I didn’t like Bel much for the reasons discussed in the review. But I also found Toby pretty shallow, even more so than in the first book. Yes, he did a good thing when he protected Sophia’s reputation but other than that, I didn’t find much to like about him. But worse than that, I felt no spark or chemistry between Bel and Toby at all. I never understood what he saw in her, or vice versa.

I didn’t like Sophia in the second book and she didn’t improve in this one either. She is just so unbelievably self-centered — oh I’m so beautiful! So very rich! Woe is me! Gag. She never seemed to have a clue how awful her behavior was, both to Toby and her family.

Gray, otoh, I loved in the second book but I agree that in this book, his hostility towards Toby made no sense at all. I found it sort of funny though, and I thought he just hated Toby because Toby had been engaged to Sophia. No, it didn’t make sense but jealousy is often quite irrational. He just couldn’t stand the thought that Toby had come so close to marrying Sophia and that’s why he didn’t like Toby.

It’s funny to me to read on that other thread that readers found Lucy to be the “unlikable” one, because I much preferred her to either selfish Sophia or priggish Bel.

Also:

From Bel's standpoint, she cannot love because her mother loved too deeply and was hurt by Bel's father's philandering ways. Bel doesn't want to be that kind of victim. She is afraid her love will turn her mad like her mother.

Can we please retire this trope? Forever, if possible? When I read this, I just rolled my eyes. SO overused as a romantic plot device; it just seems like lazy shorthand for “instant conflict”.

I’m not sure why I was able to tolerate her after a certain point, but she became less annoying, or maybe it was just that Toby became so interesting I was able to overlook her.

In the end, I was left with the impression that Toby deserved a *lot* better than what he got. I really didn’t see that Bel learned anything or grew and I certainly agree that Sophia was totally unrepentant.

I never finished book two (stalled on page 165) and I don’t think I will. I couldn’t like either Sophia or Gray in their own book and reading ALoP they only grew worse.

Overall, I like GotH the best and really wish Toby had gotten a heroine who actually deserved somebody so self-less instead of this ‘do-gooder’.

I didn’t necessarily like Bel but I understood her and the struggle she had with her childhood. She even said that her father deserted her in his paramours, her mother deserted her in her insanity and her brothers physically deserted her. She had a lot of issues to work through.

I wasn’t crazy about Gray in the second book but his reactions to Toby in this book were funny.

And Toby was a brilliant hero. He was laugh out loud funny, he was tender, he was fighting his own insecurities. And it was enjoyable watching his machinations to avoid what he thought he didn’t want when it was exactly what he needed anyway.

I’ve never been a fan of historicals but these books brought me into the fold. I found all three well written, fun, sexy. Tessa Dare has become an auto-buy for me now.

One thing I like about all these heroines is that they are very young, and they grow up a lot during the course of the books. For each of them, the process of falling in love is intertwined with the process of self discovery, and I like how that works. I found all three heroines horribly annoying in the beginning, kind of like I feel about most teenage girls at least some of the time. In the end, I felt that was a welcome change from the unbelievably wise youngsters in some historical romances.