Cocktails and Books

Leannah Wakefield and Harold Rayburn are the main characters in this story. The author did very little to develop these characters. Leannah was the self-sacrificing older sister that gave up her life to make sure her siblings could have a better life. Harry is the son of a merchantman and on the cusps of London society. He seemed to have a lot of anxiety and low self-esteem. I wouldn’t say that they were a match made in heaven. Neither of them was very interesting or compelling.

The storyline was incredibly weak. I think calling what happened an accidental abduction is a gross overstatement of what was portrayed in the book. There didn’t seem to be any chemistry or magic between Leannah and Harry. There were a few scenes where the temperature rose and genuine passion erupted between the two. Unfortunately as soon as it was over I went back to feeling like they were ships in the night. I just didn’t get the feeling that they clicked. The author brought in various family members and other characters that opposed their marriage. Most of this didn’t make sense because she didn’t flesh out exactly how they were going to break up the marriage or cause problems. It was hinted at but nothing ever came out of the dialogue so I kept wondering why she included it in the book. The last portion of the book made me roll my eyes. It was so trite and neat that I didn’t know whether to be glad it was over or upset because it was an insult to my intelligence.

I will say that I don’t like overly dramatic women and weak men. Both of these are found in this book. Even when Harry was trying to be strong he was listening to gossip and remembering an incident that really supposedly shaped him into the steady, boring man he was then. I didn’t like seeing modern words in a historical romance. The author even used the f-bomb and other terminology that wasn’t in keeping with the historical period of the novel. That was disconcerting because you went back and forth between historical and contemporary. I also felt like the conflict of Leannah and Harry’s dark secret was really exaggerated. I didn’t hate the book, but I definitely won’t be buying any of this author’s work.

Reviewed by Michelle for Cocktails and Books