Joanna L. reviewed Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (Impossible Bachelors, Bk 3) on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I read the reviews and thought "oh no I'm not going to like this", but it was not as bad as some of the reviews. It was a good book, not quite as fun to read as the previous Impossible Bachelors, but I can honestly say there are many more books out there that are not as good. The story line was a little blah and almost forced into a happy ending but heah it's fiction! In comparison with her other books it was probably only a two or three - overall I would it give it a 3.5-4. Not one I had a hard time putting down, but still enjoyed.
Sara reviewed Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (Impossible Bachelors, Bk 3) on + 90 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Like a toad squashed on the road ... flat, flat, flat and completely one dimensional.
Sorry to say it, as the first two attempts by the author weren't bad at all, but this one was tough to slog through. Better luck next time?
Sorry to say it, as the first two attempts by the author weren't bad at all, but this one was tough to slog through. Better luck next time?
Karen R. - , reviewed Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (Impossible Bachelors, Bk 3) on + 71 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Couldn't wait for this book to come out. I loved "When Harry Met Molly" and "Dukes to the Left of Me..." This book simply must have been written by a ghost writer, as it is difficult to believe Kramer could write such boring, flat, uninteresting tripe, with little plot development and characters to which I could not relate! Such a "blah" book! Skipped from chapter to chapter waiting for interesting developments...alas, it never happened! I will read Kramer's next book, based on her first two. But if this had been her only offering, I wouldn't buy another. Bah Humbug!
Lori H. (HoweHowse) -
Helpful Score: 2
Capt Arrow deserved a little better than this or maybe Jilly dserved a little better personality..? First book was okay enough to want to read the 2nd book, which I really liked, but this one just didn't quite make it. Hopefully the next in the series will prove it's every-other-one.
Christina (mschris1161) -
Helpful Score: 2
I found this story charming. I agree it started off slow but didn't take long to fully engage my interest. Perhaps if others hadn't "skimmed" they might have noticed the real and humorous interactions, situations and dialogue between the ensemble of characters offered in CWACOM. So well written I was chuckling and it was often as if I could see the "scenes" being played out for me on a stage. I liked the story, it's heroes and heroines, and all the secondary characters so much I read from cover to cover before I put it away. I have enjoyed each of the books in this series and can't wait to read Lumley's story!
Sherri H. (mamadoodle) -
Helpful Score: 1
Did not finish. Insipid and childish.
Janet B. (jsue) reviewed Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (Impossible Bachelors, Bk 3) on + 74 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This historical romance was above average silly. I couldn't finish it but skipped ahead to read the resolution. I have read the previous and following Imp. Bach. series. All of them could be missed without much loss.
Juliana (philippaj) -
Helpful Score: 1
~ COULD BARELY FINISH - READS LIKE A PARODY (1/2 star) ~
With six new romance books having come out yesterday, I went out in the morning and bought the three I thought I would like the best and was so excited to get started ... Ms. Kramer's was the first one I read and I was unbelievably disappointed. Stopped at p22 yesterday and then decided to pick it up and quickly finish it today so I could PBSwap it. I honestly could barely finish the book and had to skim through parts, which is something I rarely, rarely ever do.
The characters - supporting and main - seemed more like caricatures of themselves than anything approaching three-dimensional people. Everything - their gestures, words, actions, feelings - seem exaggerated and the book ends up reading like a parody. This was especially true for the secondary characters, with Otis in particular driving me *absolutely* crazy.
I didn't find Jilly and Stephen at all engaging, but rather flat. Within the first two pages we're told by the heroine how unbelievably handsome and desirable the hero is - though she will of course resist, unlike every other female in the galaxy, because she's made of sterner stuff - and within the first six pages the hero has the hots for the heroine and has decided to pursue her. Surprise, surprise, Jilly doesn't resist very well and by p20 is wanting to "eat him up" because he's so delicious looking. Way to stand your ground Jilly! Despite the numerous mentions of the other's hotness and physical attraction, the chemistry between the two of them is negligible and the romance scenes are lackluster.
Some standard HR-type components are thrown in: Stephen's family/betrayal issues, Jilly's big bad secret that she's running away from, annoying distant relatives that require Stephen to "pretend" to pursue her with matrimonial intentions, a community that is about to be screwed over until Jilly steps in to save the day, a coup encounter with Prinny, and an unbelievably convenient reveal that solves all of Jilly's secret problems - with a few misunderstandings and upsets between hero and heroine in between.
Jilly's big bad secret is revealed on p22 so I don't feel like I'm ruining anything when I tell you what it is - if you don't want to know, skip this paragraph. Turns out she is married to her distant relative, Hector, who is a cruel and horrible man and a thief to boot. She's run away but is still married to him, yet does all this dallying with Stephen (always saying 'oh no, i can't' and then giving in about 3 lines later). And, conveniences of conveniences, she is still a virgin because Hector couldn't perform, so Stephen gets to do the deed.
This rating is so low that I was questioning myself as I wrote this review. I had originally decided not to write anything, because I didn't really have anything positive to say. I will tell you that I have been reading historical romances for ten years now, so I have read almost all the HRs already published that I am going to want to read. This leaves me to reread my favorites and wait for these new release days. The buildup is therefore great and my expectations are high - had I read this book five years ago, I might have given it 2 or 3 stars. But I didn't read it then, I read it now.
I really am sorry I so disliked the book - believe me, I would *MUCH* rather have had a new one to add to my HR favorites and rereads shelf - but this is my honest opinion. Kramer is very nice: she had a contest on her Facebook Page to name the fourth heroine in the series and commented back to me about my suggestions, which I thought was lovely. I also love her titles - makes for a nice change when you have a title you can say to a bookstore staff member without blushing. But sadly the book was a chore to read and one I wouldn't recommend.
THE IMPOSSIBLE BACHELORS:
Book 1 - When Harry Met Molly (3.5 stars)
Book 2 - Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right (didn't read)
Book 3 - Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage
Book 4 - If You Give A Girl A Viscount (coming out Nov 1, 2011)
With six new romance books having come out yesterday, I went out in the morning and bought the three I thought I would like the best and was so excited to get started ... Ms. Kramer's was the first one I read and I was unbelievably disappointed. Stopped at p22 yesterday and then decided to pick it up and quickly finish it today so I could PBSwap it. I honestly could barely finish the book and had to skim through parts, which is something I rarely, rarely ever do.
The characters - supporting and main - seemed more like caricatures of themselves than anything approaching three-dimensional people. Everything - their gestures, words, actions, feelings - seem exaggerated and the book ends up reading like a parody. This was especially true for the secondary characters, with Otis in particular driving me *absolutely* crazy.
I didn't find Jilly and Stephen at all engaging, but rather flat. Within the first two pages we're told by the heroine how unbelievably handsome and desirable the hero is - though she will of course resist, unlike every other female in the galaxy, because she's made of sterner stuff - and within the first six pages the hero has the hots for the heroine and has decided to pursue her. Surprise, surprise, Jilly doesn't resist very well and by p20 is wanting to "eat him up" because he's so delicious looking. Way to stand your ground Jilly! Despite the numerous mentions of the other's hotness and physical attraction, the chemistry between the two of them is negligible and the romance scenes are lackluster.
Some standard HR-type components are thrown in: Stephen's family/betrayal issues, Jilly's big bad secret that she's running away from, annoying distant relatives that require Stephen to "pretend" to pursue her with matrimonial intentions, a community that is about to be screwed over until Jilly steps in to save the day, a coup encounter with Prinny, and an unbelievably convenient reveal that solves all of Jilly's secret problems - with a few misunderstandings and upsets between hero and heroine in between.
Jilly's big bad secret is revealed on p22 so I don't feel like I'm ruining anything when I tell you what it is - if you don't want to know, skip this paragraph. Turns out she is married to her distant relative, Hector, who is a cruel and horrible man and a thief to boot. She's run away but is still married to him, yet does all this dallying with Stephen (always saying 'oh no, i can't' and then giving in about 3 lines later). And, conveniences of conveniences, she is still a virgin because Hector couldn't perform, so Stephen gets to do the deed.
This rating is so low that I was questioning myself as I wrote this review. I had originally decided not to write anything, because I didn't really have anything positive to say. I will tell you that I have been reading historical romances for ten years now, so I have read almost all the HRs already published that I am going to want to read. This leaves me to reread my favorites and wait for these new release days. The buildup is therefore great and my expectations are high - had I read this book five years ago, I might have given it 2 or 3 stars. But I didn't read it then, I read it now.
I really am sorry I so disliked the book - believe me, I would *MUCH* rather have had a new one to add to my HR favorites and rereads shelf - but this is my honest opinion. Kramer is very nice: she had a contest on her Facebook Page to name the fourth heroine in the series and commented back to me about my suggestions, which I thought was lovely. I also love her titles - makes for a nice change when you have a title you can say to a bookstore staff member without blushing. But sadly the book was a chore to read and one I wouldn't recommend.
THE IMPOSSIBLE BACHELORS:
Book 1 - When Harry Met Molly (3.5 stars)
Book 2 - Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right (didn't read)
Book 3 - Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage
Book 4 - If You Give A Girl A Viscount (coming out Nov 1, 2011)
Melanie A Wardlow (Mel) -
I love the characters in this book. Kieran Kramer keeps my interest from the first page. Her characters are funny and almost real.
Rachel A. (ra7) reviewed Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (Impossible Bachelors, Bk 3) on + 1010 more book reviews
Enjoyable cast of secondary characters. BIG secret is revealed very early (someone is already married!). This did drag a bit in the beginning. I didn't like Stephen at first, but by the end of the book I did. Nice resolution.
gabyd reviewed Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (Impossible Bachelors, Bk 3) on + 10 more book reviews
Even though I'm in the minority here, I really enjoyed reading "Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage." Having never read the author or the Impossible Bachelors series, this story reminded me of a cross between Celeste Bradley and Jane Feather (though not as heavy in content).
Yes the pace of the book is somewhat quiet and slow, and the ending *does* resolve itself rather neatly. But the story - despite Jilly's big "secret" and the underlying sinister tone - was sweet, lighthearted, and left me with a happy, positive feeling when I finished the book. Stephen and Jilly were a very strong hero and heroine, and the cast of secondary characters enriched the story that much more (yes, even icky Hector).
If you're on the fence about this story, give it a try. If you already read it and did NOT like it, maybe you might try a second read down the road...?
Yes the pace of the book is somewhat quiet and slow, and the ending *does* resolve itself rather neatly. But the story - despite Jilly's big "secret" and the underlying sinister tone - was sweet, lighthearted, and left me with a happy, positive feeling when I finished the book. Stephen and Jilly were a very strong hero and heroine, and the cast of secondary characters enriched the story that much more (yes, even icky Hector).
If you're on the fence about this story, give it a try. If you already read it and did NOT like it, maybe you might try a second read down the road...?
booKee reviewed Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (Impossible Bachelors, Bk 3) on + 98 more book reviews
My least liked of the series so far. The first was the best, next was okay, this one I only got so far as the third chapter when I gave up and jumped to the ending. Oh well, I hope book 4 redeems the author as that one's on my wish list.
