Bethany Bennett

Lottie might technically belong on my BBW shelf, as there are a couple of references to her generous figure, but it was not a feature of the story so I’m leaving her off. And she’s technically a spinster, but that aspect is fairly irrelevant plot-wise, so I’m only putting her on the trope shelf for being independent and managing. This premise had me really excited, and I did enjoy the story, but the third act nearly smothered it. The story could have had a hundred pages trimmed from it. Even the epilogue dragged for me. I was hoping this would be a good trope read, but it’s not really angsty. I really like the characters though, and plan to read the second book in the series.… (mehr)

Phee probably belongs on the abused shelf, but while she may have been on the run from her abusive uncle, she did not strike me as particularly traumatized. I enjoy stories where the heroine is disguised as a man - makes we want to go reread [b:Duke and Duplicity|43529694|Duke and Duplicity (Rogues & Gentlemen #15)|Emma V. Leech|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547133247l/43529694._SY75_.jpg|67705834] - and I did love both Phee, and Cal too, even if it took him a while to find his backbone. Had a nice dose of angst, though perhaps not quite enough to keep the book on that shelf; we’ll see what I think if I end up rereading it down the line sometime. Overall good stuff, but not a fluffy trope read (3.5 stars)… (mehr)