Harbinger of Books

Claire Ashcroft has lost her brother in a duel, he was her last family member. Claire sets out to seek revenge on the one who killed her brother Viscount Grayson (Gray) Sutherland, by making him fall in love with her than leaving him with a broken heart. Gray is suffering inside and as such the only comfort he finds is in living recklessly. Gray no longer knows what he wants beyond physical intimacy, yet he finds something in Claire.

The beginning of the book was great but it falls pretty fast after that. Claire starts out as this innocent women who while unsure of her steps has purpose and is quite intelligent. By the end she is a weeping ignorant shell of her former self. Gray also in the beginning is care free yet somewhat honorable and by the end he is scared of his own shadow. For most of the book they are not romantic nor kind to each other, most of the time Claire is hysterical and Gray is sulking.

By page 200 I really did not care what happens but I kept hoping it was going to get better. Sadly it did not. Whatever connection or sympathy I had with the characters at the beginning was gone by the time I got to the end. Personally this one was a dud for me. I hope this is just a fluke for Ms James because the other book I read by her was fantastic.

1 1/2 stars