Slow start, seeming like way to much being stuffed in at once; however, once you get into the story - the plot and characters draw you in.

You get to a point where you want to know what is coming next and don't want to stop reading. While the story is not my favorite from this author, I find myself rooting for some characters and hating others.

I like that while it is a historical romance of sorts, the women aren't weak and make their choices based on their wants. I like that the women have their smarts about them.

4 stars because itnwas well written and kept me interested. Great storyline and fun read. ( )

I literally just finished the book and wow. I really enjoyed this book, there was a lot that I liked about it but there were some stuff that I didn't and so I have to give it a 3.5 stars, mainly because the ending felt rushed. There was a lot of plot twists in the end so much so that I just kept saying "what". It was a bittersweet ending, I won't say why but some of the characters I wish things could have worked out differently for them but it wasn't the worst situation ever. I really liked a lot of the characters in this book, I loved Wolf the most. I think the characters were the best part of the book because nothing really happens in the story until the end and then there's like major twists and things revealed but I think the ending should have been spaced out more. I don't see how this would be a series cause I feel like the ending wraps everything up. The way it ended I don't know where it would be going next if it were to continue. Anyway, I still enjoyed the book and I think if they were to make this into a TV show I think it would be really good.
( )

2.5* for the audiobook.

Teen drama among the titled, rich and 'wanna-be' set would have been okay (if a bit dull for this old fogey) except for the fact that the author decided to rewrite history in random and inconsistent ways. For example, the Plantangent family (in the form of 100 year-old Queen Eleanor) is still ruling the British empire in ~1920s with the help of "The Merlin" and North America is still a colony; however, even though it is a British colony, the Americans still fought their Civil War. This makes no sense -- the issue of slavery would have been decided in England so why fight each other? Pandora has be revised into a witch of dark magic so that Pandora's box can become a weapon of war. And I had to roll my eyes when Ronan Aster was surprised to discover that the young men paying attention to her were after her supposed riches. After all, she was deliberately trying to convey the impression she was well off & and she herself was looking to repair the family fortune by making a "good" marriage. ( )

A tentative 3. I can't put my finger on it. This book was long, but not very deep. It took me several times to pick up the book and finish it, which is unusual for me and YA lit. ( )

So, confession time. I received this book as an ARC, and never got around to reading it. I then borrowed it from the library, and once again never had a chance to read it. I finally ended up borrowing it as an audio book, because I'd listened to the narrator before and enjoyed her readings. That finally prompted me to finish this. I'm fairly proud of myself right now, if you must know. This book had massive love thrown at it, back when it first came out, and I always felt a little left out for not having read it. Now? Well, I've read it.

The beginning of The Ring and The Crown had my attention. The hints at Merlin, and Avalon intrigued me. Marie-Victoria grated on my nerves a bit, but I was willing to forgive her frailty because of the way she was raised. Then more characters came into the picture, and still more, and still more yet. Suddenly this book was being told from so many perspectives that it made my head spin. Worse yet, it began to go off the rails more quickly than I could have anticipated. What started as a Fantasy story of the sort I generally enjoy, soon turned into a gossip magazine filled with all manner scandal and drama. If I had been hoping for a more fluffy read, I don't think I would have minded so much. As it stands, I was a bit blindsided and it threw me off.

Wolf and his roguish personality was what kept me reading on. I love his type of character. The "bad boy" for going against what his family expects of him, but secretly the type of man who has charm and kindness to spare. If this whole story had revolved around him, I would have been in heaven. Instead, he had to share the spotlight with his awful brother Leo, whiny Marie-Victoria, and Aelwyn who I never really grew to like. This book ended up being a huge case of "falling for the wrong guy/girl" and doing what is right for the masses rather than yourself. I can tell you, no one ended up happy here. Not a one. Which wouldn't have been that bad, except that the ending really felt like it was an afterthought. After so much build up, and as much character building as this book could provide, the ending was disappointing.

I likely could have lived without reading this book which, once again, is pretty disappointing. At least it has a lovely cover. ( )