Reviews for A Precious Jewel

The average rating for A Precious Jewel based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-03-14 00:00:00 Marco Hartog I really struggled to get through this one. It did have some redeeming features (hence the two stars and not the one star), but on the whole, it wasn't enjoyable. None of the main characters were remotely sympathetic. In fact, I actually thought they were all quite unpleasant people. The "heroines" were selfish, flirtatious and manipulative. The "heroes" were all apparently rakes, although I didn't see anything much rakish about them, other than having had mistresses, slept around a bit, and wanting to sleep with the "heroines". All the main characters were totally one-dimensional to me and rather trite. For example, of the heroines, you had the Mother-figure, the Flirt, the Schemer and the Innocent one. The heroes all rather melted together for me, into one Tall, Broad Man with Eyebrows. The plot itself is actually quite a fun one, and it could have worked better as a series of novellas, perhaps, or with one less sister, or a bit more diversity of characters and some more plot twists, but the book doesn't make the most of what it could have been. There were a couple of things, which, for me personally, were just total killers. First, all the heroines were drop-dead gorgeous. Yes, I know that some HR readers like to read about heroines who are beautiful, so they can live vicariously through them (although I actually have my doubts about how many that actually is, considering the rave reviews for Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake) . However, considering that most of us are actually quite ordinary-looking, and I know it's quite petty of me to care, but it really annoys me when an author takes a group of sisters/heroines/friends and paints them all as totally beautiful with only different shades of hair color, or eye color or height, to tell them apart. As soon as I realized all of them fit this particular mold, it just turned me off and I started to read faster, not because I was really getting into it, but I wanted to get through it. Another thing that really bothered me was all the constant descriptions of clothing, and even worse, from the heroes' points of view. Sorry, in general, most men would only notice a woman is (a) wearing a dress, (b) whether it's bright, and (c) whether you can see her tits and her butt through it. I know this is a contemporary way of putting it, but I struggle to believe that evolution has changed things that much over the last two centuries. And finally, my biggest gripe, is that I have no idea why each of the heroes, or each of the heroines, fell in love. I mean, the eldest sister, Caroline, is supposed to be the "main" heroine, but you get no understanding of why the hero wants her, and is willing to marry her, other than she's got a killer rack. Loads of woman are generously-endowed, why did he pick this one? Don't know. Don't really care. And this was the case for all of the couples. As a result, I was left feeling rather sad. All the romances seemed predicated on the heroes wanting to have sex with their chosen heroine, and realizing the only way this would happen was through marriage. That doesn't leave me with any confidence of a HEA for any of them, to be honest, beyond procreating the Heir and the Spare. 2 stars, and I'm probably being on the generous side.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-08-12 00:00:00 Sean Hare This is a good book but not an amazing one. One of those that you will find nice to read but you won't remember in two weeks. There are some better books by Stephanie Laurens out there. As usual with Stephanie Laurens, we are dealing with very well outlined and interesting characters. And we're talking about four pairs here! And in a fairly short book! The main pair is Caroline and Max. In my opinion, the least interesting of all couples. Sarah and Darcy as well as Arabella and Hugo are much more remarkable. I would like to see Arabella and Hugo as the main one. Unfortunately, they are definitely on the margins of the whole story. It is a pity. I am not entirely convinced about the motives that guide Max from the very beginning. As soon as he meets Caroline, he decides to seduce her. And without fail implements his plan. For what purpose? To make her his lover? It doesn't really suit the romance hero. This is a bit strange and vague. Anyway, the story is okay, could be better.