My rating: 2.75/5 stars
I am extremely disappointed in having to write this review, but I cannot pretend this book was amazing and dynamic and credible, so I need to do this. Penelope Ward is one of my favorite authors, and the kind of books she wrote in the past were magnificent. I completely loved them and can’t understand what is happening with her style and the plots she creates. This is not a recent turn of events; this thing has been happening forever. I kept on reading her books, hoping for a miracle, but “The House Guest” was the nail in the coffin for me and my nerves. 😦
The book is divided into 2 parts – PART 1 and PART 2. I officially say that I hate a book with 2 parts, because I know 1 will be good and 2 will be dreadful, especially if it’s written by Penelope Ward.
Primrose is staying with her aunt and husband, trying to juggle her ambitions, art, and her plans for the future. When tragedy strikes, she is left with nothing but a huge mansion to take care of and no perspective. This is until Dorian, the son of her aunt’s husband, arrives and asks her to leave. Things will settle in the meantime, and Primrose and Dorian will agree to live temporarily in the same place. Between the 2 of them, something happens, being pulled close by an overgrowing attraction and connection.
Primrose is extremely cautious, and she is afraid to get close to men and fall in love. Because of this, she keeps her distance, but Dorian is clicking all the boxes, leaving her unguarded. They fell in love in a short period of time, living an intense relationship, which was pretty nice to read about. The tension was well crafted, the couple was intense and fun to watch developing, BUT everything changed in PART 2.
Part 2 was horrible, without a lack of reality, and it was just NO. I was not buying the motives, the way everything went down, the story Dorian pulled, and Primrose’s feelings after years. Nothing felt genuine, nothing made me believe what I was reading, and because of this, I just skipped through the story to finish it and rank it. I am soooo sorry about this, because the story had potential, but it needed something to cling to, a true plot twist, true credibility in story and characters, not what we received. NO, NO, NO!
I don’t think I’ve ever ranked this low a Penelope Ward book, but this is the reality of the current level, which I hope will improve. I know that the Romance market is packed with authors, but this story just gave me the impression that it was rushed and needed to be published, but the actual plot and twists were nonexistent. I prefer 1 book per year from Penelope, than 3 and being like this.
Ramonisme 