Series: #1
Traits & Tropes: second chance; fake relationship; marriage of convenience; lovers to enemies to lovers
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian; England/Shipboard; 1861
Publication Date: 06.29.21
Heat Rating: 4
Rating: 1/5
Daughter of an Indian maharaja, Princess Sarani Rao has led a life of privilege. But with a mother of English and Scottish descent, Sarani has also met with prejudice and exclusion. When her father is murdered by political rivals, Sara knows she must flee lest she be next and her best chance to escape is on the ship leaving port the soonest, a ship that just so happens to be captained by the man she loved and rejected five years ago.
Captain Rhystan Huntley, now the Duke of Embry, is loath to leave his ship but with his mother ailing and a sister in need of settling, he must return to England. Naturally, his final voyage would include a stowaway in the form of the only woman he’s ever loved.
Wow, do I have a lot of thoughts about this book. I read the first 16% of this book in its original incarnation as The Duke’s Princess Bride but put it aside when it was delayed for revisions and picked it back up again after I received the updated version. I didn’t read enough of the first version to get to too many of its problematic elements, but it also didn’t draw me in. I also tend to be pretty good at taking things with a grain of salt and don’t get offended too easily, but this book had something so glaringly, fundamentally galling that I cannot overlook it and cannot award more stars because of it. Story-wise, this book is a three-star read for me at best but that was insult added to injury after I encountered the following quote in which Sarani, during one of her many bantering sessions with Rhystan, refers to the Holy Bible as being ‘written by a horde of ancient male historians.’ This is problematic for me as a Christian and possibly to members of other religions who also respect the Bible as the inspired, living word of God as recorded by those imbued with the Holy Spirit. Typically, I never bring religion into my reading or reviews, but I could not let this slide since I’m not sure I can think of anything more ignorant or offensive to Christians and other groups. Perhaps this seemingly innocuous quote was not meant in a derogatory fashion but given the issues this book has already faced with the topics it attempts to address, I just couldn’t let this pass this time and the book loses at least a star for it.
Aside from this issue, I never much cared for either Sarani or Rhystan as characters. She came off as petulant and arrogant, as did he really. The enemies to lovers, constantly at each other’s throats arguments were drawn out way too long and there was never any real communication despite the golden, missed opportunity onboard ship when some of the truth came out about their separation five years previously. Sarani also seemed incredibly spoiled, wanting her own way in all things yet she was somehow meant to be a golden heroine whose every thought is for her people. I also found her to be rather unreasonable in her dealings with Rhystan, accusing him of running from expectation and duty, which is true enough, but failing to acknowledge that he was unwanted by his family until he became duke. Her backstory also changed a bit from her mother having been the daughter of an earl to her being a countess in her own right and while this is possible if it was a Scottish title, it likely wouldn’t have happened in her father’s lifetime and it was just another pesky inconsistency to annoy me at this point.
For his part, Rhystan was also fairly objectionable as a hero. He’s a hypocrite who acknowledges his hypocrisy to himself but does nothing to change his behavior, continuing to enforce the double standard he holds his sister to with his determination to see her married off regardless of her wishes, a tune he doesn’t alter very much even in the end. Rhystan never cared about the family name or reputation during any of his voyages then suddenly that’s all that matters once he’s back in England. He was still saying he could never marry Sarani way too late in the book for my liking. Also, his mother, the duchess’s despicable behavior is justified as her way of showing her love for her children and wanting the best for them and her about face near the end just didn’t jive for me and came as much too little too late.
As a non-Indian American, I’m not in much of a position to comment on the racial issues here, though I do commend the author for tackling some tough issues and being willing to undergo edits to the upcoming book. That said, this still missed a lot of the marks for me including the glaring problem I mentioned above. This had the potential to be a highly emotional second chance story, but there were too many missed opportunities for communication, with Sarani and Rhystan never discussing the truth about what really separated them five years prior. As such, the romance here suffered and didn’t convince me it was much more than rekindled lust. I was never really able to root for any of the characters, sadly, and the plot relied too heavily on neither Rhystan nor Sarani taking responsibility or initiative for their actions or feelings and instead hiding too much behind the fake relationship aspect of the plot. Rhystan’s declaration of love at the end was nice but not enough to make up for all the missteps for me.
Their sniping and harping at each other just grew old and tedious for me rather than building sexual tension as I’m sure it was meant to. When they finally did come together, their relations felt more like lust than a deep connection, even near the end, and left me unsatisfied.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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