I think this story was just alright. It lacks the magic and force of the main characters in other books but the writing is still good. I think the love-hate relationship between Venetia and Christian wasn't convincing. This is mainly because of Christian, who decides that since Venetia is the most beautiful woman in the world then she must be evil. As a result of this forced antagonism, their romance isn't quite convincing since the believability was already compromised. Anyways, their paths crossed when Christian made some venomous comments about Venetia in a public lecture. Although she wasn't named outright, enough details are revealed to link the description to her. Unbeknownst to him, Venetia was present during his lecture. It brought up bad memories and she decided she would get even by making him fall in love with her and making him suffer when she leaves. She does that just that but as a result, she too was smitten. They go back to England and Christian is hopeful for his reunion with the baroness. Venetia is apprehensive about it and is tempted to show up. She knows she can't because Christian thought Venetia was an empty-headed beauty. When scandal was about to erupt around Venetia, they worked together briefly to dispel it. He made no qualms about telling her what he thought of her though. When the day of the reunion came and the baroness did not show up, Christian investigated and found her true identity. Meanwhile, Venetia discovered she was pregnant. He disliked the idea of marrying her but did so anyways for the baby. He remarked that he would divorce her after the baby was born. They get married. She confides in him the story of her husband. He goes to London. He faces the gossip. She deflects them from him and makes herself the target. The gossips show a side of humanity and agree to keep their story a secret at the expense of their reputation. I think the ending was rushed. After dealing with Christian's hate against Venetia, it was brushed off so quickly. It wasn't satisfactory since Venetia got really shafted. At the end of the day, I didn't really believe Christian loving her because his actions said otherwise. Venetia let it go but she deserved far better because his actions were inexcusable.The downfall of this book I think is Christian's venom against her. He says he loves her but at the first instance, he jumps at any reason to damn her character. I don't think it is love because he was quick to condemn his love for her once he discovered her true identity. His love was well and good for the baroness but not for Venetia. He also had the gall to feel victimized at her deception without even examining why she would do such a thing. I was not a fan of Christian at all. His obsession was fine with me but it was his venom against her that was off-putting. He summed up the entirety of her character without even knowing her and I just couldn't sympathize with that character. Normally I would roll my eyes when heroines are written in as overtly beautiful creatures. I didn't mind it with Venetia. She had some character at least but I think it was still pretty bland. So, this is an alright book but missing crucial elements to make it an amazing one. I wrote an actual detailed review of this, then my computer crashed and I lost it. So, in short, the reason I picked this one up is because I read the summary about the hero and heroine falling in love on a transatlantic voyage. I've always romanticized the old ocean liners, so I had to read this one. It was a decent book in general, but the hero is rather obsessive over women, and the heroine likes to turn on her "bitch face" when not necessary. The ending killed it for me, though - who ever heard of society gossips with a conscience? Paleontology abounds throughout this book, though, and I'd have to agree with the heroine that fossils would go a long way towards making me interested in someone!
What do You think about Beauté Fatale (2013)?
The book Beguiling the Beauty is a funny and very good good i love it
—akki_ua
