Lady Helen's Misalliance - DNF Review

Lady Helen's Misalliance (Seasons of Love, # 2)

By: Jessica Spencer

Publication: October 9, 2024

256 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Clean Regency What is a lady to do when the man she loves is determined to sacrifice their love for honor?

Lady Helen is not overly concerned that she is only passably pretty and not likely to attract many suitors during her London Season. Only a shallow man would choose his wife for her looks. She wants a husband who is likable and worthy of respect, possesses a good character, and has a pleasant disposition.

Mr. Luke Turner is what the ton contemptuously refers to as a Cit. His wealth and upbringing can give him entry into London Society but not make a match with a young lady of birth.

Helen knows that Luke is the only man she can marry. He is kind and gentle and makes her feel comfortable about herself. He loves her, she knows he does, but is adamant about keeping away for fear of endangering her place in Society.

But when the notorious Lord Frampton fixes his sights on her, Luke is the only one she can trust. Will he put aside his scruples to keep her safe?

I went through a rough spell with my reading and DNFd 3 books in a row. Believe it or not, DNFing (Did Not Finish) is actually pretty rare for me. I've DNF'd roughly 57 books over 11 years. But I've come to learn a bit more about what I enjoy reading and what I don't. And I'm less patient with books to see how things end up if I'm not enjoying one. I don't have time to waste reading something that I'm not liking. 

Lady Helen's Misalliance was a disaster. Almost immediately, I questioned DNFing. The writing is truly terrible. I do not criticize someone's work lightly. It takes a lot to sit down and write a book. To execute a plot on paper. I haven't done it. But this book was so, so badly written. I DNF'd at 34%. 

So much of the book was dialogue. When I was younger, I'd often skip descriptions and get straight to the dialogue. Or if I'm in a part that seems to be dragging on, I might skim until the next statement a character says aloud. But I almost felt like Jessica Spencer forgot that you can't write an entire book based on dialogue alone. So much of the in-between description and narration was completely missing. 

And then, the real kicker is that the characters start acting like and even naming themselves as being in love without having more than two interactions between them. The first interaction is where the MC runs over the FMC with his horse. She's stunned. He is attractive. They barely talk. They then meet again where it's discussed that they shouldn't meet again for reputation purposes. I mean 15 words between the two of them might have been exchanged. And this comes from an author who writes nearly exclusively in dialogue. Yet the FMC declares herself to be in love. Then the MC's sister basically tells him that she can tell he's in love based upon some eye contact bologna. 

-"Who was that?" Dora asked.
"Who do you mean?"
"The young woman who left just now. I saw you watching her. Who is she? Is she a lady?"
"Dora, what's it with these questions?"
"Are you in love with her? I think you are. Does she love you too?"
"She is Lady Helen. Lord Frampton was misbehaving with her. Dora, would you mind if we leave? We can come again tomorrow if you wish. I want to be sure that Lord Frampton is not lying in wait for Lady Helen."

You guys, I wish I was exaggerating. I couldn't take it anymore. The writing was weak. The characters had an insta-love thing based upon absolutely nothing. I can't. I can't. I can't. DNF @ 34%. Have you read Lady Helen's Misalliance? What did you think? Let me know!

Sunday Post - 12/15/24

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

It rained from last Sunday night through all day Tuesday. Monday went pretty well from what I can remember. Last minute we asked my parents to keep the kids for the night so we could build Little Boy's big boy bed. He needed one a year ago, but we made the crib work for almost 4 years. We also made a last minute decision to shop for stocking stuffers Monday night. Tuesday, we spent the day at my parent's house and did grocery pickup. Wednesday was a normal school day. Thursday we had co-op. Thursday and Friday were rough behavior days. It's been a while since we had some really rough ones, but we had two in a row. Friday started off good but ended up a challenge. I actually took a nap when school was over because I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. Saturday, we celebrated October birthdays with Husband's side of the family. We just haven't been able to get together for those and we had a major one (50!) in the mix. Today we had our Christmas party and fellowship meal after church.

THE PAST WEEK

Monday: Review of Not in My Book by Katie Holt (4.5 Stars)
Wednesday: Can't Wait for The Folklore of Forever (Moonville, # 2) by Sarah Hogle
Friday: Homeschool Friday - Go Away, Spot

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

Monday: DNF Review of Lady Helen's Alliance by Jessica Spencer
Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday?
Wednesday: Can't Wait for Wednesday?
Thursday: Review of Merriment & Mayhem (Under the Mistletoe Collection, # 4) by Alexandria Bellefleur
Friday: Homeschool Friday - Look for the Lorax

Don’t forget to link up for the 2024 Series Enders Reading Challenge! You have until December 15th, 2024 to sign up. Each month there will be a giveaway for those participating with an end of the year giveaway too! Click on the picture below or the link above to find out more!

NEW BOOKS:

No new books to feature this week.

That's it for my shelves and recaps of my past and upcoming week. What did you add to your shelves this week? Any bookish news you want to talk about? Let me know!

Homeschool Friday - Go Away Spot

Homeschool Friday is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know that showcases books my family reads during homeschool and provides a mini-review for each.

Go Away, Spot

By: Scott Foresman

Publication: September 15, 2003 by Penguin Young Readers

32 pages

Genre: Children's, Level-2 Readers, Early Reading

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Millions of Americans remember Dick and Jane (and Sally and Spot, too!). Now Dick and Jane and all their pals are back with revised editions of these classic readers for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy!

Go Away Spot

Dick said, "Down, Spot. I cannot play. Down, Spot, down. Go away, little Spot. Go away and play."

I've mentioned before that many Step-1 or Level-1 readers are published by Scholastic or Random House. Although, Penguin obviously publishes early readers also. They typically consist of 32 pages with one or two short sentences per page or opening. Go Away, Spot is a Read with Dick and Jane book originally published in 1951. And well, things have changed a good bit since then. This book is 32 pages, but each page is filled with multiple sentences--sometimes up to 7 sentences per page. While this isn't an abundance, my now 7-year-old gets quickly overwhelmed when he sees paragraphs or what is to him many words on one page. He intended to read this book in parts, like half now and half another day. But I kind of tricked him into reading the entire thing in one sitting--which he is completely capable of.

Go Away, Spot is a deceiving title. Only half of the book involves Spot at all. This book is full of repetitive words and phrases. The stories don't rhyme necessarily, but they do promote mastery. You can tell by the words used in the book as well as the illustrations that this was written many years ago. But I don't think newer is always better. If this is the level-1 readers of 1951, our 32 pages with 2 sentences a page seems a little piddly.

Go Away, Spot gets 4 Stars. I liked that many of the same words and phrases were used throughout the book to promote mastery. And I also liked that this book was a bit more of a challenge to my son who gets easily overwhelmed. It wasn't the words themselves that were challenging, but simply seeing so many words on one page was the challenge. Have you or your child read Go Away, Spot? What did you think? Let me know!

Can't Wait for The Folklore of Forever

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

The Folklore of Forever (Moonville, # 2)

By: Sarah Hogle

Expected Publication: April 8, 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

400 pages

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--From the acclaimed author of Old Flames and New Fortunes comes a steamy enemies-to-lovers romantasy about a paranormal skeptic who is roped into a ghost hunting romp by the charming boy next door . . . who might just show her what real fantasies are made of.

Paranormal skeptic Zelda Tempest is hoping for a much-needed creativity boost for a new paranormal mystery novel. But despite the alleged magic of her hometown, Moonville, Ohio, she’s as stuck as ever.

With two witch sisters, not believing in magic is strange for a Tempest, but no one is more disappointed than Morgan Angelopoulos, the charming man next door. So, to cure her of her writer's block and her disbelief in magic, Morgan ropes her into a ghost-hunting romp, only for Zelda to discover something else bizarre, never-before-seen creatures that appear as ordinary pets to everyone else.

Curious about what else might be lurking in Moonville's woods, Zelda and Morgan embark on a quest to uncover the true magic that lies in their midsts . . . and perhaps, just maybe, they will find that the magic they're searching for has been with them all along.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

Not in My Book - Review

Not In My Book

By: Katie Holt

Publication: December 10, 2024 by Alcove Press

320 pages

Genre: Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The Hating Game meets Beach Read in this sexy and hilarious contemporary romance from a debut Peruvian-Tennessean voice.

Rosie, an idealistic and passionate Peruvian-American who has grown up without strong ties to her culture, leaves her Tennessee hometown to pursue her dream of making it in New York as a writer. But her plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her arch-nemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington—an obnoxious, surly, and gorgeous literary fiction writer who doesn’t have much patience for the romance genre, or for Rosie.

Rosie and Aiden regularly go to verbal battle in workshop until their professor reaches her breaking point. She allows them to stay in her class on one condition: they must co-write a novel that blends their genres.

The reluctant writing duo can’t help but put pieces of themselves into their accidentally steamy novel, and as they slowly get to know each other, they try to put their differences aside. Meanwhile, their manuscript-in-progress provides an outlet for them to confess their feelings—and explore their attraction toward each other.

When Rosie and Aiden find themselves competing against each other for a potentially career-changing opportunity, the flames of old rivalry reignite, and their once-in-a-lifetime love story is once again at risk of being shelved—unless they can find a way to end the book on their own terms.

I don't often read a book and say the description was 100% on point. But the description for Not in My Book tells you pretty much everything you need to know about what happens in this book. As stated, Rosie is doing her best to get her degree, but she can only afford to take one class at a time. She's also working a part-time job every spare moment (except the weekends). And she's writing in her off time as her dream is to become an author. But she's been struggling to be vulnerable in her writing. She needs this class. To begin with, she worked hard to get into this class. She really respects the teacher. Rosie also reluctantly admits that Aiden is a talented author. She saw him read a piece of his writing before they officially met, and she immediately developed a crush on him. He was cute and talented. But when they are in a previous class together, Aiden responds negatively to Rosie's preferred genre--romance--and boundary lines formed marking them both clearly in enemy territory. Now, their repeated disruptions of heated arguments in class have the professor ready to force them both to drop the class. Reluctantly, Rosie and Aiden agree to work together on their writing project for this class. The criteria is that they must have a romance with a literary fiction ending--meaning no happily ever after. 

This book was so fun. The banter between Rosie and Aiden was on another level. I mean heated. And the tension was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. I loved seeing how uncomfortable Aiden was with trying to write a romance. Yet, Rosie annoyed me because she was even more against literary fiction and stories that end unhappy or unresolved. There was one scene in particular that was so intense because the two of them wrote it together. If you've read the book then you know the one. And this is coming from someone who has a lower tolerance level for explicit scenes.

Favorite quotes:

-Aiden had an annoying editorial eye that ended up making everyone around him a better writer.

-There's so much more to a romance than just love.

-I wanted the kind of love you treated gently, like it could break. The kind that was intense and real. The kind you fought for, not against.

-"We get close but not close enough to get burned, right?"

-The best part of my day was fighting with him.

-"When I am in love, I don't want to have to wonder, if it's love, you know? I want to know with certainty that there is nothing else I would rather feel."

-I just...wanted to be loved so badly that I thought being hurt was part of the deal.

-"What do you want for Christmas?" .... "Right now I feel like I have everything I need."

-"You know, ever since your family arrived, you've developed a southern accent."

-"Love wouldn't seem worth it without the risk of losing it."

-The love I had read in romance novels was so epic and monumental. I'd spent a lifetime craving grand gestures and sweeping proclamations. I hadn't known the small moments like this would feel as good.

Any other quotes are spoilers. 

I did notice a few small inconsistencies. For example, at one point Aiden criticizes the phrase often used in romance "eyes darkening" and he wonders what that even is. But in one of his sections of writing for the joint project, he uses the same phrase. I don't know if this was an accident. Like, it was overlooked by the editing. Or if this was done purposefully to show that he's grown as an author to include things he never once would have considered. But I lean toward the first option as he didn't seem willing to compromise what he considers good writing to fit a specific genre. I think there was another small inconsistency, but I didn't see it highlighted when I went back to look so I can't remember. 

Overall, I devoured Not in My Book. I've read several books now that focus on the love of writing in various forms. I have adored them all. But Not in My Book was focused on a love for the romance genre, as well as writing in general. And I'm here for it. Not in My Book gets 4.5 Stars and is easily one of my favorite reads of 2024. Have you read Not in My Book? What did you think? Let me know!