Customer Reviews

The Society Catch (Historical Romance)

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

 

 

Unlike the other reviewers, I didn't really enjoy this book. The premise is that Joanna fell in love with Giles Gregory when she was still in her teens and, knowing he was set for a career in the military, she reigned in her wildness and set about becoming the perfect military wife. For three years, she's the picture of decorum all because she's planning to marry Giles, so imagine her surprise when he returns from his military exploits and Joanna overhears him professing his love to another young lady.

At this point, Joanna's character begins to bother me. Once faced with the knowledge that the man she loves and wanted to marry is possibly planning to marry someone else, Joanna reverts back to her "hoyden" behavior and basically does everything in her power to shock her parents and society in general. I can understand being hurt over broken ideals, but she just came off as very childish to me. Okay, so the guy you want to marry--who you barely even know--is planning to marry someone else so you go out and systematically ruin your reputation?

The meat of the book revolves around Joanna running away because her parents are pushing her to marry a man she doesn't love OR they're threatening to send her away to live with her aunt. Guess she should've thought of that BEFORE she started acting like a spoiled little girl.

Anyway, the meat of the book revolves around Joanna fleeing London and Giles setting out to chase her down. I think this book could've been better, overall, if a few things were different:

1) Louise Allen sometimes uses VERY long sentences in both her description and her dialogue. I hate that. Plus, it feels like she went out of her way to write "authentic" Regency dialogue which is fine to an extent; at some points, I had to re-read sentences because of the odd construction.

2) Ms. Allen also uses a mixed POV--meaning that, in any given scene, you'll find yourself bouncing between several characters' thoughts. I'm perfectly fine with getting more than one POV, but only when it's necessary. Like, I don't need to be inside a society matron's head when she's thinking about her hothouse flower arrangements. Also, Ms. Allen, despite having published several books, doesn't seem to have mastered the art of seamlessly shifting between viewpoints. There were several times when I had to backtrack just to figure out whose head I was in.

3) In terms of plot, Joanna seemed very childish to me. She had this ongoing tendre for Giles for YEARS and when things don't go as she planned, she basically throws a grown-up version of a tantrum. If the plot were re-worked somewhat so that she was simply refusing to marry the man her parents wanted her to and THAT'S why she runs away, then fine. But the fact that she was running wild, sullying her family name and then went so far as to feel bad for herself (and the situation(s) SHE put herself into)...well, she's not a very admirable heroine, in my opinion.

Giles and Joanna were a perfect match. I felt such sympathy for Joanna; all she wanted was to be happy and marry the man she loved and she was devastated when she thought it would not happen.

I gave this book 5 stars because it succeeded in holding my interest throughtout the entire book. The story was great, as was the addition of Alex and Hebe.

This book is really good. It grabs your attention and keeps it all of the way through the book. This is an author to watch. She really knows how to grab your attention.