The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown Book

It has come to the attention of This Author that a Certain Writer who calls herself "Daniella" (a somewhat outlandish nom de plume, is it not?) has published a rather disconcerting column about several figures of the ton. Some of them, Gentle Reader, you may already be familiar with, seeing as they have been gracing This Author's Society Papers as of late.

It would seem that the newly wed Lady Anne Trent, wife to the Marquis of Halfurst, received the greatest amount of censure and was called names that This Author is not inclined to disclose. It is being said, therefore, that the Marquis, the ever dutiful husband, is threatening to bring this issue to the House of Lords...

LADY WHISTLEDOWN'S SOCIETY PAPERS, 9 NOVEMBER
Being a fan of Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch and Karen Hawkins, I expected a lot from this anthology. And while the novellas were well-written and overflowed with the writers' signature wit and humour, some of them sorely lacked in terms of characterisation and plot execution. In fact, this came perilously close to getting a 1 star had it not been for the parts written by Karen Hawkins and Julia Quinn, which I liked. The others, though, I hated. And this is why I settled with a compromise: 2 stars.

ONE TRUE LOVE (SUZANNE ENOCH): DNF@75%
Oh, boy. I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed I am with this one. I was really tempted to DNF this at the middle, but I tried so very hard to like the heroine to no avail.

Lady Anne Bishop was BEYOND FRUSTRATING. She's a spoiled, manipulative and snobbish little bitch. Okay, I get it, she's young, and having a man order you to marry him and leave everything you have to go live in the countryside sucks. I can also understand her initial aversion to Maximilian's lack of fashion sense. OKAY. I GET THAT.

But you know what I don't get?
I don't get why she had to flirt with other men and play with their affections.
Why she had to complain about every single fucking thing.
Why she continued to refuse Maximilian's suit even after having mind-blowing sex with him. (Girl, don't you understand that you're fucking ruined? That you could even be pregnant????????)


I stopped trying to read this when Anne refused to see reason and marry Maximilian even after she gave him her virginity. Too much stupidity, please. I don't want to deal with that bullshit.

TWO HEARTS (KAREN HAWKINS): 3.5 STARS
This. This is what I was expecting when I started this anthology'a story that actually made me feel connected with the characters. I really loved it, but I do admit that it has a few flaws. For example, the change in the POV between Royce and Liza felt rather random and confusing. The lack of a proper epilogue was another letdown. In terms of the characters, Royce was deliciously cute, but may come off as needy and immature for some. And while I personally liked Liza for her independent personality, I understand why some may see her indecisiveness as annoying. But I guess the main issue I have with the story was that I didn't like how poor Mr. Durham was treated. I felt really bad for him, especially since he had honourable intentions towards Liza. I don't think he deserved being looked down upon by Royce and the others even if he was just a cow farmer.

Anyway, despite all the issues I raised, I still really enjoyed reading this. Two Hearts made me want to do a happy dance, especially after rage quitting the previous novella.


A DOZEN KISSES (MIA RYAN): DNF@50%
Boring. Flat. Uninspiring. These are the words that came to my mind when I thought about Mia Ryan's novella. And it didn't help that some of the scenes were not very logical. The opening one, for instance, made my eyes roll so hard that I was scared they'd be stuck at the back of my head. So the heroine's crying one minute and then goes "Oh-shit-hottie-alert" the next. What?


THIRTY SIX VALENTINES (JULIA QUINN): 2.5 STARS
Five thoughts on this:
1. What is it with hyphens and Julia Quinn? I love her, but "Smythe-Smith", "Mann-Formsby"? I'm just really curious.

2. It bothered the feck out of me that David never had a clean break with his mistress, Anne Miniver. Technically, his liaison with her was still ongoing until the end even though it was implied that he hadn't been to her place for a while. But still. I think Anne deserved to be notified about what was happening. Poor girl.

3. While penned beautifully, this story did not convince me of the romance between Susannah and David. The romance felt forced, and while there was a decent build-up (at least for novella standards) I still couldn't see how they fell for each other. I didn't feel the sincerity, the intensity when they finally realised their feelings. Everything just seemed so fake and scripted.

4. I was not invested in them, at all. I didn't feel any connection with the characters. They felt really one-dimensional.

5. This was a pleasant enough read, but not something I'd gush about.

Overall, this anthology really disappointed me. I can see why people may like this, but yeah, my preferences may just be different I guess. Personally, I won't re-read this one, except for Karen Hawkins' novella.