Annika is delightfully uncensored in expressing her thoughts and feelings, and there are some interesting undercurrents concerning the ways families and tight-knit communities, and of course society as a whole, choose to define (and confine) individuals. --vague spoiler ahead-- David is a deeply good person (although there's one point where he doesn't show much imagination when he has a moral decision to make, but he kind of gets a pass because later he alludes to that moment and how you wake up one day with a better idea about how to handle a situation, but by then it's too late, and you know he's haunted by his actions, and you know he was tired and desperate when he made that questionable decision, and then you only feel sympathy for him) who is dealing with some deep-seated issues caused more by how society as a whole perceives and reacts to him than any physical injury he has sustained.
This isn't entirely four-star writing, but Brook has such interesting ideas at the root of her stories and this was definitely a four-star romance (with distractingly inaccurate cover art—put a brown paper bag over it or read the ebook!).
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It was kind of like a stroll through a trash heap. Yeah, it's a bit icky, but only enough for me to think, "Why am I subjecting myself to this?" But if I were to sit down to breakfast on some nice white linens only to find maggots in the peaches on my cottage cheese, that would have a better shot at producing a visceral reaction.
I'm just sayin', there are ways to do dark material so it's disturbing and ways so it's titillating (even gleeful), and this was neither. Maybe that was the point: bad behavior is ultimately the most boring thing on earth. Or maybe Arvin was supposed to be the contrast, but he just wasn't central enough to pull it off. I don't know, I just had no measurable response to this book.
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So yeah, I totally bought the friendship/mutual respect basis for their relationship. And I appreciated that the heroine dove into the sexual relationship headfirst (not literally, if I recall correctly—but she didn’t have terrible insecurities about not being beautiful or her slave status or anything [don't worry, she wasn’t his slave—that would be icky!]). Then the sex got to be a little too much; the author had been doing so well creating likable characters, and that kind of went out the window for a while so they could give each other rugburns day and night.
And then the “plot” really took over, and that was a little sparse, though there were some good moments there as well. Anytime the god Corruption manifests, it’s pretty creepy. And anytime the heroine and the servant and the dog are in the same room, I just want to nestle in there with them. Pretty awesome for a self-published author (I think—that's what I read someplace, anyway!). Only $2.99 for the ebook. I definitely can see myself reading this book a second time and watching for more by Grace Draven.
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This is one of those books that has a some solid core elements (interesting world, interesting character backstories [at least alluded to]) that never seem to come together into a compelling narrative. The characters soon became defined by their bland relationship to each other rather than their unique histories, and the plot seemed to be driven by the actions of peripheral characters who barely (or never) entered into the story, so it became difficult to keep track of what was happening and why (because so much of it was happening someplace else). The writing was competent, but rarely compelling, and I always felt like I was skimming the surface of the story; it just never sucked me in.
Nonetheless, and contrary to most of the covers, the Iron Duke is a burly man with chest hair (think Ray Stevenson), which is a refreshing change from the full-body-wax, prepubescent look so popular in leading men today, the heroine had decent critical thinking skills, and the world was interesting enough. The truth is, I only read this because it was supposed to be valuable "world-building" for a later book that sounded more interesting to me, and I'm still keen to read that one. I think Meljean Brook has proven that she can interest me, even if true escapism is still a ways off.
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I did find it a little hard to connect with the characters in general, partly because of the epistolary structure and partly because of a somewhat unfocused story arc. The letters themselves seemed to strain reality, with one character regularly rushing off to the telegraph office to send someone the 1940s equivalent of "OMG! I M totes in <3 w/D!" Did people really do that? It may have been necessitated by the epistolary structure, to provide some indication of her thoughts on events as they transpired, but it still felt weird. The false notes seemed more prevalent in the second half of the book than the first, and I couldn't help wondering, rather guiltily, how many were contributed by the niece.
Overall, though, I found it a pleasant enough read. I just doubt I'll remember anything about the characters in a few weeks.