*** WARNING: SPOILERS ***
Lot's of good strong foundation here: a wonderful childhood between the two main characters, strong supporting family and characters, and when Elle runs our of the house in her wedding dress screaming "Sean, Sean!" and he turns his horse around for her...I had up to this point enjoyed the story very much.
And while I realize it's common place in romances to repeat omething a few times, after a half dozen times it becomes a bit much. After two dozen times of hearing "but I love you, why can't you love me" or listening to Elle tell herself she understands and will be patient with Sean, who has been imprisoned, tortured, his wife raped and murdered, in one breath, and turn right around and pressure and badger him with the next...it got very old. Every thought she had one moment - she turns right around and second guesses it the next...all 500 of 500+ pages.
And Sean, also 500 of 500+ pages, is pushing Elle away telling her he's no good, they can't be, and she's better off with Sinclair, her fiance. (Who by the way [Sinclair] is a very honorable, handsome, likeable Lord/man throughout the entire book. He was the only honorable one of the three to me and definitely didn't deserve the confrontation and ending dished him.)
One other thing that bothered me a great deal was Sean's son, Michael, was also presumed murdered and dead with his wife but his body was never found. And when Elle and Sean discuss babies it's decided if they have a boy they will name him "Michael." And yet there has been no searching, no conclusion, no body, nothing, to this point about Michael, except some guilt on Sean's part for not being there to save him.
I wanted to put the book down and quit several times but I kept telling myself that this was not typical of Ms. Joyce's usual main characters. By the time I finished it (1 day by the way, that's how good it started out and 'could' have been) I was disappointed not in Ms. Joyce, but rather myself...for having finished it. =( In all honesty, I wanted to give this book 2 stars but just didn't have the heart to do it.
Lot's of good strong foundation here: a wonderful childhood between the two main characters, strong supporting family and characters, and when Elle runs our of the house in her wedding dress screaming "Sean, Sean!" and he turns his horse around for her...I had up to this point enjoyed the story very much.
And while I realize it's common place in romances to repeat omething a few times, after a half dozen times it becomes a bit much. After two dozen times of hearing "but I love you, why can't you love me" or listening to Elle tell herself she understands and will be patient with Sean, who has been imprisoned, tortured, his wife raped and murdered, in one breath, and turn right around and pressure and badger him with the next...it got very old. Every thought she had one moment - she turns right around and second guesses it the next...all 500 of 500+ pages.
And Sean, also 500 of 500+ pages, is pushing Elle away telling her he's no good, they can't be, and she's better off with Sinclair, her fiance. (Who by the way [Sinclair] is a very honorable, handsome, likeable Lord/man throughout the entire book. He was the only honorable one of the three to me and definitely didn't deserve the confrontation and ending dished him.)
One other thing that bothered me a great deal was Sean's son, Michael, was also presumed murdered and dead with his wife but his body was never found. And when Elle and Sean discuss babies it's decided if they have a boy they will name him "Michael." And yet there has been no searching, no conclusion, no body, nothing, to this point about Michael, except some guilt on Sean's part for not being there to save him.
I wanted to put the book down and quit several times but I kept telling myself that this was not typical of Ms. Joyce's usual main characters. By the time I finished it (1 day by the way, that's how good it started out and 'could' have been) I was disappointed not in Ms. Joyce, but rather myself...for having finished it. =( In all honesty, I wanted to give this book 2 stars but just didn't have the heart to do it.
