Book review: Beguiling Beauty by Sherry Thomas

Beguiling the Beauty (Fitzhugh Trilogy, #1)Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book I’ve read by this author (who seems to have a remarkable writing range, from fantasy to mysteries to historical romances). I found myself quite taken by this story, despite some significant flaws. Without trying to reveal spoilers (although it *is* a romance, after all), the basic plot is hero falls in love with heroine at first sight, hero learns of heroine’s perfidy and reveals it publicly, heroine swears revenge, and the couple lives happily ever after. 🙂
The author’s best writing happens during the period when the heroine is seeking her revenge. The somewhat unrealistic (even for a romance!) plot device results in an authentic and gripping romance that is the highlight of the book. The book weakens after the revenge subplot predictably blows up in the heroine’s face, and the ending, while highly satisfactory from a romance novel point of view, seems to happen at breakneck speed and without the subtlety of the rest of the book. (It’s almost as if the author realized she was in danger of going over her page limit and had to end the book sooner rather than later.)
The presence of the secondary characters who are clearly in line for their own novels is somewhat distracting, as they are almost forcibly inserted into certain parts of the book without any need for their existence.
But the book totally redeems itself during the period when the hero and heroine are discovering each other’s true selves. There is heartfelt romance and a deft and subtle touch in revealing it.
I am not so in love with the secondary characters in this book that I plan on reading the rest of the trilogy, but I will definitely be trying her other books, in particular the Lady Sherlock Holmes books. She’s definitely an author worth keeping an eye out for!

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