For Love Alone [Mass Market Paperback]

The hero, Ives wants revenge, then he forgets about revenge and decides he wants Sophy, then he wants revenge again, then he wants the spy..?? It seems that the author never really managed to get it all together. There are a lot of loose ends throughout the book and too many questions left unanswered..

Overall, I found the plot too thin and too unbelievable. The bit about the spy was obviously forced to add an 'interesting dimension' and had the writer managed to tie all the pieces together, the story would have been excellent..

I did manage to finish the book since it did have its moments and it does get better towards the end, so it's not a total write-off.

I always hate to put down a book before I've given it a chance, but I gave this one several and finally decided to let it go. For one thing, after reading such wits as Julie Garwood and Jo Beverley, I found that the dialogue here was not up to par. Too contrived. Too, shall we say, purple prosey. I tired of the arching brows and saucy comebacks. It seems like the author just added the sparring because it seems expected in a romance. It just didn't ring true.

More importantly, I disliked the characters. The hero in particular; his unimaginative name--Harrington--it sounds like a fifties style coat or a couch you'd want to get rid of, and in fact, he was about as much fun as a moldy couch. Yes, I want a beautiful hero, with angst, and arrogance, but Ives Harrington was a cookie-cutter hero with all the right stuff and nothing out of the ordinary--interesting, that is. Same with the heroine. It seems like the author wanted her to be everything: innocent but worldly, saucy but shy, irritated with Harrington for practically stalking her (I sure was) but all giggley and blushing because he was handsome and interested. Can you say gag me! If you like unimaginative plots and devastatingly beautiful characters that follow your basic romance recipe in an un-interesting sort of boring way, this is the novel for you.

The only reason why I gave it 3 stars was because my attention was unwittingly snagged by the suspense. I yawned through the hero's blustering and the heroine's lovesick sighs and blushing, but was actually quite curious to find out the identity of The Fox, and was making guesses all through the book. Also, it was unimaginative, but well written.

In keeping with my not good, but not too bad theme, I give it three stars. I certainly do not recommend it, but if it were the last book on the planet, I would still read it.