Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Julia reviews I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long

Title/Author:I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long
Publisher/Year Published:
How I got this book: I bought the eBook
Why I read this book: I am making my way through the Pennyroyal Green series
Rating: 2 stars

Note: I have reviewed the three first books in the series on my blog(The Perils of Pleasure, Like No Other Lover, and Since the Surrender) if you are curious.

*sigh* I wanted to love this one. I wanted to love it despite this horrid cover. I wanted to love it because it was about chasing pirates,family drama and betrayal.

But I couldn't do it. I fooled myself for, oh, half the book before I couldn't hide my head in the sand anymore.
Violet Redmond's family and fortune might be formidable and her beauty and wit matchless—but her infamous flare for mischief keeps all but the most lionhearted suitors at bay. Only Violet knows what will assuage her restlessness: a man who doesn't bore her to tears, and a clue to the fate of her missing brother. She never dreamed she'd find both with a man whose own pedigree is far from impeccable.


"Savage" is what the women of the ton whisper about the newly styled Earl of Ardmay—albeit with shivers of pleasure. Born an English bastard, raised on the high seas, he's on a mission to capture a notorious pirate for vengeance. But while Violet's belief in her brother's innocence maddens him, her courage awes him . . . and her sensuality finally undoes him. Now the man who once lost everything and the girl who has everything to lose are bound by a passion that could either end in betrayal . . . or become everything they ever dreamed.
The Story:
I guess should start off with something good. The plot was unique. Violet jumps on a ship on a whim to chase after the man who is chasing a notorious pirate captain who could be her missing brother. Okay, when I put it like that it sounds ridiculous, and it is. But it is the ridiculous in a good way sort of thing. If I take my dislike for how the characters were handled (hard to do) and just look at how the plot was executed it would be pretty good. It's only pretty good because there were some sloppy parts, and too much of the plot was hurt by weak characters.

The Characters:
Oh hey, look! It's a MarySue! She does foolish things and gets rewarded (figuratively) for them. Like running into a hurricane! She does everything perfectly though she has never done it before. Seriously, this happens at LEAST twice that stand out in my memory. The first is she throws her FIRST dart, BLINDFOLDED at a map and succeeds in not only hitting the map (which would be believable) but hitting 'Lacao'. I don't know much about Lacao other than a quick Google search tells me it's an island in Chile. I don't care if it is the size of Canada, the odds of someone new at darts hitting it with their eyes closed is slim.

So after that tangent... she's too perfect. I feel like she learned nothing, grew little to none and most importantly frustrates the hell out of me. She didn't start out this way. I didn't mind her in the beginning, but I must not have known better. And her perfectness messes with the plot because she is like the embodiment of a deus ex machina.

Flint, the hero, is one note, and I actually know very little about him despite reading his book. Big surprise. But I could have dealt with him. My rage is all for Violet.

The Romance:
The romance was bland for me, most likely because I hated Violet so much. It was still strange at times. Man, I just keep thinking on how many hopes I had for this and how sad that almost none of them were met. To be quite honest, I wanted to find more out about the plot so I flipped through the love scenes. Meh.

The Execution:
As we can see, it just didn't work for me. I read a decent plot and I want to remember it for what it could have been, which simultaneously makes me frustrated and sad. I did like how it set up for Lyon's book, which to my chagrin is not published yet. I want to read about him. I hope I am not putting myself into the same position by hoping too much.

The Overview:
Overall, it was not my favorite. It's the opposite of book three in the series. I liked those characters well enough, but the plot was boring. This one had an interesting plot but characters that made me wanted to take up shooting.

So I'll reiterate the *sigh* and hope for the best with the next book.

5 comments:

  1. Lol. I have to say that pure romance books aren't really my thing, but I had to drop by and tell you that I now have a Katy Perry song stuck in my head. You know which one. It rhymes with this title! Haha. Too bad it wasn't what you wanted it to be, but at least you gave it a shot, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha. Yes, I do! Every time I see this title, I start to hum it. Obviously a good (and horrendously evil) marketing ploy!

      Delete
  2. This isn't my usual type of genre, but I have been wanting to expand into it lately. It looks like this wouldn't be a good starting point! Haha. :) Thanks for your honest review! I hope your next rad is more enjoyable.

    New to your blog! :)
    Steph @ Stepping Out of the Page

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually enjoyed the first on in this series, The Perils of Pleasure, but if you want to dip into historical romance, I would go with The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. I think it is my standard go-to rec. :) Let me know if you need help diving in... or maybe not diving but putting a toe in :)

      Delete
  3. I always feel sad when a historical romance falls short of expectations. And, like you pointed out, this one sounds SO good too!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails