update: at first I rated this 3 stars but then I saw the current rating was 4.12 which it definitely did NOT deserve so I decided to knock it down to 2 stars.
3 stars for Devil in Winter fans. Very weak as a standalone but who cares?? It has Sebastian and Evie in it!! Since I'm a sucker for them, I, and the other fans, will definitely read any book that features them and boy, how the publisher is fully aware of this. At this point, they're just milking Sebastian and the rest of the Wallflowers characters until the fans have had enough.
For non-Kleypas readers, this book only rates 2 stars, so only read this when you have nothing to do and are just looking for some random books to fill your time. Do not expect much from this book but please don't let this book discourage you from trying out Kleypas' other (much better) books
I think I'm done with Penny Reid. I haven't been able to enjoy all her recent books and I couldn't even finish this one. Either her style changed or I just outgrew her tryingtoohardtobefunnyandsexy style.
DNF. What was I thinking?? The last Winston made me give up Penny Reid but since this book was technically before that one I was hoping this might turn out okay. NOT.
I decided to give this one a try months after this came out, even though SPACE was maddeningly disappointing. Read the first chapter and realized that I didn't remember how the previous one ended (which is why I went back and changed SPACE rating from 2 to 1). I also found out that I was (again) very annoyed with Penny Reid's style. This told me that my decision to give up on her was actually correct the first time.
This book is a mess. Thin plots, cardboard villains, and unlikeable, inconsistent MCs.
I enjoyed other books by this author and I can't believe how this one can be such a disappointment. I wanted to give this 1 star but considering I got this for free I guess it would have been too harsh. I'd be mad as heck, though, if I had paid for this.
NO, BIG NO.
I felt weird right from the beginning with characters appearing in sequences badly written you'd think you're watching a made-for-TV movie. It's as if the author was just pointing out what characters A, B, etc. were doing instead of telling a story.
If this is the way the author writes a suspense, she really should stick to romances.
3,5 stars.
I couldn't decide at first to rate this 3 or 4 stars but after considering I enjoyed the first half, I guess the book deserves 4 stars.
Reading the first half of the book, I was actually surprised I found it enjoyable since I didn't like Zapata's last two books. But then I got to “the big reveal” (which was lame) and then the book turned into the usual formulaic Zapata.
I read this book not knowing it was Christian romance. At first it didn't feel much different from my usual historical romance novels but then nearing the end the prayers suddenly came every several pages (at least it felt that way to me). It was as if the writer felt it was not religious-y enough so decided to crank up the prayers, which felt weird. Or maybe that's just the way these books go. Never read one before this and I don't think I will again.
The editing of this book is a mess. Add to that the messy plot and increasingly inconsistent characters and you will find this book is a disappointment in the series.
I decided to read this because it was the first of a series. Little did I know that it's a spinoff of another series.
Quickly decided to dnf this early on (around 3rd or 4th chapter, I think) because obviously if you haven't read the other series you'd be lost since there were too many siblings mentioned in the beginning. And I know this is fiction but almost all of them are titled or married into titles?? Come on.