1st read: September 2021
2nd read: July 2023

I loved this just as much the second time around.

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Original review:
This is so good. Minerva and Colin are great together. ( )

I really really really can't stand the trope of brilliant girl who can't figure out basic social cues. Just because a woman likes to read doesn't mean she also can't dance or make small talk. In an attempt to be feminist, this trope just comes off as even more sexist than if the heroine was a ditzy airhead falling in love every time she blinked. This trope makes it seem like women can't be both intelligent and socially adept. The exception to this is the Mary Sue character who can not only read and talk like a normal human but can usually play an instrument, doctor a wound, throw a punch, is a great athlete, and whatever else she puts her mind to. It's a frustrating and a tired, old trope that needs to die.

In this book Minerva Highwood is modeled after Mary Anning, a female palentologist, but she is far less interesting to read about. Minerva can't tell the difference between a consensual make-out session and rape. She is denser than the rocks she studies, and also has the stupidest plans. She runs out in the middle of the night to tell Colin not to marry her sister... could this not have waited till morning? When it would be more socially acceptable? She can't lie to save her life. Literally. If she had just lied once or twice in the novel, their journey to Scotland would've been a lot smoother.

But if you liked this character, then you would be so disappointed to know that she is completly different about halfway through. After her first orgasm, Minerva is suddenly capable of play-acting as a French mistress, giving blowjobs like she was born to do it, and her desire to be known as the person who discovered dinosaurs evaporates when Colin wins her wrinkled fruit at a country fair.

While I understood that Minerva needed to learn that knowledge wasn't everything and that a plaster footprint wasn't more important than a human life and lifelong love, the fact that she literally walks away from her dreams made it very disappointing. This book proved definitively that women cannot have it all, and while that can be true, it's not fun to read about in a romance novel.

There's some good dialogue and layering of the characters' personalities and trauma, but they are only just enough to save this book from being a total waste of time. ( )

Really funny. Engaging characters. Pacing of the book was nice. Thoroughly enjoyed.

always good. adding to favorites ( )

Minerva Highwood, una de las solteras de Cala Espinada, necesita ir a Escocia. Colin Sandhurst, lord Payne, necesita… salir de Cala Espinada. Tienen solo siete días para planear una fuga, convencer a sus familiares y amigos de que, a pesar de sus conocidas diferencias, se han enamorado locamente. Una semana que será su ruina.
En estos siete días de locura deberán recorrer con éxito 650 kilómetros, esquivando a los salteadores de caminos. Un viaje en el que se verán obligados a superar sus miedos más profundos sin cometer un asesinato. Pero tal proeza les parecerá imposible pues no les quedará más remedio que compartir un pequeño carruaje por el día y una cama, aún más pequeña, por las noches.
¿Será la atracción que de forma inesperada empieza a surgir entre ellos, una salvaje pasión que late en sus corazones, la encargada de conseguirlo? ¿Lograrán recorrer la distancia y cumplir todas las promesas que se han hecho? O por el contrario, ¿recorrerán únicamente el camino hacia lo más profundo de sus almas? Aunque quizá…, solo quizá…, este sea su viaje hacia el amor.

Spindle Cove is a haven for women. A haven which is led by Susanna Finch with the goal of providing a safe place for those with delicate constitutions, overbearing family members, scandalous secrets or outlandish hobbies. There are few year round residents and even fewer male ones. Until Bram and his men turn up and are tasked with starting a militia. Although these books could be read by themselves, the plot makes much more sense having read the preceding books.

I really liked Minerva and Colin in the first book of the series. Every time they got near one another they were throwing off sparks and the banter was hilarious, the insults cutting and the rocks hard. And their book didn't disappoint. But I did feel like it was a rollercoaster of a ride. Colin could send you high but man could he take you low. My emotions were all over the shop - fluttery happiness, overwhelming disappointment and it was just this endless cycle til I didn't know what was going on. Colin was such an ass at times. But he didn't mean to be and that made it all the worse. Honestly that scene where Minerva is dumbfounded with the way she's believing he needs healing - I had no trouble believing any of it. That said, the roller coaster ride got a bit ridiculous towards the end. They seriously didn't get married on the steps of the Royal Geological Society - are you freaking kidding me? After everything she failed to make her presentation. I get it was supposed to be some affirmation of her commitment to their love or whatever but she already proved that by shooting Francine (Francine is the plaster mould of the footprint). I would've liked to see her get married, go present and wow them with Colin cheering on the side.

I loved how Minerva comes out of her shell over the course of the novel. She starts as this awkward lanky colt and blossoms into this confident, fiery woman who knows what she wants and feels confident enough to take it. I did think her naivety was a bit much with all her talk of science and that. I liked her intelligence and her interest in geology. The point of view changes to show what was happening back in Spindle Cove worked really well too and had me chuckling.

The chemistry between them was off the charts and the plot was a lot more action packed than I was expecting. There's a lot happening but it made for a very entertaining read. 4 stars. ( )