REVIEW: A Lady without Peer by Grace Burrowes
Two PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED Regency novellas…
His Grace for the Win (from The Duke’s Bridle Path):
Philippe, Duke of Lavelle, has sworn off all things equestrian after his brother’s riding accident. Just one tiny problem: The woman who steals Philippe’s heart, Harriet Talbot, loves horses, and generally only notices men when they’re in the saddle. Will Philippe rise to the challenge, or come a cropper for the sake of true love?The Will to Love (from How to Find a Duke in Ten Days)
The Earl of Ramsdale is convinced that his late uncle’s will holds the key to finding at least one portion of a long-lost Renaissance manuscript. The only person skilled enough to translate the will in ten short days is Miss Philomena Peebles, who has no patience with handsome, presumptuous earls. Will Ramsdale find the fabled literary treasure, or lose his heart to the last woman he should propose to?
His Grace for the Win
Oh. My. God. I would be hard pressed to remember two fictional characters I wanted to grab by the scruffs of their necks and shake until their teeth rattled. This novella is mostly one long Big Misunderstanding. Two nice people. He loves her and she loves him but they’re damned and determined to misunderstand each other, think the opposite of what is true and yearn for each other without ever saying a fricken’ word about their true feelings. Plus her father is a bit of a putz though yay, she can practically run the business if only dad would get out of her way. One thing though really irritated me and that was at the end of the story, a good friend to both MCs is thrown from a horse, far from shelter with a storm coming on and then finally Harriet decides to sit Phillipe down for a chat instead of either of them rushing out with the other helpers to get to the Earl. Really?? Yep, I wanted to smack the MCs all over again. It should not take me a day to read a novella and feel that I have to force myself to do it. D
The Will to Love
This one is better in that the MCs do talk to each other but so much of the story is all about the manuscript that the FMC’s neglectful father has been searching for. Dad is also a neglectful putz. I do like that the FMC is a polyglot and not ashamed of her intelligence. Love that the hero appreciates her intelligence. But oh, I got tired of that darn book and there’s a predatory Marquis’s daughter on the loose. If a story is only a bit longer than 100 pages and it takes me all day to read it, then I’m not as enamored with it as I should be. C+
~Jayne
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I often like Grace Burrowes books and own many of them, but I think I will skip these. Too many books, not enough time. If you spend the entire story wanting the characters to sit down, use common sense, and have an adult conversation, there are better books, by Burrowes and others, to read.
@Susan/DC: Exactly. I seem to mostly either love or hate Burrows’s books.