TEST
Like many other readers, I’ve been waiting for Peaches Alexander’s story in Kurland’s Medieval/modern romance series. We’ve seen her sisters, including her twin Tess, find the men of their dreams, so it was definitely Peaches’ turn. Unfortunately, 75% of the story is boring fluff, with only a few whiffs of the writer Kurland can be.
Peaches spends an inordinate amount of time declaring that she doesn’t like Stephen de Piaget, almost as much time as Stephen spends being besotted and acting like a teenager in lust.
Peaches is in England while her job in Seattle crumbles. She decides what she needs is a Cinderella evening and accepts a ball invitation from the dastardly (in the real storybook and melodrama meanings) David Preston, a playboy duke. Turmoil ensues.
Peaches flees the ball when she overhears David’s sister and one of Stephen’s pseudo-girlfriends (he’s in luv with Peaches, remember? So he has no real girlfriend) discussing David and saying how he plans to seduce Peaches because her sister is a duchess.
Peaches steps into a time trap and is transported to the Medieval era where Stephen follows and saves her, returning her to the present day. Peaches decides she likes Stephen, but now her objection to their getting together is that she’s a lowly American and he’s a titled Brit.
At that point, I wanted to smack both of them. While I’d liked Peaches in previous books, despite her horrific name, she proved to be a twit in this one. And Stephen, a Cambridge lecturer and nobility, wasn’t much better, becoming tongue-tied and gauche in Peaches’ presence.
Worse were the “obstacles” to their love which were worthy of grade school angst, but not much more. Considering that Peaches’ sisters had married into the British peerage, it was ludicrous that Peaches thought she was unworthy to marry into it too.
Stephen, for his part, ends up “protecting” Peaches by buying her a respectable wardrobe and trying to prove his love by developing a taste for green organic protein shakes. Really? C’mon now.
In the last hundred pages, the hint of a complication arises, but even it is as silly as the rest of the book. Even the time travel back to Medieval times is as lackluster as the knotty “problems” in the present. Usually these passages are great fun and very entertaining in Kurland’s books.
What saves All for You from being completely dismal? Occasionally, Kurland presents dialog between Peaches and Stephen that zings. But there are so many pages in between these short, wonderful passages, that they can’t carry the book.
In fact, this book is so far from the classic Kurland books (those about Robin, Christopher, Colin, or even Richard), that readers might think they’re reading the work of another author altogether.
Grade: D+
Book Type: Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Kisses
Review Date: 04/05/12
Publication Date: 2012/05
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.