7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I liked this one least in the series, June 12, 2008
This review is from: Desperately Seeking A Duke (Heiress Brides) (Mass Market Paperback)
The hero and heroine fall in love at first site, and then have to face obstacles to being together before they finally get their HEA.
I think it is very hard to pull off a love at first site book, because falling in love is one of the best parts of a romance for me. If the hero and heroine are already there at the end of chapter one then a lot of that magic can be lost.
One of the problems for me with this book is that inital meeting and falling in love just didn't seem to have the fireworks necessary to make the couple fall in love the way they did.
Second there is no more interaction between the couple til nearly page 100. I like lots of interaction between my leads.
Overall I found this book to be only average.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bound for the "Keeper Shelf", June 2, 2008
This review is from: Desperately Seeking A Duke (Heiress Brides) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book was entertaining enough, but it wasn't that great. I really disliked the use of modern lingo - it was jarring to hear Rafe talk about rockets.
Also, once the heroine realized the big mistake she made, she really ought to have corrected it immediately. It really didn't speak highly of her character.
Don't think I'll complete the series.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A light read, June 5, 2008
This review is from: Desperately Seeking A Duke (Heiress Brides) (Mass Market Paperback)
It's an entertaining book, but I didn't like it as much as the other author's series (Liar's Club & Royal Four).
The plot sounds interesting, although not very original: three cousins (vicar's daughter Phoebe, beautiful Deirdre and plain and shy Sophie), are trying to catch a Duke to win their grandfather's money. Other important characters are Lady Tessa, mean step-mother to Deirdre; Calder, the Duke; Rafe, Calder's half-brother and a rake; and the vicar.
The problem is that the story is not very well developed and neither very convincing.
Phoebe and Rafe meet one night in a ball and supposedly they fall in love. Although I "believe" in some way in love at first sight, it doesn't seem convincing in this book.
From that point, the book follows a very basic outline:
Step 1 (done): main characters met and fall in love. No matter that we're in the first 2-3 chapters.
Step 2: Big Misunderstanding (or Mistake in this case) --with lots of problems associated-- to complicate the couple's road to love (I almost sounded poetic, lol), in the next chapter (5 or so). What happens? Calder proposes to Phoebe, and she agrees, thinking it comes from Rafe. She doesn't cry off because she doesn't want to disappoint her father after running off with her dancing master ten years ago.
Step 3: to solve the problems caused by the BM, with an angry and hurt Rafe, a very indecisive Phoebe, and Calder, which I disliked a lot.
Step 4: problems solved and happily ever after.
And intertwined, we have a romance between Calder's butler and an Irish maid.
Where's the love story, the romance? Difficult answer. Phoebe and Rafe, although they made a good couple, spent most of the story separated (but very much in love, yeees), so the love story it's not believable.
As this is a romance novel, the lack of "falling in love" is frustrating, but well, the book is entertaining enough and a light read. That's the reason for the 3 stars, although perhaps 2 ½ would have been better.
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