[book-info]
I was a little surprised that I enjoyed When the Marquess Falls because the whole Hellions of Havisham series wasn’t up to par with the other series that Lorraine Heath has written. In fact, I hated The Earl Takes All because the heroine COULD NOT tell the difference between her husband and his twin who was masquerading as HIM! HONESTLY!
When the Marquess Falls is George, the Mad Marques’ HEA or rather, sad HEA. If you read The Viscount and the Vixen, you would know what I mean. WtMF is about the hellions’ guardian the Marquess of Marsden who lost his wife Linnie to childbirth. This is NOT a spoiler by the way because it is stated in all 3 books of the series. So yes, WtMF is a prequel and really shows us how the Marquess of Marsden fell, married, and lost the love of his life.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed it. I think because I read The Viscount and the Vixen and was very intrigued by the old Marquess? He does have an interesting life and I think he just drowned himself in his sorrow and basically had alcohol-induced hallucinations. Also, I am such a fan of the friends to lovers and romance between classes tropes, so I am really biased!
As much as I enjoyed the plot, I wasn’t a fan of the writing. Heath’s writing feels off somehow than her usual and felt too…I don’t know, child like? I don’t know how to describe it precisely, only that it was different than her usual writing.
The end was a little too dramatic though and the animated movie Anastasia dancing sequence when she sang Once Upon a December flashed through my mind when I read the last scene. And also the last scene in [spoiler]Somewhere in Time, where Elise McKenna finally reunited with Richard in the clouds.[/spoiler] Like I said, too dramatic for me.
I enjoyed When the Marquess Falls despite the faults. However, if you haven’t read the other books in the series, or at least read The Viscount and the Vixen, you wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I did.
[rating-report]
What do you think about sad endings in romance? Frankly, I have mixed feelings about it because I read romance to get away. So yeah, a romance that ends with one (or BOTH) main characters dead is just a fail for me. Gah, I hate you City of Angels!
oh I am sorry to hear that this book wasn’t as good as you were hoping for. I have heard some good things about it. I love this author though, but I will say that this series has felt a bit off in her writing, but she is one of those authors I will always read no matter what.
Lover Of Romance recently posted…Book Review-Into The Fire by Jeaniene Frost
YES she is one of my favorites, too! And I have read other series from here. Sure, there are a few books that I didn’t really like, but I will still read her! 🙂
I like to be able to think of the hero and heroine living many happy years together before dying of (very) old age. So I think I’d have a problem with a book where I know going in that one of them doesn’t survive, even if the actual death isn’t in the book. I haven’t read Lorraine Heath yet, but thank you for the warning. I’ll start with some other series, when I do.
Yeah, this is not the book you would start if you haven’t read Lorraine Heath. One of the reasons I enjoyed this books is because I read the previous book of this series, which was about the son, so this novella explained a lot to me 🙂
I’ve kind of stayed away from anything Heath after seeing the atrocity that was The Earl Takes All. I didn’t read that book, but just the idea of the book made me sick. And that is why I will *never* read romance books that have twins… nope! YA books too. Also, I’ve never met a set of twins that looked that much alike! I’ve met a lot of twins, too. o_o
Anyway! Yeah I probably would never pick up this book, based on the dramatic ending alone. Nooooo thank you, I hate drama!
I’m glad you enjoyed the book to a degree! Have a fantastic week, Zeee. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Alyssa Susanna (The Eater of Books!) recently posted…Review: Duels and Deception by Cindy Anstey
Ahhh Alyssa! I HATES The Earl Takes All!! GAAAAHHHH my beef with it was the heroine LOVED her husband and yet she couldn’t tell her husband and her twin at all?! Ugh!!
I have read books with twins that actually worked because the heroine didn’t have any feelings with the evil twin (he was evil) and there was also a Lisa Kleypas book where her husband (who abused her) was gone for 5 years and someone else replaced him who looked like him… but she handled it really well!