Audrey Harrison

I loved the premise but less so the execution. I kept waiting for people to figure out the obvious, like how the sisters should send Eleanor to Gretna Green with Joseph, or ANYONE that wasn’t the rapist. Eleanor just resigns herself to her fate until the “brilliant (obvious) scheme” for her to get married is hatched? Like, duh. Also wouldn’t they have to go to Gretna? I don’t think she’s reached her majority. I love a plain spinster but the angst from that trope is fairly resolved and then overshadowed by The Big Conundrum. I do love the Misunderstanding though! But I think the old-school sweet clean regency writing style isn’t quite my cup of tea. Lots of proper dialogue that always strikes me as bland, descriptions of minutiae, somewhat repetitive conversations... I dunno. I might read other books by this author if they cater to my favorite tropes. (2.5 stars)… (meer)

Another super clean romance (with a soapbox moment for abstinence, which dropped it a half star) with a Very Goody Two-Shoes heroine. She was a borderline doormat except that she was self-aware enough to realize there was something wrong with how she allowed the hero to treat her. There was a little bit too much of telling instead of showing, but then so many authors will have the hero's inner monologue be all "I'm afraid to love!" In reality, that is not like a conscious thought on the part of commitment-phobes, but whatever, it's pretty common in this trope. I still very much enjoyed the overheard insult and angst and misunderstandings! That bit was right up my alley. Just would have liked a bit more steam, and I can’t say I find the idea of ELEVEN CHILDREN to be appealing or romantic, but at least it wasn't an explicitly Christian romance. Though I guess I’m not surprised given the author’s GR bio saying she misses the times when “women were women and men were men” whatever that conservative claptrap means… (meer)

This could use a round of editing, nothing too egregious, but some awkward sentences, repeated phrases, a few punctuation issues. I love the premise of a hero hurting the heroine and having to grovel to get her back. But Mr. Peters was a bit over the top as a villain and I couldn’t quite grasp his motivation. Why was he threatening to murder Penelope? Did he want her because Daniel did? That felt weird and a bit random. I would have preferred Penelope be an actual spinster but still, I enjoyed it well enough I suppose. No steam. (2.5 stars)… (meer)