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It's a shame that a book with such a clever, unique blurb turned out so bog standard. Every HR trope appears to have been tossed into a blender and spat out into a plodding, confusing mess. Including, but not limited to, the following:
Gambling family member who has lost the family fortune
Heroine must marry for money
Ugly duckling (mildly "disfigured" heroine treated like the Elephant Man)
Poor boy made good
Pining ex-lover
Love triangle
Love at first sight
Reunited childhood sweethearts
Meddling aunts
Mysterious past
Reformed thief
Fake names
Buried treasure
Plot moppet
Secret baby
Blackmail
It's incredibly uneven, starting off well but dragging through the middle. Then there are a half dozen sex scenes that all take place in the last quarter. Weirdly paced.
Sophie and Russ are fine characters, but they didn't light my world on fire. I understand the plot is that Sophie is torn between the girl she was and the woman she thinks she should be, but I still found her characterization spotty and inconsistent. I never felt there was a reason Russ had searched for her for so long.
Again, it's not a bad book, just far more boring than the blurb would lead me to believe.
