Series: The London Jewels Trilogy, #2
Traits & Tropes: illegitimate hero; unconventional heroine
Publication Date: 01.28.20
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian; London, England
Rating: 3 stars
As a wealthy baron's daughter Miss Fenella Grantley is expected to make a good match and take her place in London high society. But Fenella is no fan of society's stringency and has secretly been attending drama classes and quietly aspiring to be an actress. When she meets the enigmatic playwright of a new play for which she's reading the lead character, he doesn't exactly make a great first impression and she's not at all sure she likes him.
As the illegitimate son of the Earl of Pendleton, Edward Tremayne hasn't had an easy time of it. He scorns society and supports himself as a research assistant, writing his plays in his free time. But he's never forgotten Fenella since he saw her at a ball four years ago and now he's determined she must portray the lead role in his play, that she is the only one who could do it justice. Soon he's determined to make her his full stop, but they can't seem to get along for more than five minutes at a stretch and their irresistible mutual attraction is the only thing they can agree on.
First off, I liked this book much better than its predecessor, however, it was not without issues. It was extremely modern and apart from a few details, could almost be a contemporary romance. I really didn't connect with either of the main characters and found all the freedom Fenella had to be fairly unbelievable. You chance mild spoilers from her on as I get my thoughts out. Around halfway, Fenella was clearly worried she'd be seen in public with Edward by someone she knew and almost ashamed of him, yet she had plans to act on stage. This struck me as hypocritical and I was pretty much done with her then. Fenella gets angry at Edward for being truthful and telling her things she knows but refuses to face and then she expects an apology from him for it. Edward wasn't much better; he took her to a brothel for goodness sake and took a while to talk about real feelings, while just assuming she would know. That said, I can understand his hesitancy given that Fenella was still reluctant to be seen with him socially even after she admitted her feelings for him. Even when Edward makes an effort for her, she's confused by what he's doing and constantly questioning his feelings. He had no experience with being loved and I think he was just doing his best to muddle it out. Fenella's suitor, Lord George, is teased up as problematic because he's a friend and she doesn't want to hurt him, but really he's just a jerk who goes away fairly easily when I'd expected more from him and a golden opportunity for Fenella to express her feelings that was just dropped instead.
Mainly I think my issue here is that nothing really happens. Fenella and Edward have a volatile and fairly dysfunctional relationship based on sex and eat and drink a lot, then Fenella leaves him to eat and drink some more with her friends. I kept expecting more or a showdown discussion of their real feelings and it just felt a bit anticlimactic to me. This was a unique trope and I liked that and enjoyed the read overall. The writing was good and I will read this author again.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As the illegitimate son of the Earl of Pendleton, Edward Tremayne hasn't had an easy time of it. He scorns society and supports himself as a research assistant, writing his plays in his free time. But he's never forgotten Fenella since he saw her at a ball four years ago and now he's determined she must portray the lead role in his play, that she is the only one who could do it justice. Soon he's determined to make her his full stop, but they can't seem to get along for more than five minutes at a stretch and their irresistible mutual attraction is the only thing they can agree on.
First off, I liked this book much better than its predecessor, however, it was not without issues. It was extremely modern and apart from a few details, could almost be a contemporary romance. I really didn't connect with either of the main characters and found all the freedom Fenella had to be fairly unbelievable. You chance mild spoilers from her on as I get my thoughts out. Around halfway, Fenella was clearly worried she'd be seen in public with Edward by someone she knew and almost ashamed of him, yet she had plans to act on stage. This struck me as hypocritical and I was pretty much done with her then. Fenella gets angry at Edward for being truthful and telling her things she knows but refuses to face and then she expects an apology from him for it. Edward wasn't much better; he took her to a brothel for goodness sake and took a while to talk about real feelings, while just assuming she would know. That said, I can understand his hesitancy given that Fenella was still reluctant to be seen with him socially even after she admitted her feelings for him. Even when Edward makes an effort for her, she's confused by what he's doing and constantly questioning his feelings. He had no experience with being loved and I think he was just doing his best to muddle it out. Fenella's suitor, Lord George, is teased up as problematic because he's a friend and she doesn't want to hurt him, but really he's just a jerk who goes away fairly easily when I'd expected more from him and a golden opportunity for Fenella to express her feelings that was just dropped instead.
Mainly I think my issue here is that nothing really happens. Fenella and Edward have a volatile and fairly dysfunctional relationship based on sex and eat and drink a lot, then Fenella leaves him to eat and drink some more with her friends. I kept expecting more or a showdown discussion of their real feelings and it just felt a bit anticlimactic to me. This was a unique trope and I liked that and enjoyed the read overall. The writing was good and I will read this author again.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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