Duels and Deceptions by Cindy Anstey (ARC Review)

Duels and Deceptions by Cindy Anstey

Release Date: April 11, 2017 (tomorrow!)

DNF @ …another mystery percentage. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Isn’t it easy to note a percentage?? Get it together, me.

*an e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley – thank you so much to the publisher for sending me a copy!*

After reading Love, Lies, and Spies last year, I was eager to get my hands on Duels and Deceptions. I had a feeling it would bring me as much fun as I had in that first book, which had one of the best opening scenes ever. It was so witty and poking fun at regency romance books, and it will live in Book Princess history. However, I seemed to forget I kind of had some issues with that one, and they were the downfall for me for this one. And oh, hey, look. An actual short review for me!

Once Upon a Time…

Miss Lydia Whitfield, heiress to the family fortune, has her future entirely planned out. She will run the family estate until she marries the man of her late father’s choosing, and then she will spend the rest of her days as a devoted wife. Confident in those arrangements, Lydia has tasked her young law clerk, Mr. Robert Newton, to begin drawing up the marriage contracts. Everything is going according to plan.

Until Lydia—and Robert along with her—is kidnapped. Someone is after her fortune and won’t hesitate to destroy her reputation to get it. With Robert’s help, Lydia strives to keep her family’s good name intact and expose whoever is behind the devious plot. But as their investigation delves deeper and their affections for each other grow, Lydia starts to wonder whether her carefully planned future is in fact what she truly wants…

I liked the premise of this book, but the biggest issue for me is that I felt nothing for it. I honestly just felt like I was reading words on a page – you’re now sitting there going, well, Mandy, that IS what you do when you read. But it didn’t capture me. I didn’t feel pulled into the world. I didn’t feel excited. Literally, I would read the words, flip the page, and repeat.

You are showing up too much, Snow. I don’t appreciate it.

And I also got confused by the beginning. Like, why was her uncle splashing her on the side of the road with his carriage? It seemed like evil-twirling-mustache-man-while-I’m-tying-people-to-the-railroad-tracks. I don’t know. I just wasn’t feeling this book, and I couldn’t force myself to get into it. I think it had a lot of potential, but I just couldn’t get excited.

LOOK. A SHORT REVIEW. ARE WE IMPRESSED YET?

No crowns because it’s a DNF and a Snow White rating!

Check it out:

• Goodreads
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

What do you think? Do you ever just feel meh about a book? Not feel anything at all? Let’s discuss in the comments below!