My Fair Princess by Vanessa Kelly
First in the Improper Princess series
2 stars (DNF)
Gillian Dryden is the illegitimate daughter of a prince and has just finished avenging her stepfather’s death. Vengeance isn’t as sweet as it should be and she and her mother are forced to flee Sicily and come back to London. Charles Penley is tasked with taming Gillian and making her suitable for the ton so that she can find a nice suitor and wed. Of course, they end up absolutely enamored with each and entangled in a game of passion. Only not really. This novel wasn’t about as passionate as stale bread. I’ll be honest I made it chapter 18 before finally calling it quits and skimming to the end. I wasn’t taken with this story at all. This is the first HR I’ve ever DNFed, but I just couldn’t force myself to continue. It wasn’t worth slogging through hours of reading just to get to the obvious and unsatisfying ending. HRs are predictable, but what makes them so much fun is the passion and the swooning. This book lacks all the fun and substance. It takes itself too seriously and I think that the problem lies in the characters’ personalities.
There’s nothing wrong with Kelly’s writing, but the one flaw that I can point out and it’s a big one is character development. These characters are boring. They don’t leap off the page other than in the first couple of chapters. The opening chapters are so strong and I was hoping for a good HR, but they slowly begin to tank when it comes to the same boring back and forth of conforming to the ton vs. being absolutely everything the ton despises. I don’t think this is particularly my type of romance novel anyway. I’ve never read an HR with this trope before and I don’t think it’s for me.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 2.5
The main female character is Gillian. There isn’t really anything wrong with Gillian’s character, but she takes herself so seriously. Everything is so dire and everyone is out to get her and she just can’t fit in, but she doesn’t want to fit in. All these contradictions are constantly brought up in almost every chapter and it quickly becomes tiresome. I want to read about a fun heroine when I come to HRs. I want characters like Beatrice Hathaway who have affinities for animals and there are so many other interesting heroines who completely steal the show that I could list all of them, but we’d be here all day. Gillian just wasn’t any fun. She had a few great one-liners, but I just didn’t think she was the best character to match this type of storyline.
“At this rate, I’ll soon have an entire alphabet of nicknames trailing behind me like a dirty cloak.”
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 2
The main male character is Charles. To be honest, Charles is just as abhorrent as, if not more so, than Gillian. My first impression of him was complete douchecanoe and he does get a little better, but his random obsession with her body and breasts randomly comes into play early on in the novel and instead of being cute, it just feels creepy and perverted. Charles isn’t the worse character, but his uptight personality and his hero complex (he is obsessed with saving the day and protecting Gillian) make this story feel trite and forced. I don’t buy their chemistry at all. In fact, there is none. It doesn’t exist.
Swoon Worthy Scale: 1.75
The Villains- There are a couple of different villains that pose a threat to Gillian, but none of them were really intimidating enough to pose any real threat. I just wasn’t interested.
Villain Scale: 1.25
There is a large cast of characters. I don’t really care for any of them and so many were constantly being introduced to disappear and then come back at odd times. I couldn’t keep them all straight and I didn’t really care enough to do so.
Character Scale: 2
I do feel a little guilty for not reading the whole novel, but I also don’t feel like I missed out or lost anything. Overall, I’m sure this novel be a hit with certain HR fans. I just wasn’t one of them.
Cover Thoughts: I love this cover. It’s so pretty. I want that dress. The tagline doesn’t work here though because there was no desire on any of the pages I read.
Thank you, Netgalley and Zebra, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
First in the Improper Princess series
2 stars (DNF)
Gillian Dryden is the illegitimate daughter of a prince and has just finished avenging her stepfather’s death. Vengeance isn’t as sweet as it should be and she and her mother are forced to flee Sicily and come back to London. Charles Penley is tasked with taming Gillian and making her suitable for the ton so that she can find a nice suitor and wed. Of course, they end up absolutely enamored with each and entangled in a game of passion. Only not really. This novel wasn’t about as passionate as stale bread. I’ll be honest I made it chapter 18 before finally calling it quits and skimming to the end. I wasn’t taken with this story at all. This is the first HR I’ve ever DNFed, but I just couldn’t force myself to continue. It wasn’t worth slogging through hours of reading just to get to the obvious and unsatisfying ending. HRs are predictable, but what makes them so much fun is the passion and the swooning. This book lacks all the fun and substance. It takes itself too seriously and I think that the problem lies in the characters’ personalities.
There’s nothing wrong with Kelly’s writing, but the one flaw that I can point out and it’s a big one is character development. These characters are boring. They don’t leap off the page other than in the first couple of chapters. The opening chapters are so strong and I was hoping for a good HR, but they slowly begin to tank when it comes to the same boring back and forth of conforming to the ton vs. being absolutely everything the ton despises. I don’t think this is particularly my type of romance novel anyway. I’ve never read an HR with this trope before and I don’t think it’s for me.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 2.5
The main female character is Gillian. There isn’t really anything wrong with Gillian’s character, but she takes herself so seriously. Everything is so dire and everyone is out to get her and she just can’t fit in, but she doesn’t want to fit in. All these contradictions are constantly brought up in almost every chapter and it quickly becomes tiresome. I want to read about a fun heroine when I come to HRs. I want characters like Beatrice Hathaway who have affinities for animals and there are so many other interesting heroines who completely steal the show that I could list all of them, but we’d be here all day. Gillian just wasn’t any fun. She had a few great one-liners, but I just didn’t think she was the best character to match this type of storyline.
“At this rate, I’ll soon have an entire alphabet of nicknames trailing behind me like a dirty cloak.”
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 2
The main male character is Charles. To be honest, Charles is just as abhorrent as, if not more so, than Gillian. My first impression of him was complete douchecanoe and he does get a little better, but his random obsession with her body and breasts randomly comes into play early on in the novel and instead of being cute, it just feels creepy and perverted. Charles isn’t the worse character, but his uptight personality and his hero complex (he is obsessed with saving the day and protecting Gillian) make this story feel trite and forced. I don’t buy their chemistry at all. In fact, there is none. It doesn’t exist.
Swoon Worthy Scale: 1.75
The Villains- There are a couple of different villains that pose a threat to Gillian, but none of them were really intimidating enough to pose any real threat. I just wasn’t interested.
Villain Scale: 1.25
There is a large cast of characters. I don’t really care for any of them and so many were constantly being introduced to disappear and then come back at odd times. I couldn’t keep them all straight and I didn’t really care enough to do so.
Character Scale: 2
I do feel a little guilty for not reading the whole novel, but I also don’t feel like I missed out or lost anything. Overall, I’m sure this novel be a hit with certain HR fans. I just wasn’t one of them.
Cover Thoughts: I love this cover. It’s so pretty. I want that dress. The tagline doesn’t work here though because there was no desire on any of the pages I read.
Thank you, Netgalley and Zebra, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
What are some of your least favorite romance tropes? Have you read this novel? Do you plan to? What are some of the best HRs that you've read? I'd love some recs! Let me know down below in the comments!
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