NEVER CALL IT LOVING has a good enough plot - set in Restoration England, a young woman is married off by King Charles II to a Scottish lord, who was horribly scarred as a spy in the service of the King, pre-Restoration. Unfortunately, I thought the way the story was told was mediocre. Despite the author's emphasis on Marisa's sweet nature, her bravery, etc., I still thought the heroine was nothing more than an empty beauty with big boobs. (The character of her grandma had more life & spunk.) The hero, Cam was a little better, but his Scotch ancestry is sort of, just thrown in there (it's like, why bother to make him a Scotchman if all you're going to do with it is make him say "dinna" once in awhile), and, the fact that he sleeps with a prostitute directly after his wedding to Marisa was frankly, yuck. I mean, I understand that he doesn't want Marisa to see his horrible scars, but that makes it OK to sleep with a woman he'll never see again, just to satisfy the lust Marisa rouses in him? As I said, a bit yucky. The love scenes are nothing to write home about; stereotypical instant gratification. All the little subplots get tidy endings, and the crazy villianess is given her comeuppance, very predictably. Definitely not a memorable, re-readable romance, NEVER CALL IT LOVING gets just 2.5 stars from me.
This is an enthralling tale of beauty and the beast.
An enthralling tale of beauty and the beast!
