The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

"Actual: 2.5 stars<br/><br/>Let me start off by saying that I don't honestly think that Julia Quinn writes angst very well. Her repertoire is in the lighter, banter-filled romps, a la Jane Austen with a bit of spice mixed in at the end for good measure. <br/><br/>Miranda as a character was a doormat, plain and simple. I also didn't really care for Turner, not even at the beginning of the story when Miranda feels seen for the first time by him. He got more insufferable as the story went on, especially when he would randomly threaten his sister Olivia with physical violence for not releasing information to him when he wanted. Turner's central dilemma or conflict about his recently deceased wife, who cuckolded him on numerous occasions felt like a missed opportunity to explore more than surface level contempt and hatred of her, even after her unexpected passing. Also more importantly than that, he doesn't have a come to jesus moment until 10 pages to the end. I cannot describe to you how frustrating as a reader of romance that is to me! And after Miranda almost bleeds out from childbirth no less, ugh!!! <br/><br/>One last quibble of mine was about the title; I thought it (the secret diary of Miranda's) was going to play more of a role in the central storyline or at the very least feature a bit more than it ended up doing. However, it was only really used as a way for Miranda to document her day and vent her issues with the people around her. I wish it was secretly discovered by either Olivia or Turner and then a big pronouncement of love was made by them and it resolved from there, but like I said Miranda had to end up almost dying in childbirth for that to take place! <br/><br/>With all that being said, I am for sure picking up the next book in the series, which follows Miranda's best friend and Turner's little sister Olivia, who was a bright spot in this book for me."

"I feel like had I read this book prior to reading the Bridgeton series I would have liked it more. I loved Miranda's character and I wanted her happy because my goodness her whole life just seemed to be full of her being invisible. I wanted to love the book because of her but it fell kinda flat for me."