertido.
Otro al que no pude tolerar ni una sola vez es al mayordomo. Además del curioso hecho de que no parece tenerle ni un ápice de respeto a su señor -que en otras circunstancias podría resultar en situaciones muy divertidas- es un personaje prácticamente inútil. Ocupa lugar, molesta con sus apariciones y sus contestaciones sin gracia. Me cayó francamente mal.

Segundo problema del libro: No tiene la chispa de siempre. De verdad, no está. El humor dulce y simpático, con ingenio y un poco de sarcasmo, aquí no es otra cosa que diálogos forzados y en muchos casos hasta estúpidos. Son extensos por puro gusto, sin realmente decir nada. El libro se hace largo... y esto lo dice quien se ha leído historias de Julia Quinn en un día y medio, o a lo sumo dos.

Y la historia de amor en sí... bueno, está bien, pero no es de las mejores.
Tenemos al dañado Blake y a la dulce y cariñosa Caroline (aunque irritante). Tenemos unas cuantas situaciones de malos entendidos, de Caroline prisionera en una casa intentando entretenerse con lo que puede y ocultarse de todos, y a pesar de que se supone que es un libro de humor... me hizo reir una sola vez.

Que no se me malinterprete, de verdad me duele criticarlo tanto. Julia Quinn es una de mis autoras preferidas y sus libros me han hecho pasar momentos hermosos en épocas en que estaba con el ánimo un poco bajo. Simplemente, éste no es uno de esos.
Nos vemos en la continuación, tengo mi esperanza puesta en su persona, Marqués Sidwell. show less

To Catch an Heiress
3 Stars

The sparks of Quinn's future brilliance are evident in this cute and funny read. Nevertheless, it tends toward the farcical at times and the humor often feels forced.

Caroline's sarcastic wit and her banter with Blake are very entertaining at first. However, as their relationship progresses, their squabbling becomes tedious and it is unclear what they see in each other.

The espionage plot lacks substance - there is no tension or suspense and the villains seem like an afterthought.

All in all, not bad considering this is one of Quinn's earlier books but her writing definitely improves over time.

"He'd done battle some of the world's most devious criminals. but he was powerless in the face of her frown."
-Julia Quinn in To Catch An Heiress.

Julia Quinn's To Catch An Heiress is about an heiress, whose been down on her luck nearly her whole life, getting romantically involved with a grieving agent of the crown after a series of events and miscommunications.

Despite disliking the beginning, the book really grew on me! Although Blake reminding me of my own husband which led me to being a little lenient when he did things that were questionable. All of the characters seemed to get better as the book progressed. It was genuinely funny (this would've been a great comedy) and heartbreaking at times, I definitely had cried while reading. show more The dialogue is certainly this book's strongest point.

Julia Quinn is certainly not a spy thriller author and much of that aspect of the book seemed way too illogical to be completely immersive. Every time a new aspect of their work for The Office Of War came up, it completely snapped me out of my reading. Also, a lot of what happens to Caroline, especially concerning her past, seemed to be tragic for the sake of being tragic. I hate when any sort of assault gets seen as a plot point, which is especially prevalent towards the beginning of this title. show less

Witty dialogue, poorly crafted narrative, almost irrelevant action and cookie-cutter romance.

After the fourth or fifth (I lost count) verbal duel between Caroline and Blake I almost gave up on this book. A happy ending was inevitable, and the back-story of Bonapartist smugglers held so little promise that I didn't care what happened to the odious Oliver Prewitt and Mata-Hari clone Carlotta, both of whom are introduced at the beginning of the book, and both of whom we know are bound to show up at the end.

Blake's angst over the death in undercover action of his beloved Marabelle (shades of Irene Adler) is revisited one too many times and the breathless description of Caroline's painless and instantly orgasmic defloration did what this HR show more trope always does: snaps the very thin thread suspending the reader's disbelief.

The biggest puzzle of this book is the author's introduction. It didn't make sense. Ms Quinn reveals that, at one point, she thought that [b:To Catch an Heiress|110395|To Catch an Heiress (Ex-spies, #1)|Julia Quinn|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1325388992s/110395.jpg|106387] was the worst thing she'd ever written, until the idea of "A Word a Day" vocabulary building gave her an insight into the incomplete character of Caroline.

This epiphany may have done something for Ms Quinn, but I still don't know what connection it has with the story, apart from the cute "Word of the Day" that prefaces each chapter, and could have easily been deleted without affecting the book for better or worse. show less

This, I felt, was less a believable historical romance and more a vehicle for an almost overwhelming amount of cheery witty banter. Look, I like banter as much as the next person--but when the banter goes the way of implausibility, I start to cringe. I would've bashed both Caroline's and Blake's heads if *I* were their partner during their spy missions! Just stop talking already, the two of you! You're loud and distracting and draw attention to yourself when you absolutely cannot afford to do so!

Aside from that major quibble, I liked Caroline. She has modern sensibilities and appeal. Read this if you want a historical romance that never stops being witty and quippy.

Totally improbable romp.

Caroline Trent is kidnapped by mistake, Blake, her kidnapper, thinks she is Carlotta De Leon. Oh, well, Caroline is actually quite pleased to be kidnapped, she's needs to get away before her guardian marries her to his son.

It's a Regency romance version of a James Bond movie, without the gadgets.

A fair dose of suspense, hot romance, and otherwise wonderful.

Caroline is within 6 weeks of her 21st birthday and subsequently, her freedom, when her guardian seeks to ruin her in an effort to keep her fortune in his family. Her only choice is to run away, putting her in the path of Blake Ravenscroft. In a case of mistaken identity, Blake believes Caroline to be a treasonous spy. He imprisons her in his home and summons his partner, James, to assist in the interrogation. Thus begins "To Catch an Heiress." I don't think it's any great secret that Blake and Caroline find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other, despite the fact that he at first believes her to be a dangerous traitor. Although the plot is sometimes ridiculously simplistic and predictable, the laugh-out-loud funny antics, witty show more dialogue, and tender love scenes save the novel from an obscure fate. It is a rather pleasant and enjoyable read. Blake and Caroline are both wounded in different ways, and they both have to learn to trust each other. Don't expect it to be realistic, but more like a fairy tale, and you will be delighted. I really enjoy the other characters, especially the servants. I can't wait until James finds his happily-ever-after in the next book. show less