Review: A Lord Apart by Jane Ashford
Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2019
⭐⭐(.5)
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have I ever mentioned how hard it is for me to write a review for a book that I didn’t like? Well, I’m mentioning it now. I hate it.
I had a hard time rating this book. While I do think that Jane Ashford is a skilled writer, A Lord Apart just didn’t do much for me.
On the positive side…there is some witty banter to be found in this book and a few comical moments too. Jane Ashford’s sentences are super smart and well constructed with a nice ebb and flow. She has a superb command of language and it’s well executed. She also incorporates some interesting history which I always welcome.
But…There wasn’t a lot happening in this book. Not in the present, anyway. A Lord Apart is heavy on dialogue without very much action. Now, this would be fine if all the talking was advancing the plot and moving things along but that wasn’t always the case here. I just kept waiting for something to happen.
My biggest issue though was that I didn’t sense any chemistry between this couple. If you like your love scenes to be …descriptive…you won’t find that in A Lord Apart. Love scenes in this book are few a far between and not at all explicit. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you prefer your romance more sweet than sexy, you might totally love this book. Personally I need a lot more heat than I found here. It doesn’t have to be mega-raging-dirty-graphic sex every time for me…but I definitely need to know what everyone’s body parts look like and who’s doing what with which…*awkward*
I would definitely try another from Jane Ashford. She’s a good writer. Maybe this book just didn’t hit for me. A Lord Apart releases on March 26, 2019. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.
Synopsis
After the sudden deaths of his parents it’s up to Daniel Frith, the Viscount Whitfield, to make heads or tails of the cluster eff of family records and documents they left behind. Most beguiling of all though is the property his late father has willed to a total stranger…
For her part, Penelope Pendleton has no clue as to why the late Viscount would leave Rose Cottage to her. But, after her family’s disgrace, she is not planning on looking her gift horse in the mouth. As far as she’s concerned she and the current Viscount have no need for interaction at all. And yet the more she comes to know Daniel, the more the two of them discover how intertwined their families truly are…