In my effort to understand the romance genre, it was time once again to pick up another romance novel.For science. You monster.The result is a book that Iiked more then I thought I would, But something that just fall short of being a story I'll remember.The story is about Ophelia Reid, who is the most beautiful girl in London (I bet you've never heard that before) but she is very rude and bitter and has a very short temper. After breaking off her engagement for reasons unknown she heads back to london only to realize that her cab was being driven by one of her many enemies Raphel Locke. Raphel thinks that Ophelia could change and so he plans to take her to a small cottage in the woods and won't let her leave until she works though her problems. Hilarity and romance ensures (It's not a spoiler because we all know that there gonna fall in love)The first half of this book is great! I started this book hating Ophelia and wondering how they were going to get me to feel anything for her. But not only is she snarky, funny and smart but she has some very good reasons for acting the way she does. And you quickly learn that her anger and rumors aren't quite as black and white as they appear.Raphel is also great, he doesn't take Ophelia's crap and is as snarky as she is. It's funny watch them go back and forth trying to get the best of each other. But his motives and intentions are pure and he really is trying to help for the most part.And there relationship is cute, it pretty much plays out how you would expect. They hate each other at first but slowly learn more and like each other more and more while still maintaning the conflict in a beliveable way. Nothing groundbreaking but that doesn't make it bad. Especially when it's done well.The supporting characters are okay. they have good personalities but they don't have enough time to truly develop. It's mainly just about Ophelia and Raphel.Overall though the first, eh, two hundred pages were pretty good, I'm not a romance guy and I would have easily given it four stars, I felt it was that good.And then the second half started. And the book started to crash and burn.First off remember earlier when I said I enjoyed there relationship, they bickered but they also liked each other. It was nicely balanced.Yeah, that's gone.All the conflict just disappears halfway through. And they go full on googly eyes for each other. The next fifty pages basically consist of "Even though I just kissed you and want to sleep with you, I won't marry or even date you" The story just goes on because the author said so.But then the author finds a way to add conflict back. In the most stupid and cliched way possible. The Liar revealed (Thanks NC for the name by the way)Anyone that's ever seen a pixar movie or a hallmark movie knows what this is. Where the character does something stupid early on and then everybody finds out his big secret. And the hero gets all mopey because "now he knows better" and he has to prove that "he doesn't act that way anymore" and blah, blah, blah.It's the easiest way to add conflict and the most boring. You know the instant that he does the stupid thing that it's gonna come back and bite him. And you know that he's going to apologies and say that isn't what he meant. It's only purpose is to keep the story going.But one stupid cliche is not enough. Oh no. Because this leads to the other character doing something stupid and without thinking. This leads to another hundred pages of "Oh I can't belive they did that too me" "Why did I say that I didn't mean that" "I won't talk to you after you did that to me" And all you thinking is "IF THE TWO OF YOU TALKED FOR JUST LIKE FIVE SECONDS THE BOOK WOULD BE OVER"Yes I know this is a common thing in romances. No that doesn't make it okay. Up until now they had avoided that. And the book in no way needed this. If it had just ended after the 200 pages mark. Almost no one would have noticed.But no instead we get a Deus ex machina ending. An ending that just comes out of nowhere So Ophelia's friend comes and apoligizes out of nowhere. Almost runs into a car and Ophelia pushes her out of the way and gets hit by the car instead.It happens about as fast as I just said it.Now to be fair after she does get hit by the car, the drama and character developement works and feels real. It was a decent way to end it.But all that character developement comes out of nowhere. And while yes, in moments of great peril people do say things or realize things that they otherwise would not have known. You just have easily have had that developement from the charcters, you know, TALKING! So overall, I would recommend this just for the first half. It's a great romance with intresting characters and a nice paced plot. The second half slows down considerably and on it's own would not be worth it. So 3 stars seems like the perfect place for it.And what did I learn about the romance genre? Uhhhhhhhhhhh, I'll get back to you.
So, here's my theory: If you're going to do a Taming of the Shrew or My Fair Lady type story and don't want to come off really sexist (and/or classist)...you need to have the mentor (INTERESTINGLY, ALWAYS MALE) to start off cocky and holier-than-thou but later break down, admit his faults, and learn something. Otherwise, he's just a "perfect" asshole bossing around a lady and nobody wins.So this book fails. Try again, Johanna Lindsey.PS - Examples worth emulating: Pygmalion (in which asshole mentor doesn't learn, but it doesn't matter because he's not the romantic lead) and maybe Selfie (John Cho's Henry learns to let loose). Selfie is arguable because it's probably an MPDG fantasy. But I can't help rooting for it because John Cho is hot as fuck. I think there's some argument that Taming of the Shrew has some sort of equality going on (Germaine Greer makes this claim in either The Female Eunuch or The Whole Woman) but I don't know the text well enough to comment. My impression is: not so much.PPS - I get that this kind of story is a potent male fantasy (to some) but why the ever-loving Christ is this appealing to some straight women?! I know nothing about psychology, obviously. Does it tap into some sort of response to rewards? Is it love, gamified, for those with low self-esteem? (If so, it was pretty ineffective on this reader with medium to low self-esteem. Like, I am 100% convinced that I could be a better and kinder human, but I am 200% convinced that being "fixed" by a smug asshole would not improve me or him.)PPPS - As a medium-attractive person, I have a hard time identifying with, empathizing with, or feeling sorry for a misunderstood super-beautiful rich lady. USE YOUR PRIVILEGE FOR GOOD, OPHELIA!
What do You think about The Devil Who Tamed Her (2007)?
At first I didn't know if I would like this story or not but I stayed with it, do glad I did because I thought it was a good read. It starts out with a young lady who is rich and spoiled who has to find a husband at one of the coming out balls before seasons end, if not her father will find one for her. She doesn't have a problem getting proposals because she is amazingly beautiful... Some gents even ask her to marry without knowing her based on looks only. She does except a proposal and on the wedding day backs out which infuriates her dad. While she is leaving to go back home to London , unbeknownst to her a Duke takes over her carriage and drives her and her maid to his fathers hideaway cabin. He made a bet with her ex fiancé that he could change her, make her into a new woman. She also has a bad habit of spreading rumors around about people and Lieing. She put up all these walls and made it hard for people to love her and want to be her friend. All she wanted was to be loved for the person she was on the inside not for people to fall for her based on her beauty. She could care less how beautiful she was, she didn't want to be a mans arm candy. She wanted to be loved by more than that.Will he be able to change her? Will they fall in love or will she have to settle for someone her father chooses to be her husband? Will she find out about the bet?I read some of the reviews before I read this story and almost judged the story by those reviews without even reading it. So many negative reviews and I'm not sure why, so from now on I'm not reading reviews until after I give the story a chance first. This was a sweet romance one that I truly enjoyed.
—Tammy
Pertama kali baca tahun 2009 saat sedang gila-gilanya mengkoleksi buku-buku Johanna Lindsey. Pastinya bukan buku terbaik dari JL, tapi tetap suka.Ophelia Reid adalah gadis tercantik di London, yang saking cantiknya membuat orang-orang tidak pernah berusaha mengenal siapa dia sebenarnya dan hanya terkesan pada penampilan luarnya saja. Semua pria ingin memperistrinya dan semua wanita ingin menjadi 'temannya' agar bisa ikut mendapat perhatian meski dibalik itu mereka berharap Ophelia segera menikah agar mereka bisa dapat kesempatan menarik perhatian pria-pria yang saat ini terpaku pada kecantikan Ophelia.Ophelia yang merasa kecantikannya sebagai kutukan, merasa lelah dengan teman-teman yang dirasanya tidak tulus, ayah yang selalu mencarikannya calon suami bertitel tanpa pernah menanyakan perasaannya dan pria-pria yang tidak pernah berusaha mengenalnya kemudian dikenal sebagai gadis cantik yang licik, penyebar gosip dan jahat. Meski sebenarnya Ophelia hanya menginginkan orang-orang tulus yang ingin dekat dengannya bukan karna wajahnya.Datanglah Raphael Locke, yang karena taruhannya dengan mantan tunangan Ophelia, Duncan MacTavish, tertantang untuk merubah sifat Ophelia. Dibawalah Ophelia ke kastil miliknya yang terpencil diperbatasan Skotlandia agar ia tidak bisa melarikan diri. Selama disana justru Raphael yang jadi melihat diri Ophelia yang sebenarnya.
—Nova
Bintang 4Reid Family #2.Seperti buku pertama, buku kedua ini masih mengangkat tema "perasaan bisa berubah". Tak kenal maka tak sayang, dan tak sayag maka tak cinta. Itulah yg dirasakan oleh dua tokoh utama buku kali ini yg sebenarnya saling membenci pada awalnya. Tapi... setelah melihat sisi melankolis Ophelia yg telah disudutkan Mavis, sahabat Ophelia sendiri, Rafe berniat membantu Ophelia dengan cara membuat perubahan pada diri Ophelia. Tapi keyakinan itu disepelekan Duncan Mac Tavish, mantan tunangan Ophelia yg pernah menjadi objek keburukan sifat Ophelia sehingga menciptakan taruhan diantara keduanya.Ophelia Reid, sosok yg patut mendapat simpati. Bagi Ophelia, sifat sombong dan temperamental dan lidah tajamnya merupakan wujud dari perlindungan diri terhadap orang orang disekitarnya yg tak tulus. Semua hanya karena ayahnya yg menganggap dirinya sebagai sosok yg dibanggakan dan membawa kejayaan bila Ophelia dapat menikahi pria yg bergelar tinggi. Meninggalkan rumah mantan tunangan dengan perasaan terpukul, Ophelia menyadari kalau dirinya "diculik" Rafael Locke dan dibawa ke rumah milik Rafael dipedalaman Northumberland yg sepi. Disana Ophelia "dibedah" oleh Rafe mengenai kesalahan kesalahannya terhadap Mavis dan dua temannya Sabrina dan Duncan dengan tujuan mengubah perangai buruk Ophelia. Dan Rafe dibuat terkejut kalau ternyata semua tindakan Ophelia memiliki alasan tertentu dimata Ophelia yg membuat Rafe berpikir ulang mengenai kepribadian Ophelia.Kebersamaan Ophelia dan Rafe di Northumberland itu membawa kedekatan lain yg membuat keduaya dapat menerima kebersamaan satu sama lain ketika Rafe (menurut Rafe) berhasil mengubah karakter Ophelia. Dan ketika mereka kembali ke London, Ophelia, Rafe, dan orang orang disekitar Opheli merasakan perubahan pada diri Ophelia.Tapi rahasia taruhan antara Rafe dan Duncan terbongkar. Dan Ophelia dibuat sakit hati pada Rafe yg tak tulus membantunya berubah. Ophelia kembali memasang cakarnya terutama sekali terhadap Rafe. Sejalan dengan itu, rumor tentang pertunangan dan ciuman rahasia antara Ophelia dan Rafe mulai merebak. Tuduhan Rafe pada Ophelia mengenai rumor yg tersebar ditambah amarah Ophelia pada Rafe membuat keduanya terjebak dalam pernikahan yg tak mereka kehendaki.Apa yg harus dilakukan Ophelia terhadap Rafe yg mulai dicintainya. Apakah Ophelia harus berpisah dari Rafe? Dilain pihak, Rafe harus mengakui kalau sebenarnya Ophelia selama ini tidak pernah berubah. Ophelia hanya telah lama menyimpan sifat positifnya sepanjang hidupnya dan lebih menekankan sifat buruk hanya untuk melindungi perasaannya selama ini. Rafe juga harus mengakui perasaan cintanya pada Ophelia. Namun kecelakaan tragis yg menimpa Ophelia mengubah segalanya. Dan sangat memilukan guncangan perasaan yg dialami Ophelia saat dirinya merasa telah kehilangan kecantikan fisiknya ketika sebelumnya selama hidupnya ophelia menyesali kecantikan yg dimilikinya.
—Marie
