Tales from the Bargain Bin

Mini-Review: It's usually pretty easy to tell how much I like a book based on how long it takes me to read it. I'm pretty sure I started this one in 2013 and have been slowly forcing myself through it until tonight -- when I felt it finally got somewhat interesting.

The thing is, I can't really say this is a bad book. The writing isn't bad and I thought the plot had a lot of potential (spinster turns town into a retreat for misunderstood women and has to deal with the unexpected invasion of her town by an army officer who needs to form a militia in this female-dominated town). Where it failed in my world was the chemistry. Romance thrives on the instant attraction between hero and heroine and somehow this physical attraction helps overcome the emotional conflict between the characters. Alas, I couldn't see any physical OR emotional attraction in this book, until, perhaps the last few chapters. This meant that I was yawning during the physical AND emotional parts of this book. Not a good sign.

Plus, I really thought that the whole "men must take back the town to prove they are MEN" bits obnoxious. In other words, very little of this story worked for me, which is why I didn't enjoy it until those parts stopped.

I was more interested by the two page scene featuring Minerva and Lord Payne than in the rest of the book (there is a book featuring them, I have discovered, and one chapter in I am much more interested in them than I ever was in Bram and Susannah).

So, anyway, not a book for me.