An Heiress for His Empire by Lucy Monroe

My rating: 3.25 of 5 stars


A well-written book but almost zero tension.  Everytime I thought the author had managed to build an angle for HP-style tension, it was quickly diffused.  I feel that there was a lot of potential here.  Tough-minded executive hero of Russian heritage, poor little rich girl with daddy issues, forced marriage scenario.  But it turns out where everyone is really nice to each other, and even though Viktor blew off Madison years ago and they weren't friends in the interim, it takes a short discussion to clear all that up.  A slightly longer discussion has them agreeing to get married. Sex works out perfectly, and while Viktor has sowed his wild oats, Madison has kept her aged hymenal status for an incredible to believe twenty-four years.  I'm being a bit sarcastic, but that was a big irritating that such a huge deal was made about her being a virgin so long.  Yeah, I know that most people aren't virgins into their twenties, I think that way too much of a deal was made of it. And I found it irritating that while Madison couldn't feel that way about other men, Viktor was able to have his share of sexual attachments in the interim. When asked why he didn't take her up on her offer at eighteen, his answer is too glib for my tastes. "It's marriage or nothing with you."  But I guess women who aren't Madison can be used to slake his sexual urges with no emotional entanglement. *Rolls eyes."  I'm all for virginity.  I like virgin heroines.  But I really hate that double standard for men.  It sticks in my craw.  Your mileage my vary. Of course after marriage, declarations of love occur equally smoothly.  It's all too smooth for me.

Yeah, that's the problem. Everything felt too copacetic in this book.  I guess that would be fine if you were looking for an easygoing romance where everything is assured, despite a sticky beginning.  I wasn't.

I did like the descriptions of Viktor's grandparents Russian marriage customs, and the family drama aspect almost created more tension, almost.

I think this is a perfectly fine book if you're in that headspace where you don't want too much drama and tension. But usually, I reach for a Harlequin Presents because that's exactly what I'm looking for. So it failed to meet my needs.

I would say that this is worthy of 3.5 stars.  I took off a star and a half because there's practically no tension and the obnoxious virginity hype/double standard was irritating.

Not bad, just not very exciting.



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