Review: Daring and the Duke

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

ARGH. I hate to say this, but this book didn't do it for me.

I LOVE Sarah MacLean. Love, love, love her books. But this one, and this series, just didn't work for me. I was actually hesitant to even post this, because I tend not to write about ones that don't like.

See how often I say "for me," because I know it may work for you? I think it's because the setting here veered too much to an alternate-England; an alternate history, and perhaps what I need to do is to reread this embracing that possibility. I also think it's because part of the alternate history is about the three Bareknuckle Bastards creating a world that, well, fixes poverty. Again, I'm torn: on the one hand, I like that the poverty of the time is addressed. Too many regency/historicals don't talk about class and poverty and just how bad it was for anyone who wasn't rich and connected. But, again, maybe I have to reread with a shift in how I view this and believe this, because I kept thinking -- things aren't changed. This isn't offering a different view, a realistic view, it's as much a fantasy as the Dukes and Ladies, except it's crime lords.

All that said, one thing I really liked was how easy it was to picture everything. Great descriptions; and strange as it may sound, I think if this was a series on Netflix or Hulu, I would like it.

I know. Just a book. I'm overthinking.