Willy W. reviewed on 2/25/2011 + 503 more book reviews

I almost wish I'd read this book before the other two because I really liked Ethan and Maddy but I was a bit tired of the cursed Scot theme. I thought a lot of the dialogue was regurgitated from the other books - "fierce Highlander" and her calling him Scot. As big a fan I am of Kresley Cole, I didn't love this book as much as I wanted to. The story of the facially scarred hero with a very bad past - a true anti-hero who meets up with a scrappy unlucky former bourgoisie who now lives in the Paris slums - seems like it should be quite compelling. Their attraction was strong and the side characters were interesting. But they spent a lot of the book apart and I think that bogged the story down. I thought that while so much of his personality was driven by the horrific experience when his face was scarred, it was put behind them too early in the story. I think it should have continued to haunt him longer.

I think also by this book the contemporary dialogue in the historical setting is bothering me. I can set it aside for great story but by book three, I felt like we're in contemporary times, not the mid-1800s.

On the whole, this is another good Kresley Cole book. I think Lisa Kleypas does a better job of combining romance, historically accurate dialogue (what do I know, I wasn't alive then, but certainly as most of us come to expect people to talk in those times), and sensuality. However, aside from Kleypas, I think Cole really does this well.

Three stars

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