ŷ������

I went into this book expecting to like it. It had two things going for it right off the bat. One, it’s a “falls-for-sibling’s-friend�� romance, and two, I enjoyed , Julianne’s brother’s book. Imagine my surprise to find that I disliked it enough in the beginning half that I almost DNF’ed it!

There was a fatal flaw for me in the setup of this book—I had no sympathy for the heroine’s situation. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be on her side, but I found her logic baffling. She reminded me of a very young teenager, all drama and emo filled. I won’t lie, the hero grated on me too, but the heroine was quite a piece of work.

Julianne went into the season (her fourth) expecting it to be the season. The one where Hawk finally fell in love with her. She’s all amped up for it, but then is crushed when she hears him tell people that she’s like a sister to him. Instead of becoming depressed or becoming determined to make him see her as a woman, she defies logic and somehow blames him for keeping her “dangling�� for four years. What??? How can she want to “punish�� him for hurting her when he was oblivious to the fact that she had a crush on him? Does she expect him to be psychic and just know she wants him, even though she never made the slightest effort to tell him? Just because you breathe the same air doesn’t mean he’s aware that you want to marry him!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t gifted with a great hero to make up for the immature, irritating heroine. Hawk was, quite simply, a jerk. He was constantly berating Julianne for flirting with men—apparently just talking to men is now considered flirting—and he controlled her life to a claustrophobic degree. He even lorded his control of her over his own family member. He ended up apologizing for it, but the fact that he’d acted like that again and again throughout the book makes it hard to believe he was sincerely sorry.

I was teetering on DNF’ing the book (and honestly had been arguing with myself about doing it for quite a while) when a miraculous change occurred. The heroine had a much needed moment of clarity. All the immature, unjustified behavior was copped to. She admitted to herself that she was blaming Hawk for the same things she had done in the past, and it was marvelous. Finally some maturity! She still had the unfortunate habit of ping-ponging back and forth between joking with him and being angry with him, but at least she showed some growth.

My enjoyment of the book took an upwards turn when I realized that the author was writing Julianne like that deliberately and was trying to show growth. I may not have thought she succeeded as well as I needed her too, but I saw what she was trying to do with the character. Then Hawk had to burst back into the book and irritate me again. I ended up settling into a lethargic plateau for the rest of the book, but at least I finished it.

My favorite parts of the book were Julianne’s friends and Hester, Hawk’s aunt. The interactions between them were fun and provided me with a nice burst of enjoyment during the read. Just like in , the author has a lighter style of writing. Her books aren’t very period, but that doesn’t always bother me when the rest of the book is entertaining. That was the case with How To Marry a Duke, but since I enjoyed this one quite a bit less than that one, it ended up being more irritating than charming.

Favorite Quote:

"His conduct is beyond rude. He treats me as if I am a marionette. I am weary of him pulling the strings at his pleasure."

Review originally posted on .