Juliet and her little brother Harry were taken in by her titled aunt after the death of her father, a Scottish sea captain, and her mother, a titled lady who eloped for love. Juliet knew she would receive her inheritance on her 21st birthday, and she will have no nobility title. Until then her disapproving aunt controlled everything, including sending Harry off to a strict boarding school in London. Forced to accompany the family to visit Shaldron Castle, Juliet only wanted to keep to herself, as she does not know how to react to her cousin (her aunt's son) who professed to love her. A chance encounter with a boorish stranger with a walking stick caused her to lose her temper and control of her tongue. She was shocked to find out this is none other than Duke of Halstead, her host. She was shocked again when the duke seems to express an interest in her, even as he was supposed to marrying another titled lady. It was clear the Duke cares not for the expectations upon him, not even by his own mother and grandmother, esp. after an injury that crippled him for life, and caused him to withdraw from everything, esp. love. Neither expected this friendship to grow, but it did. Yet, her evil aunt has an ultimatum for her that will destroy her dreams..
Okay, the plotting and the angst is quite good, as the setup and push-pull was done really well. However, the ultimatum and the resolution really makes no sense. While the darkest hour was well done, the way from there to the grand resolution seems to have taken a few too many turns and as a result, the momentum was lost. 4/5
SPOILER
AHEAD
YOU'VE
BEEN
WARNED
Basically, the evil aunt threatened to take Harry from the boarding school (where he's hazed by the blue bloods because he's just a commoner) and drop him off at the dock so he can be shipped off as a cabin boy (the way to work your way up to maybe captain one day), if Juliet won't marry her son. Juliet was forced to accept, but a month later, decided she can't live with her decision, and will protect her brother some other way than kowtowing to her evil aunt. So she rescinded the acceptance. Then her evil aunt produced a letter from the school's headmaster, stating that her brother had run off from school leaving a note stating that he's going to join a ship, which was what he wanted anyway, as he can't take another day of the horrible school. Juliet then left her aunt's house and made her way to London trying to find her brother by prowling the docks alone...
This makes absolutely no sense. The aunt's LEVERAGE over Juliet was hinged on Harry staying in school. If Harry had escaped, there is no leverage. Showing her the letter was out of pure spite, and it was also revealed that her aunt really just wanted her inheritance, which aunt will control as her assets will belong to her new husband, which is aunt's son. For money, the aunt is willing to bind two people in marriage that do not love each other, basically ruining two lives, yet there was little background on WHY she would make such decision. That's a very "flat" villain. Coupled with lack of leverage, and the glee she produced the letter to force some anger/sadness out of Juliet, feels VERY very flat and ruined a great setup for the angst-y romance.
No comments:
Post a Comment