From the acclaimed author of Boyfriend Material comes a delightfully witty romance featuring a reserved duke who's betrothed to one twin and hopelessly enamoured of the other.Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.It was always his father's hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up...romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine's proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.Arabella's twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure "Bonny" Tarleton, has also grown up...romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he's not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and...beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.
Wenn man darauf vorbereitet ist, dass das Buch aus humoristischen Gründen unnötig dramatisch ist und sich alle Probleme lösen lassen würden, wenn alle mal in Ruhe miteinander sprechen würden, dann kann man hiermit wirklich seinen Spaß haben.
Bonny und Valentine sind absolut unterschiedliche Charaktere und das Buch besteht hauptsächlich aus Streits, Schlagabtäuschen und Missverständnissen, aber es hat mir richtig viel Spaß gemacht. Meiner Meinung nach hätte es aber kürzer sein können, denn irgendwann verliert das alles seinen Reiz und ich habe mir nur noch gewünscht, sie würden endlich alle miteinander reden und die Probleme (die keine Probleme sein müssten) aus der Welt schaffen.
Sep 5, 2022
3.0
Wenn man darauf vorbereitet ist, dass das Buch aus humoristischen Gründen unnötig dramatisch ist und sich alle Probleme lösen lassen würden, wenn alle mal in Ruhe miteinander sprechen würden, dann kann man hiermit wirklich seinen Spaß haben.
Bonny und Valentine sind absolut unterschiedliche Charaktere und das Buch besteht hauptsächlich aus Streits, Schlagabtäuschen und Missverständnissen, aber es hat mir richtig viel Spaß gemacht. Meiner Meinung nach hätte es aber kürzer sein können, denn irgendwann verliert das alles seinen Reiz und ich habe mir nur noch gewünscht, sie würden endlich alle miteinander reden und die Probleme (die keine Probleme sein müssten) aus der Welt schaffen.
Well, it's really hard to describe what I liked and didn't like about this book. Cause in theory, I liked a lot about it, but while reading, there were a few problems with the way it was written.
First, about the setup. A duke is trying to marry a lady out of duty, but she is a romantic and doesn't want that, so she runs away. Her twin brother is worried about her and urges the duke to apologize and try again, so they set after her, only to fall in love of their own.
Not a bad idea, but until about half of the book, not much happened. They took like 30 pages alone to leave the house(!), arguing the whole time. Then it was just them on the round - arguing again. The conversations were written in a funny tone that I did appreciate, but it was just too much. Like 80% of the whole book is just talking, but not the kind that leads somewhere story-wise. Most problems could have been avoided if they'd just talked (ha!) to each other (about the right things). Up until a certain time, it was still plausible as to why they didn't (the character development needed to happen first), but after that, the drama was just unnecessary. Especially that one big thing near the end 😩
My favorite part was in the middle, when mutual feelings were recognized and the bit before with the sapphic ladys in the cottage. Also, every scene with Peggy. I know there is another book about Arabellas love story, but I wasn't a big fan of her. She really was quite dramatic, even though I could, of course, understand her not wanting to marry the duke. I don't know if she comes across differently in her own book, but I'd rather read more about Peggy xD (edit: I just read the blurb of the book and realized it is actually about Peggy omg. But Arabella seems to be important too... idk if I will read it yet, but it's more likely now xD)
Now about the main characters. Bonny was just delightful, funny, and a good flirt. Valentin was supposed to be unlikable at first, I guess, but it was hard to watch him making it worse each time 😩 Also, I know he is supposed to be this rich Duke, who knows nothing of the world, especially not about romance or the existence of queer people, but he could be so oblivious and condescending sometimes, it was aggravating. Especially when he saw those two women happily living together, and his first thought was, "Two spinsters living in poverty, how sad." Like, excuse me?! 😀 I liked him in the end, but I could understand the sentiment of wanting to shoot him from time to time xD Also, I thought his change of heart was rather quick. While it felt slow as a whole because of the long conversations, the book actually took place over just a few days in the beginning. For someone who didn't have many feelings to begin with, falling in love in that short amount of time was a bit sudden (though I wouldn't have wanted it to drag out any longer).
All in all, a book with funny conversations that sometimes made me laugh out loud, and (in the end) loveable characters, that just had the disadvantage of being written in a way too drawn-out style and with too much miscommunication/unnecessary drama. Though I didn't mind the unrealistically convient encounter of almost only queer people on their journey (nice representation for sapphic ladys, genderfluid icons, obviously gay men, and demisexual newcomers).
So, a book I didn't regret reading but also wouldn't explicitly recommend. It was alright.
Aug 30, 2023
3.0
The book of banter
Well, it's really hard to describe what I liked and didn't like about this book. Cause in theory, I liked a lot about it, but while reading, there were a few problems with the way it was written.
First, about the setup. A duke is trying to marry a lady out of duty, but she is a romantic and doesn't want that, so she runs away. Her twin brother is worried about her and urges the duke to apologize and try again, so they set after her, only to fall in love of their own.
Not a bad idea, but until about half of the book, not much happened. They took like 30 pages alone to leave the house(!), arguing the whole time. Then it was just them on the round - arguing again. The conversations were written in a funny tone that I did appreciate, but it was just too much. Like 80% of the whole book is just talking, but not the kind that leads somewhere story-wise. Most problems could have been avoided if they'd just talked (ha!) to each other (about the right things). Up until a certain time, it was still plausible as to why they didn't (the character development needed to happen first), but after that, the drama was just unnecessary. Especially that one big thing near the end 😩
My favorite part was in the middle, when mutual feelings were recognized and the bit before with the sapphic ladys in the cottage. Also, every scene with Peggy. I know there is another book about Arabellas love story, but I wasn't a big fan of her. She really was quite dramatic, even though I could, of course, understand her not wanting to marry the duke. I don't know if she comes across differently in her own book, but I'd rather read more about Peggy xD (edit: I just read the blurb of the book and realized it is actually about Peggy omg. But Arabella seems to be important too... idk if I will read it yet, but it's more likely now xD)
Now about the main characters. Bonny was just delightful, funny, and a good flirt. Valentin was supposed to be unlikable at first, I guess, but it was hard to watch him making it worse each time 😩 Also, I know he is supposed to be this rich Duke, who knows nothing of the world, especially not about romance or the existence of queer people, but he could be so oblivious and condescending sometimes, it was aggravating. Especially when he saw those two women happily living together, and his first thought was, "Two spinsters living in poverty, how sad." Like, excuse me?! 😀 I liked him in the end, but I could understand the sentiment of wanting to shoot him from time to time xD Also, I thought his change of heart was rather quick. While it felt slow as a whole because of the long conversations, the book actually took place over just a few days in the beginning. For someone who didn't have many feelings to begin with, falling in love in that short amount of time was a bit sudden (though I wouldn't have wanted it to drag out any longer).
All in all, a book with funny conversations that sometimes made me laugh out loud, and (in the end) loveable characters, that just had the disadvantage of being written in a way too drawn-out style and with too much miscommunication/unnecessary drama. Though I didn't mind the unrealistically convient encounter of almost only queer people on their journey (nice representation for sapphic ladys, genderfluid icons, obviously gay men, and demisexual newcomers).
So, a book I didn't regret reading but also wouldn't explicitly recommend. It was alright.
