samantharichens

** spoiler alert ** This was very slow. It was boring in some parts, and a lot of the technical and geological language went right over my head. I had two big problems with this book: 1. The Heroine. She was pretty cool, up until she got married. And then she degenerated into the whole 'I'm going to be a brat and deliberately put myself in danger because I have a point to prove' She made a lot of TSTL decisions. 2. There wasn't enought background info on the hero/heroine's past. Aunt Sophia told Erik that Christine never knew he'd asked her father for 'her hand in marriage' and that he thought she rejected him, and that's why he married her cousin. But this was never brought up again, especially not with Christine, so there was no understanding or closure in this area, which annoyed me. It was also stupid to bring it up in the first place if the author never intended to expand on it. Note: Aunt Sophia, regularly became Aunt Sophie instead, and one of the servants was either Hampton, or Hamilton depending on the mood. (Whoops) In real life, the hero's relationships with his scum of the earth mother, and the asshole who made his life hell would never have been resolved, and I was pissed off that they were. I was also pissed that everyone was so gentle with his sister, who was a brat and just made life that much harder for everyone. While I did like the hero in this, he did have his weak points, and none of the rest of the characters (except the seven year old daughter) were particularly likeable. Unlike Christine, I think Elizabeth got everything she deserved for being such a brat, and overall heinous person to everyone in her life, while she was alive. The murder mystery was hard to follow, and didn't make a whole lot of sense. And there was no real chemistry between the hero and heroine, so I didn't really care either way if they were together or not, although I will admit to being annoyed that the just couldn't seem to catch a break cause of their idiot neighbours. The magical ring is a plot device I've seen before, but unlike Tempted By the Night, this seemed contrived, and wasn't well worked. This is the first Melody Thomas book I've read, and I doubt I'll read another. I'd give it a 2.5 rating.

2023-01-09 14:17