Book Review: The Trouble With Honor

Author: Julia London
Title: The Trouble With Honor
Publisher: HQN
Publish Date: Feb 25, 2014
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: 

Passion and scandal collide in New York Times bestselling author Julia London's brand-new series about four sisters determined to rescue themselves from ruin…

Desperate times call for daring measures as Honor Cabot, the eldest stepdaughter of the wealthy Earl of Beckington, awaits her family's ruin. Upon the earl's death she and her sisters stand to lose the luxury of their grand home—and their place on the pedestal of society—to their stepbrother and his social-climbing fiancée. Forced to act quickly, Honor makes a devil's bargain with the only rogue in London who can seduce her stepbrother's fiancée out of the Cabots' lives for good.

An illegitimate son of a duke, George Easton was born of scandal and grows his fortune through dangerous risks. But now he and Honor are dabbling in a perilous dance of seduction that puts her reputation and his jaded heart on the line. And as unexpected desire threatens to change the rules of their secret game, the stakes may become too high even for a notorious gambler and a determined, free-spirited debutante to handle.

Review: I really wanted to love this book, and for the most part, I liked Julia's writing, but Honor, OMG, I think the only heroine that I disliked as much as her is Bella Swan.

Yeah, that's how much I didn't like Honor Cabot. She's selfish, spoiled and just really unlikable. She is all about "Me" and though some of her actions are understandable, lie wanting to protect her mother, who either has a brain injury from an accident awhile back or some form of dementia.

I've read books about asylums in this period, and I can totally feel for her, about wanting her mother's health to remain private.

Then there's George. I liked him, but I couldn't grasp why a man that was obviously relatively intelligent would fall for her scheme? It just didn't make any good sense.

The only character I really liked was Monica, and she was supposed to be the villain, though you learn fairly early on, it isn't really her that is the nasty one.

Monica is pretty level headed, which is nice to see in contrast to Honor. I couldn't form an opinion on any of the other Cabot girls, because they pretty much faded into the background, obviously to await their own story.

I liked that the heat level of this book was low. Yes, there were some spicy scenes, but they didn't sit well with me. I wished Julia could have kept with the old fashioned writing style of regency romance, which is little to no sex. Plus, Honor didn't seem to grasp that once she had sex with George that she was ruined. That didn't make sense. But then again, Honor really didn't seem to understand that there could be consequences to her actions.

This was a pleasant read, but not a great one, but I will stay check out Grace's story when it comes out.

Rating: 3 flowers