Customer Reviews

Priceless

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I've read almost every Christina Dodd book she's written, and in my opinion this is the first one that deserves less than 3.5 stars. It is terrible! As did many others, I hung in until the end because I kept assuming that somehow it would get better. It didn't. My two main complaints: convoluted writing (I mean, some of what she writes is sooooo confusing) and poor editing.

However, it deserves one star because in my opinion, the story itself had potential -- though it is rather bizarre -- but the book is just too difficult to wade through. Don't waste your money - - just about any of her other books are much better.

I never could get into this book very much... the characters just weren't interesting enough. Though the book had a good plot, it seemed too rushed at times and way too slow at others. When Bronwyn is betrothed to Adam Keane, she only hopes he is a nice man... not even her one request could be fulfilled here, when she meets him and sees how shunned he is by the woman he describes as "ugly" and plain. As Bronwyn turns from the ugly duckling she once was, she begins to gain his attention... only who would want the attention from such a cruel and insensitve man? The only time Adam Keane is kind is when his whole world falls apart, and he is vulnerable and needs help from others. I found the characters quite shallow, with very little changes in their characters by the last page. Also it was a little overdone on the topic that it is shameful for a woman of this time frame to be intelligent or clever - and the author's continuous examples just got tiresome. Although I finished this book, it took great effort and I'm not real sure I can sit through another Christina Dodd book in the future.

Bronwyn Edana is the ugly duckling amongst a string of beautiful sisters, equally hamstrung by her intelligence and learning. When her parents arrange a marriage with Adam Keane, the rather gruff and unfriendly nobleman, she finds her lack of beauty and social approbation very difficult. She overhears Adam telling his friend that she is a disappointment compared to her younger sister Olivia and decides to run away, to stay with a French lady in a salon with whom she had previously had some dealings. Adam comes after her, trying to woo her through seduction as he had long ago decided that there was far more to Bronwyn than others realised. However whilst he is in London a big investment scheme begins to go belly-up and he is blamed whilst the real culprit, a man who is counterfeiting documents, is preparing to assassinate an important figure in the government. Adam has to get to the bottom of the counterfeiting scheme, win back Bronwyn and extricate himself from a second engagement to Bronwyn's sister Olivia.

The book was rather disappointing. Both Bronwyn and Adam felt rather loose in their characterisation with descriptions given of their behaviour which seemed strangely changeable. Adam's behaviour as a nobleman towards a gentlewoman was pretty bad and Bronwyn's behaviour was completely inappropriate for her station. The villain was a pantomime-type baddie, even down to his baldness and pock-marked face. The dialogue and behaviour of the characters was inaccurate for this historical period, particularly as people spoke with modern-day American word forms rather than 19th century English ones. The love story didn't seem much about love and the occasional touches of violence by the hero were unappealing. The South Sea Company plot had some promise but was rather simplistic overall. The book was rather a wasted opportunity and its underlying message, that all men are faithless and women end up in love with them despite their better instincts, wasn't very encouraging.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

this book should have ended half way through, but i thought to myself that maybe it will get better. It didn't. The last few chapters i just skimmed to see if they actually ended up together, because the main characters are completely unsuited for each other. Not to mention the fact that the male lead is shallow and the female lead spends the entire book trying to convince everybody that she is the 'ugly sister.' If she wasn't fishing for compliments i don't know what she was doing.

Christina Dodd can tell a good story, but "Priceless" has just about no redeeming qualities. There were some great word plays in the first part of the book, but her characters are uninteresting and the storyline was all over the place. I know this was an early work -- am just writing a review to direct readers (and their dollars) to better Dodd novels. Her contemporary novels are definitely worth a look.

It is a horrid shame that trees had to die to publish this book. It was too drawn out and the characters lack depth. I could not get into the plot at all. I would not reccommend anyone read this book.

I first read this book a good while ago but I still remember what a grand cast of characters this was. The unique storyline of the South Sea bubble was fascinating. As always, the strong narrative voice of this author is captivating.

Not bad, but not the best I've read from Ms. Dodd.

I liked the upfront imperious chit that Bronwyn started out to be and thought her later meekness below her. Adam was rather arrogant throughout the whole. I was expecting more humor and interplay between him and Bronwyn. I wanted and expected her to tough it out with more wit and profound reasoning. She hardly put up a fight before she slept with him.

It's fluffy intelectually and verbally but not a bad read.

Chock up one more innocent intellectual to the fickle flames of desire.

I just bought this thinking it would be another great C. Dodd book. Boy, was I mistaken. It was unreadable. I tried for a few chapters but it was so poorly written that I ended up giving it to charity. What a waste of $. Big disappointment.

I don't know why I keep buying Christina Dodd novels, she keeps disappointing me. This one was just the pits. The characters were flat and I didn't care about them, the writing was awful, and the plot, non-existent. I finished it after about a month(it's bad when it takes a month for me to finish a book!) and I didn't really even finish the last couple of chapters I just skimmed through it. I understand that this is one of her older books that has been re-published, and it does reek of new author, but it should NOT have been re-printed. It wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. Don't waste your money, or your time!