A History Nut's Romantic State of Mind

I give up. I will not try to like this book anymore.

In all truthfulness it might be a great read if you like the characters. I have real trouble liking Madeline. And once the heroine lost me, she lost me forever.

I read the 2nd book in the series [b: Taming Rafe|2002293|Taming Rafe (Noble Legacy, #2)|Susan May Warren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1263939397s/2002293.jpg|2006161] first and loved Rafe and Felicity. I re-read Rafe and Felicity and felt that the magic I felt the first time kind of faded, its plots ununlikely and outrageously historically incorrect. But I still liked Rafe and Felicity better than Quin and Madeline.

It almost always comes down to the characters for me. I liked Quin alright but I found nothing special about him. He is the more serious version of Rafe, so in short, a duke's son befitting his station. While Rafe is "the rake", Quin is the respectable and responsible heir to a dukedom. Other than that, I really cannot say anything else about him as a character. He liked Maddie from the beginning and was rather pleasant to her all throughout. I think I probably am not much for such upright characters.

As for Madeline, aka Maddie, allow me to heave a sigh before I continue ranting.

I have a very defined preference for my heroines. I prefer someone who is dignified and grafeful. That means no self-pity, no self-righteousness, no hissy fits, no being bitchy just because, no blind loyalty, no smothering people to feel needed, no pretending to be man, no desperate yearning to be regonized or loved. She doesn't have to "surrender" or be a pushover. But I absolutely need some level-headedness, some self-worth, a healthy dose of humility, the ability to handle life's bitterness with calm, responsible but not overbearing, loyal but not overly sentimental, embraces her femininity and most important of all, do not act like a ninny about things that cannot be helped.

That being said, Madeline just does not fit in my rather defined (narrow-mindedly) frame of a "lovable heroine". It is not her fault. It does not mean that the story is not fun or enjoyable. I just cannot like her. She was "ruined", being forced into a compromised position by some random guy and was forced to withdraw from polite society. Enoch portrayed her to be rather bitter about it. She despised nobility because of what happened. And she treated Quin like crap because of that. She lost me then and there in the beginning when she decided to hate Quin just because he was highborn. She went on with her Quin-hating, no matter what he did. Playing hard to get, ok, I get it. But could you do it in a more mature manner? There are other ways to put a man in his place. How is acting like a child who is denied his candy helping?

The style of the book is similar that of the 2nd book. Light-hearted and historically inaccurate. I don't usually mind that. But it is more tolerable when it happens to the second son Rafe. With Quin, who was supposed to be heir apparent, I think a little more ceremony might be appropriate.