Series: Sirens in Silk, #1
Traits & Tropes: class difference; forced proximity; American heroine; working heroine; titled hero; dirty talking hero
Publication Date: 09.26.23
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian; Yorkshire, Fall 1886
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 3.5/5
Anthony Carey, the Duke of Strickland, is overwhelmed to have inherited his title from his spendthrift father but is eager to begin the process of restoring the family’s ancestral castle to its former splendor. Unfortunately, at the reading of the will it becomes apparent that his father has broken the entail and left the castle to his wife, Anthony’s American stepmother. It is known that there is no love lost between Anthony and his stepmother, so when she dies ugly rumors abound.
Raya Darwish was merely on her way to the English countryside to visit her aunt and is shocked upon her arrival to learn the lady has passed and left her a castle. Of course, Raya clashes with the handsome young duke who insists the castle should be his by rights. With the estate nearing bankruptcy, Raya and Anthony must work together as his inheritance of the grounds surrounding the castle means that neither can function fully without the other.
Raya and Anthony cannot stand one another, but the antipathy between them soon gives way to a different sort of passion, though Raya also cannot help but wonder if that passion is just due to his desperation to reclaim his castle.
I wanted to love this book way more than I did, though I thankfully did wind up pleased with the ending overall. Glancing over other reviews, it seems most everyone was annoyed by Anthony, but Raya was the issue here for me. I found Anthony’s valuing heritage and longing to keep the place that was home to his family for generations to be understandable, relatable, and noble. It was hard not to view Raya as an interloper, especially given her terrible attitude. Much of her behavior was just unaccountably rude toward Anthony and I was left wondering several times why he kept coming back for more. She was very annoyingly snappish with him and unwilling to concede even an inch. She just seemed like yet another who didn’t really see him as a person. Their enemies to lovers passion was on point, but I did think she took it a bit too far. Raya was also very quick to assert her rights to the castle but appeared to have zero concept of or respect for Anthony’s claims to everything else. He definitely handled her presumption far better than I would have. There were several times when she just completely missed the fact that he was a human too. For instance, she was upset that he could be hot and cold with her, yet she was somehow unable to see that she was treating him much worse than merely being hot and cold. I found myself wishing to see him with his best friend’s sister instead, definitely feeling that Raya didn’t deserve him and unsure of why he was so obsessed with her.
All told, Raya made way too many assumptions and got her feelings hurt a bit too easily. Even when she finally connected with Anthony on a deeper level, she was also still pushing him away, so the emotional development just wasn’t there in the way I wanted it to be. This issue also made the pacing feel weird. Anthony and Raya kept having essentially the same arguments because even when he gave a little, she was unwilling to bend at all to meet him. This was a recurring theme and felt like a missed opportunity for her to grow a little. Any time she thought he had done something wrong, she resorted to childish games instead of just talking to him, so I was once again left longing for open communication. Then she accused him of having nefarious motives for wanting to marry her, despite the fact that her reasoning was proven faulty over and over again because he’d been trying to marry her all along. He even told her that he already was devoted to her and considered himself her husband, but it was like she refused to listen to anything he said. Sure, he did keep something from her, but he did so to protect her. She had no sure kind motives for her actions. I found her all or nothing attitude infuriating when he just wanted her to pick him over business and she just wouldn’t do it. At this point their relationship felt very transactional and this kind of killed the romance for me.
In another instance of odd pacing, the resolution came very quickly and mostly off page, much to my frustration. In the end, I still never got the deep emotional connection this needed for me to be fully happy with it. It seemed Anthony had grown and broadened his horizons, but I’m not sure Raya had done so enough to ensure their lasting happiness, especially not with how much she still kept trying to guarantee herself the upper hand. I would’ve much rather seen them establish a true partnership and work through challenges together. Though I do think the ending overall was satisfying, this is a story that could’ve perhaps benefited from a brief epilogue.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/588908752
goodreads.com/review/show/5279597383
Comments
Post a Comment