Book Review: Dangerous To Love by Elizabeth Thornton

"You'll never do a whole lot unless you are brave enough to try..."

--Dolly Parton

Thornton, who has written six other historical novels, offers original character development and story twists. As she builds conflict, she makes use of forced estrangement, a stigma in the genre. She clearly understands the Georgian era, which gives this enjoyable book a sense of the time period. Behind-the-scenes scheming and deceit guarantee that the lovers have much to overcome before they can find contentment, keeping with the years tradition of love never flowing smoothly.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Dangerous. Wild. Reckless. Those were the words that passed through Serena Ward's mind at the moment Julian Raynor entered the gaming Hall. If anyone could penetrate Serena's disguise as a tart--and jeopardize the political fugitives she was delivering to freedom--it would surely be London's most notorious gamester. Yet when the militia storms the establishment in search of traitors, Raynor provides just the pretext Serena needs to escape to an upstairs bedroom. But Serena is playing with fire...and before the night is through she will find herself surrendering to the heat of unsuspected desires.

Seductive. Fiery. Treacherous. She had used him for her own scheming purposes, then thrown his generous proposition back in his face. Julian Raynor, a man who had ruthlessly enjoyed his share of women, did not much care to have the tables turned on him. And when he discovered that the passionate beauty who had played his wanton prisoner in bed was none other than Serena Ward, the proud daughter of his bitterest enemy, he saw his chance for revenge--not only on the man who had singlehandedly destroyed his family, but on the woman who haunted his dreams.

My reaction to this novel...

I chose to read this one because I was attracted to the book's cover. You could assume that the narrative will involve a lot of love because it is so lovely and pink. Anyway, I was a little bored with this book from the first chapter when I started reading it. I had to read it three times since I had trouble understanding the first chapter. Like I was unable to comprehend the meaning of the narrative. It did not pique my interest in the tale the way that its book cover did, which I found to be quite disappointing given that I had high expectations for it beyond its cover. Nevertheless, I made the decision to go on and complete the book regardless of my feelings.

Unfortunately, while I was reading the book, I discovered that it was not as wonderful as other romantic novels. There were too many misunderstandings among the key characters, and the mystery wasn't intriguing either. They could have handled things sooner if they had merely spoken to one another. The majority of the problems, in my opinion, could have been resolved if Serena and Julian had just unhurriedly sat down and had a proper discussion. They had entirely too several highs and lows, which is extremely aggravating given that the primary issue was well-written and could have worked alone without all the secondary disputes around them. The book, in my opinion, was too lengthy and tedious. It can be condensed to simply a brief narrative, if you think about it.

All I can say is that, compared to what I had hoped for from a romance story, this one is a major letdown. Despite my disappointment, I'm not going to forgo reading the author's other works. In fact, I've made the decision to read the next installment of this to learn more. I dislike the story, though, therefore I don't want to recommend this book to anyone and give them unrealistic expectations that it's a good one. So, if you're searching for anything to read under the romance category, this one won't do.

My Overall Rating: ⭐✨(1.5/5)