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A review by actually_juliette
The Trouble with Honor by Julia London
2.0
I picked this up as a quick break from all the serious books I've been reading lately, and, while reading the excerpt, I was amused that London tried to write this as a tarted-up Jane Austen, with a deep nod to Sense and Sensibility. But it just didn't work.
The main character, true to romance heroine form, reminded me of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. No one gambles like Honor. No one schemes like Honor. No one dresses like Honor. No one rides like Honor. She even has her group of fawning dandies like Gaston. Heck, she might even look like Gaston. She loves all things superficial and is desperately clawing to hold the wealth to which she is accustomed, but, in the end, after about 2 weeks of George in her life, she discovers that what she really needs in her life is TRUE LOVE. [cue Juliette's skeptical face]
The hero, George, also true to romance hero form, is perfect-but-flawed. Oh, he has his gaggle of women. He's wonderful and desirable, and, honestly, more fun to read about than Honor. (He's the reason for the 2-star rating.) But he's a bastard, the son of some earl and a chambermaid. He's had to fight to make his way in the world; he knows what it's like to be poor. Honor hires him to seduce her evil sister-in-law (who is actually a better human being than Honor: kind, caring, and devoted to her family) and break the engagement. But, oh no, George wants Honor. Because she'sGaston Honor. (See the paragraph above.)
Now I'm no relationship expert, and I know one does not read romance novels for relationship advice, but, yo, these two people never spoke to one another. It seems to me (the non-expert) that two people need to have an actual conversation in order to foster love and whatnot.
The conversation between them went along these lines, "Honor, you're bodacious. Let's have sex." Honor gives silent assent.
Every major relationship building block is implicit. Oy vey.
My bar is set pretty low for romance novels because I haven't read many that transcended the saccharine and purple prose styles. ([b:The Opportunist|13312527|The Opportunist (Love Me with Lies, #1)|Tarryn Fisher|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374526831s/13312527.jpg|18518411] was good.) But even with my already low standards for romance novels, this one was a fail.
The main character, true to romance heroine form, reminded me of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. No one gambles like Honor. No one schemes like Honor. No one dresses like Honor. No one rides like Honor. She even has her group of fawning dandies like Gaston. Heck, she might even look like Gaston. She loves all things superficial and is desperately clawing to hold the wealth to which she is accustomed, but, in the end, after about 2 weeks of George in her life, she discovers that what she really needs in her life is TRUE LOVE. [cue Juliette's skeptical face]
The hero, George, also true to romance hero form, is perfect-but-flawed. Oh, he has his gaggle of women. He's wonderful and desirable, and, honestly, more fun to read about than Honor. (He's the reason for the 2-star rating.) But he's a bastard, the son of some earl and a chambermaid. He's had to fight to make his way in the world; he knows what it's like to be poor. Honor hires him to seduce her evil sister-in-law (who is actually a better human being than Honor: kind, caring, and devoted to her family) and break the engagement. But, oh no, George wants Honor. Because she's
Now I'm no relationship expert, and I know one does not read romance novels for relationship advice, but, yo, these two people never spoke to one another. It seems to me (the non-expert) that two people need to have an actual conversation in order to foster love and whatnot.
The conversation between them went along these lines, "Honor, you're bodacious. Let's have sex." Honor gives silent assent.
Every major relationship building block is implicit.
Spoiler
Case in point: George and Honor were getting hot and heavy on the couch, and her mom walked in, and, because she has dementia, the mom doesn't act like anything is out of the norm. George figured out that Honor hired him because no one would marry her after seeing her mother, and she's trying to protect her mother. George asks her why she didn't tell him about her mother, and Honor replied, "How could I?" After some inner recollections about his mother that he does not share with Honor, George decides that Honor is, in fact, honorable, and he'll help her.My bar is set pretty low for romance novels because I haven't read many that transcended the saccharine and purple prose styles. ([b:The Opportunist|13312527|The Opportunist (Love Me with Lies, #1)|Tarryn Fisher|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374526831s/13312527.jpg|18518411] was good.) But even with my already low standards for romance novels, this one was a fail.