I got an ARC

This is the 2nd book I read by this author and I was not disappointed. This was a sweet and tender romance and suspense. Loved the dialogue and characters.

I really wanted to love this book. I loved parts of it, especially the heroine’s friendships and the hero’s moral fiber. But I find the book repetitive at times, and I was disappointed in the heroine (who I have loved in other books in the series). Her characterization was inconsistent, and honestly I tired of her dithering. Her constant “yes, this is what I’ll do/no, I won’t drove” me insane. The true heroine of this book was Ester’s mother! I want a book about her!

3.5 Stars really, but can't put half! I did really like it, I just though there were a few bits that were a little far-fetched. I might write a more detailed review at some point.

I love Vanessa Riley, but I just couldn't get into either one of these characters. I loved the deeper themes explored, but I often felt frustrated by the heroine - she was very fearful, sheltered, and stubborn. I do like that she was a flawed human who had a lot of growth, but it kept taking me out of the romance and feeling irritation instead, particularly because Ester and Bex have the same conversations over and over and over without really resolving them until the very end (and even then...not satisfactorily). It just didn't feel like a great match. But can't wait to read Frederica's story!

Rating adjusted after finishing the whole series. Ester is such an unlikable heroine. I appreciate that the author is aware of this and actually makes Ester's stubbornness a plot point that she had to overcome, but it was too little, too late for me. She was simply dreadful and I couldn't root for her or her love story.

I won’t say my high hopes are being dashed, but they are being lowered.

I've been thoroughly enjoying this series. The theme of this book is the prodigal daughter. Ester Croome who is what's called a Blackamoor, is being forced to marry a philanderer to help save her father's fabric textile business. In order to escape, she runs off with Actor Arthur Bex ( who unbeknown to him, Ester has been infactuated with him for a while). They run off and trouble follows them. I kept going back and forth between liking the different characters, then not liking them or vice versa. Now on to read the next book in the series.

I’m going to be honest and say I’m being generous with giving this book a 3 star rating. I really wanted to like it more, but I couldn’t get over the FMC. She was insufferable. She was very immature, stubborn and sheltered. I found it hard to cheer for her love story when she constantly pushed the hero away, ran hot and cold with him and couldn’t forgive anyone when they didn’t meet her standards. I couldn’t blame her for being upset at the secret the MMC kept from her, but honestly by the time that came out it felt like she would use anything to push him away.

I can’t figure out what the MMC saw in her. Speaking of the MMC I liked him. I would have loved more information about his life before he came to London and reinvented himself after his horrible past. I also loved the FMC’s mom. I wasn’t expecting to since we only saw her from the FMC eyes which was very skewed and biased. This author really has a gift with making some memorable and interesting side characters. I hope I like the next book as it features two characters from the first book that I really enjoyed.

2.5 stars

I just finished this book and I'M STRESSED-

This is so hard to review.

First of all, this book opened wonderfully. I love how Bex and Ester met, and it was adorable how Ester couldn't string a coherent sentence in Bex's presence because she's been crushing on him for two years. I even enjoyed the horrible road trip these two made to Scotland in order to elope. The banter is great, and Bex is really the hero of my heart, he charmed both me and Ester.

The only thing that didn't work for me turned out to be Ester, and since she's, well, the heroine, it really affected my enjoyment. I can't pinpoint exactly when it went wrong for me, because I truly adored her in the beginning. She was innocent and sweet, but also stubborn and determined to escape what would have been a horrible arranged marriage. But Ester also had this one-track mind of how things should be and if anything didn't go her way (read: Bex and his abolitionist efforts) then BYE. Her persistence in trying to get Bex to abandon the cause he had devoted his life to also didn't really sit well for me.

And then there was her reaction to Bex and his Past. I was a bit stressed when Bex didn't tell Ester about the truth of his past upfront because I knew it was going to be a source of conflict and I wasn't looking forward to it. But after what happened post-confession, I understood a bit of Bex's hesitation to open up about his past. It was a MAJOR conflict and there wasn't enough pages to deal with the aftermath, IMO, and in the end, I was left to wonder if Bex would be better off without her. Because really, she made him miserable and still the poor guy jumped through hoops to win her back, and she wouldn't even give him the chance to properly explain himself.

Overall, I came for the romance and I was disappointed that it didn't work out for me, but I liked Vanessa Riley's writing and I'm still going to check out her other works. This book just unfortunately didn't do it for me.

E-ARC is received thanks to the publisher via Netgalley.