This book...well, it was an experience. Spoilers.The first half was boring to the extreme. (Seriously, skip to pg 200. You won't miss a damn thing.) But suddenly the author realized she'd forgotten to include a plot, so she decided to make up for lost time. A rough incidental outline would look something like this:First half: Miranda & Jared talk. Miranda & Jared get married. Miranda & Jared have sex. <--Snoozeville. Second half: Adultery, bisexual villains, riding crops, drugging, rape, slave farms, breeding huts, murderous S&M, mistaken identity, more rape, castrations, gay ped0bear, rape (again), pregnancy abuse, sexual healing, kidnapping, drowning, duels, head-crushing carriage accidents, side characters dropping dead for no reason other than eliminating them from the story. <--WTF did I just read?Y'all know I love books with whackadoodle crazies, but this one...it's several crayons short of a rainbow. (And if that metaphor makes no sense, too bad. Neither does Unconquered.) The pacing was terrible & the main couple had no real chemistry.** The secondary characters were somewhat better (Mirza in particular), but I felt little for Miranda & absolutely nothing for Jared. He was a useless lump who served no purpose but to pull out his wang. He never managed to locate his wife or progress beyond booze-soaked moping for her supposed demise. His protestations against the redonk "I must sleep with that skanky ho for king & country!" spy plot were thinner than tissue paper, & he couldn't even kill the bad guy in a duel.*** Even worse, neither he nor Miranda displayed constancy of thought or deed; rather, they jumped from one conclusion to another at random, & there wasn't much relationship development to speak of (though Miranda does manage to squeak out some maturity by the end). ...That being said, I've read worse. It could've been improved by spreading the WTFery more evenly throughout. But I've never tried Ms Small before; perhaps this sort of bizarre pacing is the norm, in which case I'm emotionally prepared for my next attempt. *shrug* 2.5 stars, rounded up for the (eventual) goofy lolz. **"Wildcat" is a stupid nickname to begin with, & repeating it 700 times doesn't make it cuter.***The Russian ambassador's wife did it for him. Nice one, James Bond. :P
Hated it. Perhaps it is my hatred of historical romance novels in general. When people make fun of 'bodice ripping' books where his 'purple headed pole' probes at her 'secret love grotto', they are thinking of this book. Yes, it really does say 'secret love grotto'. The plot was preposterous. From the first unlikely marriage to the deus ex machina at the end. Very unsexy sex scenes don't help. As much time is spent describing the clothes someone is putting on (that are of no importance) as the brutal rape and murder of a pregnant woman (that has far reaching implications). Political intrigue, cross continent slave marches, forced breeding huts, kidnappings, twin sisters, seduction, deception, and tea parties all thrown together in a rather untidy mess if you ask me. Oh well, I'll give Ms. Small another shot as she was recommended to me, but if that one fails to pan out, she's off my list for good.
What do You think about Unconquered (1984)?
Just simply YUCK, ho-rri-ble. The only thing I could think every time I turned the pages was WTF?! It´s a book full of adultery, rapes and even incest and pederasty.Simplemente PUAJ, ho-rri-ble. Lo único que podía pensar a cada vuelta de página era ¡¿WTF?! Se trata de un libro cargado de adulterio, violaciones e incluso incesto y pederastría.Por el puntaje del libro es evidente que a muchas les gusta pero si bien no soy una persona celosa, sí soy posesiva. Mi pareja es MI pareja y jamás podría compartirlo, por eso y porque cuando leo un libro me compenetro con los protagonistas es que se me hizo imposible disfrutarlo. (view spoiler)[¡¿En serio, qué mujer en su sano juicio escucha a escondidas una conversación de su marido en la que éste acepta acostarse con una antigua amante, cosa que él le confirma con la excusa de que caso contrario su misión podría verse comprometida y se limita a contestarle que lo ama y que cómo puede ella ayudarlo???! Otra parte que me sacó de quicio es cerca del final cuando Jared besa a la hermana de Miranda y al recriminárselo él se limita a responder que fue porque tiene una boquita dulce a lo que a ella no se le mueve un pelo. (hide spoiler)]
—Jimenight
Oh. My. God. What did I just read??I cannot begin to describe the craziness that is this book. For one, the main characters are hardly together for most of it. Between political intrigues and kidnappings, it shouldn't come as a surprise. It was to such a point that I started shipping Miranda (the heroine) with other suitors. (view spoiler)[Mizra stole my heart and it pained me that she didn't stay with him, even after he sexed her to bring her back to life. I shit you not. (hide spoiler)]
—Nicole
