This was great, and very unique! There was a lot of homophobia in it, and in the beginning it wasn't really portrayed as being negative; the hero was a part of it. There was some progress on the part of some of the characters, so I am choosing to look at it as the author showing how people work through being homophobic, but there were times where it was kind of frustrating. Though I do know it is a big part of the culture of the characters.

I adored Thorne. Loved her. And Jack, too. This nailed my love of a traumatized heroine in all these right ways, with the tough yet vulnerable and skittish heroine and the surly but protective hero. There were so many excellent misunderstandings that made for some good angst. The third act pushed the envelope of necessity, but still, overall, this was great. Lots of my favorite themes, which were the focus of the story instead of just details, and a unique and interesting plot.

(First read July 20, 2013) ( )

I enjoyed this one for several reasons. I like "masquerade" books. She was certainly a different character. Foul mouthed and defensive. I liked that she was tiny and he was huge and scary and ugly or was perceived that way at least. I liked how she strung him along and made him question himself. I liked that she was smart and that she knitted. I really enjoy reading about streetwise foulmouthed girls sometimes and she really fit the bill.

There were problems with the book. Several for instances: There was liberal use of derogatory references to LGBT people which is fine if a character feels that way since representing bigots in fiction is valid, but that everyone reacted that way bothered me. Weren't there any characters besides the heroine who were not bigots? The file of her abuse was liberally passed around. That seemed like a pretty big invasion of privacy that surely someone would have noticed was wrong. Seems like there should have been another way to get everyone on the heroine's side. And the dancing workouts were just a bit weird and unnecessary for me. Some of the action sequences happened off the page. A longer book might have served the story better to allow us to see the team in action a bit more.

I think the character development of the leads was well done although it could have been even stronger with greater page length. There were interesting secondary characters also who it would be fun to read about if there are further books planned. The book was mostly a romance though and it worked well for me on that front. I did enjoy the way that the relationship between the H/h developed. I felt they had good chemistry.


All in all I had a great time reading it.
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This was great, and very unique! There was a lot of homophobia in it, and in the beginning it wasn't really portrayed as being negative; the hero was a part of it. There was some progress on the part of some of the characters, so I am choosing to look at it as the author showing how people work through being homophobic, but there were times where it was kind of frustrating. Though I do know it is a big part of the culture of the characters.

I adored Thorne. Loved her. And Jack, too. This nailed my love of a traumatized heroine in all these right ways, with the tough yet vulnerable and skittish heroine and the surly but protective hero. There were so many excellent misunderstandings that made for some good angst. The third act pushed the envelope of necessity, but still, overall, this was great. Lots of my favorite themes, which were the focus of the story instead of just details, and a unique and interesting plot.

(First read July 20, 2013) ( )