I agree with you on many points. I did love the novel, but sometimes felt it could have been two separate stories: one about the Black Daniel, and one about Galen. I suppose he really is two people, and it makes sense that once he's unmasked to Hester, the "real" him would take precedence. But I wish we'd seen more of his underground work after we know his identity; we never really see that facet of him again, other than an absence where he goes off to do secret work.
The historical part was also my favorite, and I love that Jenkins included such a great bibliography at the end. Several of those books are definitely going on my to-read list. The romance... well, it fits the mold of romance novels written during that time. It's not quite the bodice-ripper style, but the overbearing male hero is definitely less prevalent now. Definitely not okay in real life, but not too bad as a fantasy figure that can just stay between the pages of a book. :D
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I really enjoyed your review.
Yes! Exactly! Two different stories. I really HAD hoped to see more of Galen's and Hester's work with the Underground, but felt like it kind of got swept aside in favor of the romance, with only a few mentions of Galen's secret missions "off-screen".
I guess I'm a little less tolerable of certain types of male heroes in romance novels, and figure that if I feel it's not okay in real life, then I can't stand them in fiction either. While he's not a bad person, the overbearing male typically frustrates the heck out of me... although I'm sure that at some point in my life, I didn't find fault with them, even if I didn't care for them.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts as well. I love seeing other points being brought up. It's a nice way see the book from many different angles! =D
Great review. I absolutely agree with you on Galen watching Hester while she slept. Another thing was that night, after the party, when she said she didn't want him to come over, but he did anyway. That's really flouting boundaries. I agree with so much that you said and really enjoyed reading your review.
Oh yeah. That part where he showed up at her house against her wishes anyway--that also made it hard for me to warm up to him. He's charming in other ways, but I just could never get past his pushiness and how he just chose to decide things for Hester. And she decided to just go with it, no questions. Of course, this is probably a product of the time period, but still...
Thanks for all the great discussion points you've brought up. I've been enjoying them, and as I'd mentioned above, really like seeing different points about this book from different angles.
I somehow totally missed this comment. Sorry! But yea, hopefully we'll do another buddy read soon. My automatic go-to books are typically romance, but I'm up for any kind of read! I'm just juggling more reads than I can handle right now, so I'm trying not to join too many buddy reads, so have been foregoing some in favor of others, despite wanting to join all of them. lol
Great review! I read so much historical romance that when there is actually history in it, I'm super delighted, lol. It seems newer hist rom leaves out the history :(
Yeah, there was a section in the second half that was full of sexual situations that started to get monotonous and the wording was pretty flowery, where I thought you could tell the story was aged.
Galen was definitely pushy and I was not a fan of how he got Hester to agree to marry him, Hester having more control and Galen listening more would have made their relationship better.
Enjoyed discussing this book with you and everyone, hope we can do more buddy reads together :)
Thanks! I'm still fairly new to historical romance, and loved all the little history tidbits in this book! On the other hand, I'm not sure I pay enough attention to some other historical romance books to notice their lack of history. lol After this, I might start paying more attention, though to be honest, my extent of historical romance so far has been Tessa Dare, Courtney Milan, and Amanda Quick. I think Courtney Milan manages some history in her books. Meanwhile, Amanda Quick is rather formulaic, even if charming enough that I love her books anyway.
As for this book, yeah, I definitely did not like the way Galen strong-armed Hester into marrying him, even IF he had the best of intentions, and even IF it was supposed to be an act to rescue Hester's reputation. I'm not sure there could have been another resolution, but I feel like Hester shouldn't have been so forgiving about Galen's behavior. And as an added after thought, I'm disappointed that all the townspeople would so readily gossip about and outcast Hester. I guess my naivette thought they'd be a tighter community than that, and that Foster and his new wife would still kind of be outsiders in comparison.
I also enjoyed discussing this book with you and everyone. Until the next buddy read! =D
The historical part was also my favorite, and I love that Jenkins included such a great bibliography at the end. Several of those books are definitely going on my to-read list. The romance... well, it fits the mold of romance novels written during that time. It's not quite the bodice-ripper style, but the overbearing male hero is definitely less prevalent now. Definitely not okay in real life, but not too bad as a fantasy figure that can just stay between the pages of a book. :D
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I really enjoyed your review.
I guess I'm a little less tolerable of certain types of male heroes in romance novels, and figure that if I feel it's not okay in real life, then I can't stand them in fiction either. While he's not a bad person, the overbearing male typically frustrates the heck out of me... although I'm sure that at some point in my life, I didn't find fault with them, even if I didn't care for them.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts as well. I love seeing other points being brought up. It's a nice way see the book from many different angles! =D
Thanks for all the great discussion points you've brought up. I've been enjoying them, and as I'd mentioned above, really like seeing different points about this book from different angles.
Yeah, there was a section in the second half that was full of sexual situations that started to get monotonous and the wording was pretty flowery, where I thought you could tell the story was aged.
Galen was definitely pushy and I was not a fan of how he got Hester to agree to marry him, Hester having more control and Galen listening more would have made their relationship better.
Enjoyed discussing this book with you and everyone, hope we can do more buddy reads together :)
As for this book, yeah, I definitely did not like the way Galen strong-armed Hester into marrying him, even IF he had the best of intentions, and even IF it was supposed to be an act to rescue Hester's reputation. I'm not sure there could have been another resolution, but I feel like Hester shouldn't have been so forgiving about Galen's behavior. And as an added after thought, I'm disappointed that all the townspeople would so readily gossip about and outcast Hester. I guess my naivette thought they'd be a tighter community than that, and that Foster and his new wife would still kind of be outsiders in comparison.
I also enjoyed discussing this book with you and everyone. Until the next buddy read! =D