Wilde in Love

"2.5 ✨ <br/>Bored out of my mind with this one tbh. I had to start listening to the audiobook to get through it, if that’s a hint of how I was feeling about this one! The only thing interesting about this one was that Willa had a pet baby skunk and Prudence tried to kill her with a pistol (twice), although that bit came out of left field just to add some drama. I’m honestly surprised by how slow this book felt to me, considering that it was insta-love on Alaric’s behalf. I didn’t buy their chemistry for a second; his insta-love was not believable. It was only because Willa/Evie was the only woman at the party who was not instantly attracted or interested in him, which isn’t the greatest basis for a relationship, certainly one that Alaric was picturing. <br/><br/>I’m going to continue reading the series, even though so far it’s just been kind of <i>meh</i> for me. I’m really interested about that cliffhanger at the end of this book, whose baby is it that Diana is hiding from North, is <i>that</i> the reason that she ran away from their engagement?! In this book she seemed so miserable for no reason whatsoever, but maybe that is the reason! Hoping that I like North and Betsy’s books better than the other ones that I’ve tried from this series."

"I will not lie. I had my covid shot right before I started reading this and really didn't feel up to physically reading this one, so I downloaded the audiobook. Please please please physically read this book... Do not listen to the audiobook. It greatly impacted my reading experience because the woman who voiced the audiobook sounds like an action movie trailer. BUT NOT IN AGOOD WAY! At first I was terribly confused by the audiobook and thought oh it will improve, it did not. <br/><br/>Overall I enjoyed the story. There were bits of the story line that made me go "huh", but overall the story was engaging and funny. I think the book was lacking atmosphere and the characters felt like they were missing some... rounding out? They didn't feel real to me( but again I fully admit the audiobook is impacting my review a lot). I enjoyed that the story was focused on the earlier part of Georgian era than most historical romances I've read, but short of the cork rump nod and the reference to the men's clothing style heavily influenced by French courts, there was nothing that really helped make it feel like it was from the 1770s! Honestly I was so bummed out since it's such a fun era to work with. <br/><br/>Outside of those things the tory was fun and humorous. I enjoyed the quippy banter and the machinations."