Worth reading, especially with the shortage of clean romances.

The book is enjoyable, though a little typical in storyline. The author has some outstanding stories. This is a fair, clean read worth picking up but not one of the outstanding ones. In general, the narration was fine, and I liked both characters; however, I wish the narrator had given the heroine a less breathy, mousy demeanor. More spark in her voice and personality would have made this a more enjoyable listen. And sometimes, Marcuses voice was a little too high, such as when he was conversing with his brother. So it was a little inconsistent. One writing pet peeve of mine is frequent blushing. I rarely see a person blush, yet in this book (as in many others), the heroine can hardly converse without flushing red. Is there no other option available? Another pet peeve that almost every book in this genre includes is repetitious internal monologue. In the second half, I just want to tell the author that, “Yes, I remember that from the last time he/she thought it a few pages back. And now I remember it again, and yet again.” Seems the writer fell back on that one tool too often as filler. I’d rather enjoy the path of the tension playing out without having it re-explained and repeated through internal thoughts as though I lack the wits to keep up. It does not move the plot along but rather keeps it static.

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6 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Okay

WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Overlooked by society and underappreciated in her family, Ellen Bringhurst has resigned herself to spinsterhood and a life of reading. Until her match-making friends contrive to reintroduce Ellen to the man she has secretly loved since their shared childhood.

As the younger son to an earl, Marcus Calvert must wed in order to inherit his estate. Still nursing a broken heart, he prefers a practical approach to matrimony rather than romantic love. When Ellen is presented as a possible bride, he proposes a marriage of convenience.

Ellen accepts his hand, hiding her feelings rather than risking her husband’s rejection. Marcus, though determined not to expose his heart again, finds more to admire in his childhood friend with each passing day. What began as a sensible arrangement now has the possibility to become so much more. But is Marcus willing to risk his heart a second time?

MY TAKE
This was a bit of a tough read. I thought Ellen was a stronger character than she turned out to be. At first, there were memories of when they were younger and were friends. But then they both threw up walls that really began to wear on me. Later in the book, Marcus's brother makes a suggestion on how to fix things between them, making an excellent point that they had not idea how much time they might have. I expected him to court her. But Marcus does nothing. When he does try to talk to Ellen, she pushes doesn't give him a chance. It's something a simple conversation would have remedied. Some misunderstanding I could handle, but this just went too long.

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2 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Oh for goodness sakes!

I made myself finish this book because I knew there would finally be a happy ending and didn’t want to miss that pay off after suffering through chapter after chapter of that stupid girl being a “ninny”. It was incredibly annoying the way she never seem to notice the sweet way he was acting to her. I really like Sally Briton’s stories and wanted to continue the series but she must have had other things going on in her life while writing that awful character, so lame! I don’t recommend wasting a credit on this one😫

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Dreadful ending to a story with so much possibility. Did she really write it?

There was so much possibility and it dragged on oppressivly. He was ridiculous. Anyone could have seen what her needs were. Heck they were never married with no consummation. the last 8 chapters were slow torture.

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Bluestocking?

Bluestockings are (in my mind) women of backbone, forceful, confident. Helen was a milksop and the narrator had her speaking in calm barely audible tones. The story was good but I, wallflower that I am, was depressed listening to Helen. I think I'll go sit quietly in my room now.

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Author forgot to add the plot

I made it through the whole thing waiting for a plot to appear but nothing much happens at all. The characters are a bit annoying and one dimensional. The only "drama" is that some of the townsfolk gossip about the heroine when she married the neighborhood's most eligible bachelor. I read loads of historical romance and of course don't want anything truly bad to happen to the characters, but without some ups and downs the happy ending doesn't really have much impact. I actually dozed off during the last 10 minutes of the story.

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Over simplistic, and immature characters and dialogue

I finally just had to stop because the main characters we’re not evolving as a story unfolded they were very one-note, which became boring. The performance was not horrible but the narrator consistently miss, pronounced words, and was trying for an accent that wasn’t quite coming together. The author comes off as being very young, and not having lived much of life, because of her inability to really understand internal dynamics of people, emotionally and psychologically, and her inability to communicate in a more complex fashion.

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So boring

Will he ever love me? Can I love her? Over and over, on and on ad nauseum. No other plot lines.

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I will always love you

Great book. Comments can hurt but like of communication really hurt this love. So glad that Love came through!

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One of my favorites

I listened to this a number of times. I have enjoyed it every time. Sweet romance interesting characters. Great narration.

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