Customer Reviews

The Sins of Viscount Sutherland

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I really enjoyed Ms. James earlier work, but lately it has become sloppy and predictable and this is the worst example yet. This book has had a long build up on her web site and this was the best she could do? I have to wonder who was editing also. Too much for a book I could have put down in the middle except I kept reading hoping to get some value for my money. (I found myself resenting the lost time I was spending reading it.) The hero is predictable (cad with a heart of gold,) the heroine suffers from hysteria (get a grip!) and the next three book heros are introduced. I think I am done reading Samantha James.

I have read and adored the author's books for years. This latest book was all over the place. The romance between the leads was not believable at all. The heroine was one of the weakest leads I have read in a long time. I started skimming VERY early on. The plot has been done before however that does not mean that it's not possible to make it a good one. I am very disappointed and I am not looking to purchase the next 3 installments. Could be another case of writing to produce as many books as possible, and thereby leaving out the craft itself; what makes readers want more.

Disappointing work from Ms James. The writing is agonisingly stilted. The narrative is composed of a series of melodramatic situations - highly staged. This was not a labour of love. The romance plot is unconvincing to say the least. The hurt felt by the main characters is so melodramatic, the lust so constructed, their separations so extended that the reader is never for a second persuaded that these two characters could be falling in love and being redeemed by that love - quite the opposite. Overall, it does not work as romance, and it wasn't gloomy enough to be gothic. It is melodrama but poorly rendered. Could not be recommended by this reader.

I must echo other reviewers, who note how poorly written this book is. The author sets up several dramatic scenarios yet fails to explore any with any depth, sensitivity, or even smooth writing style. The dramatic scenes of physical danger and pain could have been mined for character explication, but fall flat, and fail to resonate to any great effect. I never understood either main character, despite the many turgid descriptions of how they were feeling so many things so deeply yet not sharing any of it with each other.
Ms. James earlier books were much better, and held one's attention much more. Either she has a new and untried editor, or she's rushing through her books to meet a deadline. Either way, this book was a major letdown.

In an effort to introduce conflict which prolongs the resolution of the relationship, the author has a back and forth, on again off again, angst-filled storyline. I have also read and enjoyed earlier books of Ms. James. This book gave me a headache.
It was like she wrote 100 pages and then decided that was not long enough, so she added more of the same for another 250 pages. The heroine sounds as crazy as the first wife. The hero doesn't have all his oars in the water either. If you are thinking of purchasing this--even on kindle---don't!

Samantha James is usually reasonably good at the genre, but this book was a chore and a horror. Both characters are foolish and mere caricatures of real people. Rather Gothic in plot, the story is trite and overblown. Claire is a hysterical woman whose speech and reactions are foolish in the extreme and make you wish she had been the wife that died! Skip this - no, run away from this book!

I've read Samantha James in the past and thus had no reservations on buying this book after skimming the back blurb. The writing is stilted and short - sections where there should be more characterization, growth or even simple action are told in a disappointing paragraph or two. James gives herself plenty of opportunities for the characters to develop, yet she skims these sections and focuses on either the constant desire and/or annoyance the characters feel for one another. Gray Sutherland is nothing like the ostracized rake he's meant to be and actually seems pretty normal in the "world" of regency romance, especially considering he's a widower. Claire Ashcroft turns into a hysterical crazy person with no cause I could find in the story. Even secondary characters aren't well fleshed out - Gray's best friend is another "rogue" who turns out to be a good friend and shows no rakish behavior, and though Claire enjoys his company at the beginning of the book, she despises him by the end for again, no good reason; Gray's mother jumps between being flighty and sweet or the consummate dowager with a tight rein on her son; Claire's friends Penelope and Theo are slightly stronger characters than the rest, though still lacking.

There is very little story or plot - once Claire's grand scheme is revealed, unedited sentences are strung together for another 200+ pages until the secondary characters finally resolve Claire and Gray's relationship woes and the book ends "all at once."

I won't be purchasing any other James books until the ones I get from the library assure me her work has greatly improved.

What could have been a fairly interesting and provocative romance became trite and unromantic due to the weak leads, especially the heroine. The Sins of Viscount Sutherland started out literally with a bang but ended with a dull thud.

Claire Ashcroft absolutely hates Viscount Grayson Sutherland. On a dueling field her brother was shot by Gray and now she wants nothing but revenge, in fact she is willing to destroy her future over it. She plans on making him fall in love with her than leaving him with a broken heart.

Gray is attracted to Claire who is calling herself a widow (she is not) and he pursues her. Claire quickly perceives she is over her head with this rake and before she knows it she develops some feelings for him. Why I am unsure, because initially Gray is pretty reserved. He is supposedly the worst of rakes but I thought he was restrained with Claire.

The last half of this book has Claire acting almost histrionically. She does not seem to know her own mind. Does she love Gray or hate him? She waffles between these emotions constantly. She is almost hysterical when she and Gray have disagreements and she is quick to believe the worst in Gray.

This couple rarely behaves romantically toward each other. They are at cross purposes for most of this novel and I never felt a real connection between them. They keep their distance from each other both figuratively and literally. The past keeps them from having a future and when they do attempt to resolve past issues there is practically no sympathy from Claire. She got on my nerves with her ranting and accusations. This vengeance plot which started out so well had great potential but the character shift with the heroine (she was much more level headed in the beginning of this novel) was hard to fathom and toward the end of this tale I lost interest in this couple.

How I hoped this would be wonderful!
Alas, this was the most melodramatic, sophomoric prose and plot I have read in years. In addition to information dumps on page one (!) and others, the hero and heroine were cardboard. The plot swayed from drawing room angst to dark gothic. The text contained such poor grammar, I cringed. The typos made me wince. I held out for improvement and managed to get to 220+. Could not continue.
A sad bit of writing that does not even qualify for a first draft.

I am only half way through this book and I am hoping I am not jumping the gun here, but this is not Samantha James! There is no writing craft to this manuscript. I have a book I can't get published and it is so much better then this one. I don't understand. Are they just publishing this because it is a Samantha James romance book? Are the editors breathing down her neck to get the story done? I would say MAKE THEM WAIT! You can't rush art... you can't rush a good juicy, word filled story! It went from sentence to sentence like she was just trying to get through the chapter. You can't do that. You owe your fans your best 100 % of the time... I understand that stories are going to hit and miss sometimes, but he writing needs to be consistant... and woven in a way that makes a good read, even if the story line is BUNK! Please give it your all next book. I have everyone that you have written... and I adore your work... just don't let some person in an office tell you to hurry up!