March 28, 2011I've heard excuses before but this one takes the cake!
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How to Woo a Reluctant Lady is the third in the Hellions of Halsted series and if you're following that series, I think you'll be satisfied with this one...if you haven't been following the series, you may have trouble keeping up with some of the goings-on.
We are once again in the interesting world of the scandalous Sharpe family. Have you ever noticed that a lot of scandalous Romanceland families aren't really that scandalous. Anyway, the saga continues and for those of you that haven't read the other ones, there is a continuing mystery of the Sharpe sibling's parents death that is yet to be solved...and we have another red herring in this book...a flimsy one, but red nonetheless.
So, in this story we have Giles, who is a barrister. However, he has also done some covert work for the British home office (what a busy place that must have been.) It is during one of these stealthy times that our heroine, Minerva, encounters him rifling through a desk. Well, as often happens in Romanceland, this encounter leads to a broken heart on Minerva's part and a "she's not the little sister of my best friend anymore, I must stay away from her" awakening on the hero's part. Fast forward nine years. Minerva is being forced to marry and if you've read the other books you will know why. Anyway, she doesn't want to marry, she wants to be a writer in a cottage...so she comes up with a plan. The plan is rather funny. Of course, the plan backfires and ends up with her being forced into marriage with Giles...and it is here that some of the issues I had with this book raised their ugly head.
Trust. Giles has trust issues...who'd have thunk it? A spy with trust issues!!! You know he cannot trust Minerva with the truth!!! Sigh. This trust issue of Giles went on w-a-y too long. Love. He also can never l-u-v anyone...and when the reason for his not wanting to fall in love is revealed I had a chuckle moment and I don't think I was supposed to. This had to be one of the silliest reasons I've ever read for not falling in love. Pretty goofy. And then there were the brothers!!! Giles is supposed to be best friends with the Sharpe brothers, so, I found it interesting that her brothers overreacted to Minerva's wedding him. There were some amusing moments in these confrontations, but I felt sorry for Giles in his choice of friends. If not for those annoyances, this would have been an excellent book. I absolutely loved Minerva, even if at times she exhibited some of those "wanting to charge into danger" moments...she was such a strong personality that these occasions were in character.
Overall, those were just minor things and I did enjoy this story...loved Minerva and I'm liking the mystery. And Mr. Pinter is a scene stealer. I haven't guessed yet who did it.
Time/Place: Late Regency England (ugly dress time)
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Hot
5 comments:
I'm currently in the middle of this one and Minerva's "I won't marry any man because he'll take away my freedom" endless rants are getting on my nerves more than Giles' trust issues. Still enjoying it though.
*ugly dress period LOLZ
I liked this one but not quite as much as the other 2. Hopefully the next one will be up to par with book 1.
The next one is going to be about Gabe, who I haven't been all that impressed with...the one I want to read is Mr. Pinter and Celia. I think probably that will be the last one.
What did you think of his reason for not falling in love?
I actually enjoyed this book until midway through. The "spy" story that suddenly is revealed was rather annoying. The continuing murder mystery is well written and I can't wait for the next revelations.
I'm going to disagree with you about the brothers reaction. I could relate to it. Giles made a good friend, but the brothers didn't know how he would treat their sister.
It's been so long I can't remember, but I suspect the brother's reaction is a typical Romanceland reaction...you are my best friend and we can get drunk together and bed as many women as possible and we can a-l-l have the worst reputation...but lay one hand on my sister and you're dead. I'd like to see one where the brothers accept that their friend is just like them. Since I have a younger brother, I have never experienced the over-protectiveness that comes along with the territory. I did find those moments in this book to be funny, though.
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