Helpful Score: 2
I can't believe this is the same author who wrote The Fire Lord's Lover! There was something erratic about this book, as if Kennedy wrote parts of it in different moods or at different times in her life. I almost stopped reading during the first several chapters because of the way that she would set up a scene so you'd expect fun sparks to fly between the duke and Summer while he attempted to turn her into a lady, only to have the scene abruptly end and another pick up several days later. In this way most of her "education" (i.e. the fun part) was glossed over.
Summer's friend Maria and her menagerie of animals also felt shallow and too PC. Maria was a half-baked character there to prove how virtuous Summer is for having a friend so wholeheartedly part of the American West who could embarrass her for comic relief sometimes and provide sage wisdom during other times. She disappears for most of the book and I was happy that I didn't have to read her embarrassingly simple accent full of "Y'all" and "Tarnation!" She was about as full of depth as cardboard and had no purpose outside of what insight she provided for Summer's journey.
I read a few Amazon and PPS reviews before I bought this book and one reviewer says that the story gets better after the "carriage accident." Since there are two carriage incidents I was dismayed to find that the one in which the reviewer was referring happens fairly late in the book (the last third). But the reviewer is right in that the book flows more evenly from that point on. I'd be interested to know if Kennedy wrote that portion of the book more easily than the rest. At that point even the superfluous characters became more interesting but the story became a little stereotypical of other historicals I've read of the impoverished lord with the soft gooey center concealed by a hardened shell.
I will say though that the heat between the characters is on fire. I give Kennedy kudos for the wonderful passion inherent in every gesture and move made by Summer and Byron. And if passionate and creative love scenes are your main criteria for a romance novel then this is a fabulous book by that criteria alone. To repeat an overused term, the love scenes are literally smoldering.
Summer's friend Maria and her menagerie of animals also felt shallow and too PC. Maria was a half-baked character there to prove how virtuous Summer is for having a friend so wholeheartedly part of the American West who could embarrass her for comic relief sometimes and provide sage wisdom during other times. She disappears for most of the book and I was happy that I didn't have to read her embarrassingly simple accent full of "Y'all" and "Tarnation!" She was about as full of depth as cardboard and had no purpose outside of what insight she provided for Summer's journey.
I read a few Amazon and PPS reviews before I bought this book and one reviewer says that the story gets better after the "carriage accident." Since there are two carriage incidents I was dismayed to find that the one in which the reviewer was referring happens fairly late in the book (the last third). But the reviewer is right in that the book flows more evenly from that point on. I'd be interested to know if Kennedy wrote that portion of the book more easily than the rest. At that point even the superfluous characters became more interesting but the story became a little stereotypical of other historicals I've read of the impoverished lord with the soft gooey center concealed by a hardened shell.
I will say though that the heat between the characters is on fire. I give Kennedy kudos for the wonderful passion inherent in every gesture and move made by Summer and Byron. And if passionate and creative love scenes are your main criteria for a romance novel then this is a fabulous book by that criteria alone. To repeat an overused term, the love scenes are literally smoldering.
