Lucina's Reviews > A Perfect Groom

3.0 stars

I have to admit, that I skipped page 200 to 300 (but read the wedding night scene and the scene where Justin talked about his father) and then read only the last pages. But I think I can judge this novel well enough.

1) The blurb is SO misleading. "Arabella once stole his heart and owns it still"? That sounds like a "secretly in love" story, but I don't believe Arabella stole his heart, because he was 18 at the time and she was 10(!) and punched him in his face so hard he had a bleeding nose/lip afterwards. No, I don't think his heart was involved, he was only irritated why she hated/disliked him so much. So yes, he clearly remembers their last encounter, but not because she stole his heart (most likely his nerves but not his heart).

2) Why are rakes in historicals always not portrayed as rakes? Yes, he had sex with a lot of women (although not as much as everyone thought, of course), drank and gambled, not not too much and it was never really shown, because he was half reformed before the book started. And of course everything was just a show and not how he truly is. I liked him, that was not the problem, but I just don't understand why rakes cannot be rakes. Probably because true rakes will not be miraculously reformed by true love (in most cases). This is the reason why I don't like rakish heroes. Either they aren't shown to be rakes or it's unbelievable that they change so abruptly. And although he had some depth, thinking about his past, I felt like it wasn't enough or not included enough in the story. I wanted to know more about his past and his feelings and wanted his past to be more present. But for a rake he was very honourable and whereas I don't like rakes I liked honourable heroes. :D
BUT why in heavens name was he the "handsomest man in the England or probably the whole world"? I can live with handsome but the handsomest of all? Isn't that a bit too much? Where are the heroes with flaws? He must be so handsome even the sun forgets to shine when he steps into "her" sight. No, no, no. Not every hero in England can be the "handsomest hero" and I don't believe any man can be so handsome every woman swoons at his sight (that doesn't happen, but at least have the women of the ton want to have a taste... )

3) I like bets in historicals, because I like the discussions when the bet is revealed. Although the bet was a problem for Justin in the end he was nearly innocent and I thought it was an unnecessary problem. But Arabella refused to think and listen, not a good combination. At least it was an ending where the heroine had to do a bit of groveling. Only a little bit, because she pushed him away. Poor Justin. Yes, the bet itself was stupid, but he wanted to pay his friend the amount before Arabella and he got emotionally involved, but seemed to have forgotten about and/or secretly hoped that the bet remained a secret. Stupid hope. Nevertheless the ending was really emotional, whereas the rest of the story was not. There is no side story only the development of their love and it just wasn't enough to fill a whole novel. There was no real development, I couldn't see them falling in love and there weren't enough sweet moments. I liked the scene when she was drunk but overall I was missing the sparks flying and believable emotions, especially believable changes in emotions. All I got was cryptic messages like "He felt something change between them but couldn't define what", yes, I was unable to see the changes too!

4) Arabella was likeable was well. She was different than most heroines being tall and having read-hair and although she always had problems with her appearance I never felt like it defined her. Yes, she is unhappy and sometimes self-conscious but not always. What I really liked was what she said about her family, her family loves her very much and she had a happy childhood, but nevertheless sometimes she felt alone, with her parents so absorbed with each other. And because her parents travelled so much she never had a real home and was feeling a little lost. So overall she had some depth but mostly was the unconventional and often to direct beauty.

Conclusion:

I really liked the ending, it was emotional, and the characters were likeable, but I was missing emotions and development in their love story. :(