Helpful Score: 3
Having exhausted the ranks of the Boscastle siblings, Jillian Hunter has moved on to their cousin, Gabriel, and *his* siblings in this second half of her series. Gabriel has evolved into a slightly reformed bad boy who wins a decrepit estate in his old hometown and falls back in love with Alethea, his childhood crush. Alethea, meanwhile, is dealing with a dark secret from her recent past pertaining to her late, unlamented fiance. The two of them spar with and seduce each other, get sort-of engaged, get sort-of unengaged, and then finally manage to work their way back to a happy ending. Basically all the major characters from the former books in the series make an appearance at some point, and we meet the first of Gabriel's missing older brothers - whose own story could be lots of fun.
I didn't like this book quite as much as the first few in the series, as the plot seemed a little weak and most of the character developement apparently happened before the narrative started. Alethea's never-ending agony over her shameful secret started to feel overworked and a few of the plot points and characters felt incidental and probably could've been taken a lot further, but it's by no means an awful story. Here's hoping that Book 8 is a little less generic.
I didn't like this book quite as much as the first few in the series, as the plot seemed a little weak and most of the character developement apparently happened before the narrative started. Alethea's never-ending agony over her shameful secret started to feel overworked and a few of the plot points and characters felt incidental and probably could've been taken a lot further, but it's by no means an awful story. Here's hoping that Book 8 is a little less generic.
