Review: Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean
I finished this book about two minutes ago, and I am absolutely buzzing. This book was a delight.
This is an excellent follow-up to Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake; we follow the hero of that book's twin brother, Nick, and Isabel, the daughter of a disgraced (and recently deceased) Earl. This book does not have the same issues with being overfull, and its social commentary is less clumsy. It also has the same delightful emotionality and fast pace.
I really loved the side characters in this book. There have been many historical romances where I have been deeply uncomfortable with the way the author writes household staff; I very much did not have that issue with this book. I had so much fun reading the interactions between Isabel and her staff, who are basically a small commune.
I haven't read very many romances with a side romance, but I really liked the side romance in this book. The side romance is an interracial romance, and I do feel like I want to read about how non-white readers felt about it. I loved the two characters in this relationship and would absolutely love to read a historical romance written by a South Asian author.
I thought there was going to be a very cool secret that didn't exist, but that is okay; I was just so sure I was correct. And I was very much not. I thought that Isabel was going to have actually been her bothers biological mother, and that was why she felt so responsible for her family falling apart. This wasn't the case, but I really did feel like that was being set up. I was wrong; I shall admit defeat. I do think this would have been more emotionally resonant, but I 100% see why this was not the case.
My only real issue with this book was that the middle lagged a tad. It wasn't terrible; I just lost some of the need to keep turning pages that I am used to having while reading this author's work. This was not at all the case with the beginning or end of the book. I absolutely was propelled through the majority of this story. I almost feel like knocking off a star for this is unfair, but I do think it is honest.
This book made me cry so much. So. Much. Sarah MacLean will absolutely shatter your feelings. I mostly cried when Nick was interacting with Isabel's little brother, James. It is truly precious, and I was very, very invested in this relationship. When James wore Nick's cravat, I cannot explain how deeply delighted I was. MacLean is truly excellent at making the reader feel all the emotions. I loved all of the fraught parent feelings. It was truly a highlight of the book seeing how MacLean built these families and the ramifications of these relationships in these two characters' interactions. I was so invested in this couple.
I gave this book four stars. I am very excited to keep reading MacLean's novels, and continue my historical romance experiment in general.
