Review: Lord Dashwood Missed Out

LORD DASHWOOD MISSED OUT
Spindle Cove #4.5
Tessa Dare
Historical Romance
144 pages
Avon
Available December 8th
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
A snowstorm hath no fury like a spinster scorned!

Miss Elinora Browning grew up yearning for the handsome, intelligent lord-next-door…but he left England without a word of farewell. One night, inspired by a bit too much sherry, Nora poured out her heartbreak on paper. Lord Dashwood Missed Out was a love letter to every young lady who’d been overlooked by gentlemen—and an instant bestseller. Now she’s on her way to speak in Spindle Cove when snowy weather delays her coach. She’s forced to wait out the storm with the worst possible companion: Lord Dashwood himself.

And he finally seems to have noticed her.

George Travers, Lord Dashwood, has traveled the globe as a cartographer. He returned to England with the goal of marrying and creating an heir--only to find his reputation shredded by an audacious, vexingly attractive bluestocking and her poison pen. Lord Dashwood Missed Out, his arse. Since Nora Browning seems to believe he overlooked the passion of a lifetime, Dash challenges her to prove it.

She has one night.

MY THOUGHTS
Lord Dashwood Missed Out is an all-too fleeting return to the Spindle Cove world, one that delights us once again with Ms. Dare’s trademark sense of humor and a cast of characters who never take themselves too seriously.

Nora is a joy of a heroine, a young woman who had a crush on a friend of the family growing up and dreamed of the time when her fantasies of a wedding and children would finally become a reality. What awaited her instead was heartbreak and loneliness as Lord Ashwood took off to travel the world, but not before he made it glaringly obvious that he was aware of her feelings and didn’t return them. While we don’t know all the details until midway through, we can more than relate to Nora’s unrequited crush and the pain that accompanies such a thing, and we can’t help but applaud her for writing an essay encouraging young women like herself to find worth in themselves rather than in a proper marriage as decided by the Ton.

Lord Ashwood has some serious groveling to do from the first page as our solidarity lies firmly with Nora even without knowing the whys behind his actions, but Ms. Dare of course beautifully redeems him (eventually that is, he earns a narrowed eye or two along the way) with warmth, humility and humor. While their romance is unfortunately brief (this is a novella) and Nora forgives a touch too easily, both things are easily overlooked as we glory in characters who always leave us hoping for more time with them.

A review for this series wouldn’t be complete without the mention of Mrs. Highwood, a woman so hilariously unrelenting in the pursuit of an advantageous marriage for her youngest daughter that we can’t help but smile at her every appearance on page. If you’ve yet to experience the Spindle Cove series and are a fan of historical romance, I can’t recommend these books highly enough!

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Tessa:

  Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: The Assassin's Blade

THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE
Throne of Glass #0.1-0.5
Sarah J. Maas
Young Adult/Fantasy
448 pages
Bloomsbury
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Contains all five novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

MY THOUGHTS
This review is going to be a touch different from my standard essay-style reviews (I can’t help it, the essay format was drilled into me in high school and college and it’s just how my reviews normally come out when I start typing!) because I need to preface this review with a confession. Throne of Glass, book one in this series, was a huge challenge for me. I didn’t care much for heroine and self-proclaimed badass assassin Celaena until the very end, mostly because there was a lot of talking about how amazingly deadly and how deserving of her reputation she was, but yet I saw no evidence of it on page. There were hints of past jobs done here and there, but for the most part Celaena seemed to have a high opinion of herself unsupported by action.

I was told by many that I really should have started with the prequel novellas before tackling Throne of Glass, but it seemed strange to me that I would need to start a series prior to book one in order to care for the main character. When the opportunity to review all five prequel novellas presented itself however, I thought it was more than time to give Celaena a second chance.

I couldn’t be happier I did. The young woman in the five novellas comprising The Assassin’s Blade is the Celaena I expected to find in Throne of Glass. The Celaena I'd been hoping for all along. She still has an undeniably inflated ego, but over the course of these stories it becomes clear she has a heart to match it in size, and she more than proves her ability to put her fists and her blades where her mouth is. She has moments where her young age gets the best of her and a perceived slight causes her to lash out with some unnecessarily sharp words, but she shows growth and maturity with each novella, and I repeatedly found myself with an evil grin on my face whenever someone made the mistake of underestimating her physically or mentally.

Each novella gets progressively darker, building up to something those who’ve read only the synopsis of Throne of Glass would pick up on through the notable absence of a certain character, but even knowing it was coming didn’t fully prepare me for the delivery of such a brutal blow. The cold young woman who seemed as though her ego could use a check or ten in Throne of Glass suddenly made much more sense; the loss she struggles with at the end of The Assassin’s Blade leaving her with her guilt and her former sterling reputation–dulled from its previous shine–wrapped tight around her like armor against the person who betrayed her. It’s with vengeance and a need for retribution to match Celaena’s own that I closed the back cover of The Assassin’s Blade, eagerly anticipating the moment when the man who cost her everything will inevitably find himself on the lethally right side of Celaena’s blades.

Rating: 4/5

Find Sarah:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Cover Reveal: Seeking Her by Cora Carmack

It's a well-known secret that I'm a bit of a Cora Carmack fangirl and have loved each and every installment of her Losing It series, so I'm extremely excited today to get the chance to reveal the cover for her upcoming novella, Seeking Her. Seeking Her is written from Jackson Hunt's point of view (Kelsey's love interest in Finding It), and I simply cannot wait to get my hands on this one. Finding It was my favorite of the series to date despite a very rocky start with Kelsey, and I repeatedly found myself wishing for a peek inside Jackson's head as I read her story, so this one is sure to be a real treat for me.

Enough rambling, check out Seeking Her!

SEEKING HER

(releases January 28th from William Morrow)

A few months after being honorably discharged from the military, Jackson Hunt is still struggling to adjust back to the real world. He needs to get a job and find a sense of normalcy if he’s going to keep his own demons at bay. The job that falls into his lap, though, is anything but normal.

Bodyguard (and baby-sitter) to spoiled-rich-girl Kelsey Summers isn’t exactly what he’d been looking for, but it’s a chance to travel, to get away from the home that has felt stifling ever since his return. It would be a pretty sweet gig if it weren’t for the fact that Kelsey’s father doesn’t want Kelsey to know she’s being followed. Hunt feels guilty (and a little bit creepy) as he watches her from afar. She’s vibrant and infuriating, exciting and reckless, mysterious and familiar. When he sees her falling into the same patterns that he suffered years ago, he decides it’s time to stop watching and help her instead. But getting to know her is more difficult than he thought, especially because the more he knows her, the more he wants her. 

Amazon • B&N • iTunes • Google

Review: Bourne

BOURNE (River of Time #3.1)
Lisa T. Bergren
Historical Young Adult
e-novella
Self-published
Available Now
Received from author for review

THE STORY (from author website)
In this e-novella, River of Time #3.1, the dramatic tale about the Betarrinis and Forellis continues, picking up directly after where Torrent left off… The battle is done at the front, but the battle is only beginning back at Castello Forelli. Marcello fights for his life; Lord Greco fights to find his place; and Lia fights for love.

MY THOUGHTS
A read that’s easily devoured in a single sitting, Bourne is a treat for fans of The River of Time series, returning us to the Betarrinis for a brief but emotionally and physically intense visit before leaving us wanting more of everything from the characters and world we’ve come to care about so much. This novella gives a little something new in the form of Lia’s point of view, allowing us into the head of the younger Betarrini sister as she and Luca continue their romantically-tense dance, but with the new we also have the familiar comfort of Gabriella’s perspective as she and Marcello deal with the aftermath of the events of Torrent. As always, Ms. Bergen sublimely depicts both the beauty and the ugliness of life in medieval Italy, sweet flirtations accompanying the brutality of war to leave us utterly exhausted by the end given all the energy we’ve expelled reveling in the happy moments and despairing in the tragic ones.

Gabi and Lia are as enjoyable as ever, both strong-willed women who’ve proven themselves to be skilled fighters, and it’s nothing short of an absolute pleasure to watch as these modern young woman are courted in a time of chivalry and extreme gallantry. Both girls delight in Marcello and Luca's ingrained sense of honor at the same time they rebel against it, wanting to take up arms and defend those they love with every ounce of strength they possess instead of playing demure ladies who simply wait for their loved ones to return from battle. Spending extra time with Lia and Luca is thrilling, the tension between them crackling so strongly we can almost feel the tingles in our fingertips as we touch the pages (or screen as it were), our desire to see their romance unfold all-encompassing now that Marcello and Gabi are married.

Fans of Lord Greco may be slightly disappointed in this novella as Rodolfo is present throughout but definitely relegated to the background when Lia and Luca take center stage, and though we certainly won't complain about the new couple at the forefront, we can’t help but want more time with the man who is an undeniably intriguing mystery–sometimes a friend and sometimes a foe, but always someone who draws our gaze whether or not he is meant to be the object of our unwavering focus. Overall, Ms. Bergren packs a great deal of action as well as a touch of romance in a short number of pages, reminding us of what we love about this world and the characters who inhabit it while also making it glaringly apparent that we’ll not be satisfied until we have happy endings for every single person to whom we’ve been introduced.

Rating 4/5