War hero and Horseman of
the Apocalypse William Tyler de Sayre, Lord Clun, happens upon love
while intending to avoid the catastrophe altogether by arranging a
marriage to someone he’s never met. Meanwhile, Lady Elizabeth Damogan, whose father betrothed her to the baron without so much as a ‘by your leave,’ will be damned if she marries a man she’s never met, much less a man who refuses to consider the possibility of love.
Until she realizes, sometimes it's the hero who needs saving.
Comment: This is the second installment in the Horseman of Apocalypse Regency series by author Miranda Davis. I liked the first book a lot and this month I had the opportunity to read this second story and I jumped in, in hopes of getting a great new story again. Sadly, I wasn't as impressed with this plot and that made me lower my grade, compared to the first one.
In this story we meet Elizabeth, a young woman running from home and her father because she is betrothed to a man she believes to be old and doesn't want to marry him.
She and our hero, Lord Clun, meet by random and he realizes she is his intended but doesn't revel that to her. He claims he won't marry for love because he says he isn't capable of it but as their relationship progresses and their opinions about one another too, can they really not marry? Society, however, has no interest in why, as long as they marry...because saying it so but never actually doing it isn't acceptable...or is it?
The writing style seems to be as interesting and vibrant as it was in the previous book and in that regard, I can't say it was less than good but the truth is that the plot and the main characters weren't as intriguing as the couple in the first book and I admit I had some difficulty to feel sympathy towards them.
The main female character, Elizabeth, in particular, got on my nerves in certain situations because I really can't understand how characters that should behave in a certain way - considering the time and the personality descriptions we are given - in reality act and behave totally different.
Elizabeth is a young woman and I understand her desire to marry for love and with someone closer to her age but her running away to her betrothed estate to think about things or whatever isn't a very mature behavior and ladies in Regency times probably didn't do it.
I'm not saying she should just settle or accept everything but I expected a better notion about her position at her age. She is not a child or a woman just making her debut...
I don't know, maybe I'm being unfair but she never really won me over and I can't understand why the hero would fall madly in love with her.
The hero, a friend of the Duke from book #1, is engaging, I get his ideas and thoughts considering the example his parents gave him in terms of love and marriage so he wants an arrangement and not love to avoid complications but he falls for Elizabeth. I liked him but he wasn't as captivating as a character as the previous hero was. I guess I was expecting brilliance again.
The romance had interesting moments and scenes but in general it was more boring than amazing to me.
Many readers say the first half is amazing because they "discover" the other and the second part needs editing. I actually think the opposite. For me, the first half was boring and very focused on them. I get it but I struggled. The second half was more interesting to em because they finally were interacting with other characters and the banter and dialogues with others allowed me to get to know them more in a way I liked, rather than seeing them do things which wasn't as thrilling.
Not all books can please people the same way and to me this one lacked some brilliant moments or a more captivating couple. At the same time, I wished Elizabeth were more mature. Not saying she wasn't serious when it counted but most of her descriptions made me imagine someone who was clever but preferred not to act it. I know I might be unfair but she just made me wish the book could end quicker.
All in all, a good effort but I hoped more. I'll read the ext one when it's published and I really hope it's so brilliant I can't help but loving it.
Grade: 6/10
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