I generally like Jeffries, but I must admit that this book didn't live up to my expectations. Generally, when I pick up a book by the time I read the first chapter, I am hooked. I can't not finish the book. I am addicted to reading. However, I had to work to finish this book. I found myself skipping pages or skimming whole chapters.
I honestly don't know if the problem was the plot and that it has been done over and over and over again, and that in my opinion nothing much has been done to make this stand out, or if it was that the characters just seemed to be repeating themselves. For example, the first time Simon and Louisa got involved he betrayed her. It was to further his position with the king. Second go round, and once again, Simon is betraying Louisa to get in better with the king. To be honest, another thing that bothered me is it seemed only Louisa's brother could see through Simon. He was the only one that wasn't pushing her to marry him and to forgive him. Simon's sister, who is supposed to be Louisa's best friend never once in my opinion supported her friend. She just kept saying that Simon's changed and he won't betray you again... which was wrong. And further when Simon's sister does find out that Louisa's been betrayed again, she says she'll have a talk with him. I felt that this book made the majority of the women out to be strong on their own, but as soon as it came to Simon they turned to mush.
If you are a huge fan of Jeffries you should probably read the book to keep up with the series, but maybe you should get it from the library. I guess that would be my recommendation for anyone if the book looks interesting. So many people loved the book, so maybe I missed something, but just in case, why not check it out of the library in stead of possibly throwing away money?
