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A review by bookish_kristina
The Spinster and the Rake by Eva Devon
Did not finish book.
DNF at 60%
Sigh.
I had high hopes for this because I love a neurodivergent character in historical romance, but this did not work for me. Right off the bat, I didn’t love the beginning, it felt implausible, why would he kiss this woman he just met if he was very touch averse? And he seemed very aware and wary of being trapped into marriage but all of a sudden grabbed a stranger and kissed her in the library during a large ball where anyone could come in? It all happened too fast and didn’t fit with his previous inner musings.
This does have a Tessa Dare feel to it but lacked her charm and likeable characters. I’d categorize it as historical fantasy romance, or fairytale, in that it didn’t have a solid set in the historical realities of the time it was based in, or not an accurate one. There was some info dumping on the Jacobeans and Bonnie King Charlie, that I zoned out for, but other than the historical lecture to prove how not like other girls Georgiana was this didn’t fit in any specific historical time period: I’d call this Regency-ish.
The narration was ok but the narrator did not do enough to distinguish the male voice from the female one, his needed to be gruffer and deeper pitched. I sometimes didn’t realize it was supposed to be him speaking and not her.
As for the hero, his autism seemed to go in and out. I’m no expert on ASD but I like traits to stay consistent for characters, no matter what they are. This also felt very harsh towards him: this heroine wants to ‘teach him to be a better man’ and he ‘overcomes so much’ and he is likened to an abused horse at one point. ASD is not a curable ailment to be overcome, it’s not the result of trauma. This felt like the author did enough research to know about autistic stereotypes but not enough to make a fully nuanced neurodivergent character. Often he was just an ass. But mostly I just didn’t engage with the story. The only conflict in this book is that the hero is difficult to deal with, which is explained by his different ‘broken’ brain. It’s pride and prejudice HEAVY but done in an entirely too superficial way. I didn’t care for either character and just kept putting this down and not wanting to pick it back up.
Dropping this in the DNF pile, unfortunately.
Sigh.
I had high hopes for this because I love a neurodivergent character in historical romance, but this did not work for me. Right off the bat, I didn’t love the beginning, it felt implausible, why would he kiss this woman he just met if he was very touch averse? And he seemed very aware and wary of being trapped into marriage but all of a sudden grabbed a stranger and kissed her in the library during a large ball where anyone could come in? It all happened too fast and didn’t fit with his previous inner musings.
This does have a Tessa Dare feel to it but lacked her charm and likeable characters. I’d categorize it as historical fantasy romance, or fairytale, in that it didn’t have a solid set in the historical realities of the time it was based in, or not an accurate one. There was some info dumping on the Jacobeans and Bonnie King Charlie, that I zoned out for, but other than the historical lecture to prove how not like other girls Georgiana was this didn’t fit in any specific historical time period: I’d call this Regency-ish.
The narration was ok but the narrator did not do enough to distinguish the male voice from the female one, his needed to be gruffer and deeper pitched. I sometimes didn’t realize it was supposed to be him speaking and not her.
As for the hero, his autism seemed to go in and out. I’m no expert on ASD but I like traits to stay consistent for characters, no matter what they are. This also felt very harsh towards him: this heroine wants to ‘teach him to be a better man’ and he ‘overcomes so much’ and he is likened to an abused horse at one point. ASD is not a curable ailment to be overcome, it’s not the result of trauma. This felt like the author did enough research to know about autistic stereotypes but not enough to make a fully nuanced neurodivergent character. Often he was just an ass. But mostly I just didn’t engage with the story. The only conflict in this book is that the hero is difficult to deal with, which is explained by his different ‘broken’ brain. It’s pride and prejudice HEAVY but done in an entirely too superficial way. I didn’t care for either character and just kept putting this down and not wanting to pick it back up.
Dropping this in the DNF pile, unfortunately.