I didn’t like the hero much here. He really didn’t seem to care much for the heroine. ( )

A decent story, but I honestly don't think I've ever read such a poorly edited book in my entire life. Missing words. Misspelled words. Phrases like "the teapot pot" and "through him through." Commas lacking in places where commas desperately needed to be. Weird italics. This isn't the typical Julie Anne Long experience, and I'm hoping the next novel in the series isn't quite such an exercise in confusion. ( )

There were several things I enjoyed about this book, and I chuckled outloud to myself many times, but it was brought down by some significant flaws as well, that kept it from being 4 stars for me. The heroine had just appalling judgement at every turn, as well as being reckless, spoiled, and naive. She wasn't entirely unlikable, but she frequently made it difficult for me to enjoy her.

There was a significant power imbalance between the hero and heroine as well, not only is he the captain of the ship she's on, which would usually be plenty, but he's also capable, knowledgeable, experienced, heroic, etc., and she really doesn't have much going for her. She can claim being from a privileged background, having family members who love her, being beautiful, and having some luck, but none of that is by her doing. The story repeatedly claims she's very clever as well, but besides some skill at chess, I didn't see any evidence of that. And apparently she can't even school her features when she needs to bluff, or keep a secret, or gather information, or bargain, etc. So especially against someone as impressive as the hero is described to be, it made her seem like a 16 year old dating a 30 year old. The hero definitely had his moments that didn't impress me either, but overall the balance was like 85/15, which isn't nearly as fun or interesting to me.

Some things in the plot were especially contrived or didn't quite make sense as well, but it probably didn't annoy me as much as the other issues. All that said, I was entertained and I laughed, and ultimately I wished them well, so I'm not displeased to have read it. But I feel like it had more potential than it lived up to. ( )

Enjoyable read. I liked the plot. I had higher expectations though. I did not really like either of the characters that much.

I think that this book would have benefited from input from someone who actually speaks French. The French phrases in this story are pure gibberish, grammatically incorrect literal translations of English. You cannot just directly translate "it's the pot calling the kettle black" as this form of the idiom does not exist. The laughable use of French didn't impact my rating, but it feels like such a simple thing to research that I am a bit astounded by it. ( )

The very best stories are about characters who grow into better people as the story progresses. Violet Redmond entered this tale as a spoiled, cossetted little rich girl (her family's "pet" as she comes to see herself) and by the end had grown as a person, recognized her previous recklessness and cruelty, and been forced by circumstances to make enormously difficult choices that would not only affect her life but the lives of several other people. Even when, near the end, she made a big mistake (in my opinion), she did it having considered the consequences of her actions and in recognition of what it would cost her. I'm sad for the people who read this book and didn't see her character development and ended it still picturing her like the nasty little girl we were introduced to on page one.

The value in this particular plotline was that there was genuine, understandable conflict between the characters. This wasn't another romance novel filled with chapter after chapter of misunderstandings and two vapid characters who just would not tell the truth or explain themselves, holding each other apart because of a single sentence one once said to the other. Both Violet and Asher had good reasons for their quests and the fact that they fell in love complicated their choices significantly. None of it was contrived. Imagine being in a position where you have to choose between betraying the love of your life or a beloved brother, when both are good men pursuing justice, and fortunes and LIVES hang in the balance. Imagine being someone who has never known love of any kind and has to choose to give up reputation, fortune, and dreams in order to have any chance at happiness with the woman he loves? These are hard choices. And although I thought Violet's ultimate choice was a mistake, I understand she made the choice she thought was right.

Then the ending--so sweet and perfect. I loved the ending of the third book in this series, but this one was even better. I always know I loved a book and its characters when I am desperate to know what happened to them after the story ended. I want to know, did Violet and Asher go and live in America and build a plantation there, or stay in Sussex? I'm so involved now that I have actual DREAMS for these characters. Let's hope the rest of the series will reveal what happened after the novel ended. I don't think I can stand the suspense.

This one is getting a rare 5-stars from me. I'll read it again. All the people who said it wasn't as good as the other books in the series are wrong in my opinion (though I say this having only read the first 4 books in the Pennyroyal Green series). I think this was the best of the first four. It's damaged only by its dumb title and abrupt conclusion that left me a bit wanting, even if I loved the final scene.

( )