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Rakes And Radishes (2010)

by Susanna Ives(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1426890567 (ISBN13: 9781426890567)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Carina Press

review 1: What I really liked about this book, is that it took a very different path than most of the historical romances I have read. Henrietta and Kesseley have grown up together in the English countryside. He is an Earl who has loved Henrietta always. She thinks she is in love with her cousin Edward. When she finds out that Edward, who has gone to London for the season, has been courting someone else, she enlists Kesseley's help in winning Edward back. You just want Henrietta to open her eyes and see the great love that has been there right under her nose.
review 2: This book felt like two distinct books. In the first part, Henrietta comes across to me as particukarly whiny and selfish. Everything is all about her, and she gives little thought to how her actions or wo... morerds affect her closest friend, Thomas. Thomas has been in love with Henrietta forever, and while I admired his thoughtful nature, he was a bit of a wuss where she was concerned, frequently declaring his love when he was rebuffed at every turn. The second half occurs because Thomas realizes she's never going to be his, and becomes like his father, being a rake and sleeping around. Which opened another can of worms for me. Henrietta still comes across as immature and a bit selfish for the rest of the book.Thomas' mother, at first despises Henrietta because she's broken Thomas' heart one too many times, but halfway into their London stay, all of a sudden they are best friends. That seemedan abrupt chamge that I didn't understand.Once Thomas and Henrietta do get together, the purple prose he spouted was nauseating.What Ives did very well was to contrast the country life with the depravity of London. She doesn't shy away from showing the lifestyle and the more Thomas immerses himself in it, the more his disgust with himself grows until he comes full circle and realizes that's not the life he wants.Overall, there was a lot going on here, between henrietta's unrequited love for her cousin, her father's colleague's unrequited love for Henrietta, to Thomas' unrequited love for her and then her love for him while he turns her away. I think it tried to do too much, and while I enjoyed the writing for the most part (purple prose aside), my dislike for the heroine kept me from fully enjoying this book. less

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