Review: The Audrey Hepburn Estate by Brenda Janowitz

The Audrey Hepburn Estate

by Brenda Janowitz

Release Date: April 18, 2023

2023 Graydon House

Kindle Edition; 368 Pages

ISBN: 978-1525811487

ASIN: B09!JCV1WX

Audiobook: B098QR24MP

Genre: Fiction / Historical / Romance

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

1.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

When Emma Jansen discovers that the grand Long Island estate where she grew up is set to be demolished, she can't help but return for one last visit. But once Emma arrives at the storied mansion, she can't ignore the more complicated memories. Because that's not exactly where Emma grew up. Her mother and father worked for the family that owned the estate, and they lived over the garage like Audrey Hepburn's character in the film Sabrina. 

And when the house reveals a shattering secret about her own family, she’ll have to decide what kind of life she really wants for herself now and who she wants to be in it.

 

My Thoughts

The Audrey Hepburn Estate is one of those books I thought I would like as I love Audrey Hepburn as well as the original Sabrina movie, but man, was this a difficult book to get through.  In hindsight, I should have just called it a day about halfway through as Emma, the main character, just grew more annoying as the book progressed and the plot was one hot mess.  I guess that teaches me to read a romance novel when I typically read thrillers, fantasy, and horror novels.

 

Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried, I just could not connect with the main character, Emma. I felt she had little character development as she still behaved exactly the same way she did at thirty that she did at eight years old.  Her decision-making skills just made me want to scream and I was constantly shaking my head at her choices. Personally, I couldn't care less which man she chose (as they had not personality either), but it was her reasoning behind it that bothered me to the nth degree.  Maybe I am being too tough on this character, but I am getting increasingly frustrated by authors who write female MC who are...pathetic. Of course we all make dumb choices in our lives, but Emma lives in a fairy-tale world, and because there is some supposed loose connection between this estate and Audrey Hepburn, we are supposed to accept her decisions based on this world? No way. Open your eyes and see what is in front of you. Also, get off your high horse and be gracious when someone does something nice for you. That one scene where Emma walks out on Henry when he takes her out for dinner, but it's not a high-end one so she takes it personally? I just wanted to slap her.  Yes, he did some stupid things as a teenager, but you are now ADULTS!!!

So, now we come to Henry and Leo.  I was supposed to root for Leo, I think? The author went out of her way to make us feel like Henry was the awful person when the whole time I was thinking, drop her ass Henry and find someone else.  And Leo has his own long-time girlfriend, someone who was supposedly really nice?  I should have counted to number of times I rolled my eyes. 

The plot was actually interesting in the beginning, but the execution deteriorated from about the twenty-five percent mark.  The timeline threw me off as well as Emma's father was supposedly a cook in a concentration camp so the math just didn't seem to work for me, especially as she mentioned technology that has only existed in the past ten years.  Using Emma's failed relationships with both men to propel the story was weak at best, and the way she treats these men as a grown-up, using what she suffered as a child as her excuse, was annoying to say the least.  There were so many themes that were left unexplored in this book, but to ignore Henry and Emma's relationship as teenagers, the exploration of that, was wrong on many levels.  

 

Verdict

The Audrey Hepburn House was disappointing, to say the least.  The title is deceptive as it has nothing to do with Audrey Hepburn other than inspiring a house from one her movies, Sabrina. Emma was such a weak character that I could not connect to her at all and I thought her behaviour was childish and immature.  She was taken advantage of by Henry as a teenager and I wish the author had explored that theme in this book rather than overlook it, but most themes went unexplored in this book and you were just supposed to accept that Emma wanted this fairy-tale world no matter her behaviour. Unfortunately, I struggled throughout this book, hoping it would get better, but it never did.

 

Review: A Duke in Time by Janna MacGregor

A Duke in Time (The Widow Rules, Book #1)

by Janna MacGregor

Release Date: June 29, 2021

2021 St. Martin's Paperbacks

Kindle Edition; 366 Pages

ISBN: 978-1250761590

ASIN: B08FZ8B348

Audiobook: B08YLDWC75

Genre: Fiction / Historical / Romance

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Katherine Vareck is in for the shock of her life when she learns upon her husband Meri's accidental death that he had married two other women. Her entire business, along with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a royal supplier, is everything she's been working for and now could be destroyed if word leaks about the three wives.

Meri's far more upstanding brother, Christian, Duke of Randford has no earthly clue how to be of assistance. He spent the better part of his adult years avoiding Meri and the rest of his good-for-nothing family, so to be dragged back into the fold is…problematic. Even more so is the intrepid and beautiful Katherine, whom he cannot be falling for because she's Meri's widow. Or can he?

 

My Thoughts

A Duke in Time is the first book in The Widow Rules series, and I have to say, the first chapter really does open with quite an interesting scene. I thought the concept was intriguing, and I did like the characters for the most part, but remove the trappings of regency England, and you could just as well be reading a contemporary romance.  There is historical leniency in a lot of these romance novels, but I did feel like this one pushed it a bit too far.

I definitely liked Katherine as a main character, even if I thought she was way too modern for this time period.  She was kind-hearted, tough, determined, and loyal, but there were moments where I actually rolled my eyes.  I couldn't help it.  Empowering women is one thing, but convincing them they can do anything they want during this time period is modern thinking, not Regency thinking, and it bothered me when I saw this, not once, but over and over again. No, women could not do whatever they wanted, and telling children they can grow up to be whatever they wanted is definitely not something that would be common during this time period, especially for children who didn't know who their fathers were.  And it completely contradicted the other story line running through this book; women who now desperately needed a husband, or whatever, so they wouldn't be ruined when the truth came out.  

 

There always has to be this big 'secret' that comes between our lovers, and naturally, this book had one as well.  I did feel like the author was really stretching it here though as I didn't buy it.  And Katherine had a witness, so it just didn't work for me.  When a secret works, it can create some rather interesting dialogues and story lines, and some interesting times for the reader, but when it doesn't, it just seems silly, and I'm sorry, but this one was silly.  I was also frustrated by the whole Meri situation and would have loved to get an answer for what happened there; after reading this book, I just don't understand how Katherine would have married him.  

I didn't mind the plot too much, but I will never be a fan of insta-love.  I have read some of this author's work before and prefer the slower-burn of her other books.  I also thought the duke's introduction didn't match the personality she developed for him later on.  I get that he was confused over his brother's actions and that he didn't want anything to do with him, but he was also a duke and family responsibility is drummed into you from childbirth. He slowly grew on me though, but I'm not really sure I bought completely into their romance.  And while they did have chemistry, it needed to be developed and grown. The steamy sections kind of covered up the lack of relationship growth, but I have to say, the author definitely did a great job discussing the types of linens that were available during this time period during these scenes without taking away from the 'steam'.

Verdct

A Duke in Time is a well-written romance: the so-called secrets and the issues with Meri made the book a bit tougher to get through than I would have liked, and I just didn't buy into some of the story line and some of the reasons for why the characters behaved the way they did.  I'm not a fan of using miscommunication, or lack of communication, as a plot device, especially for grown adults who are so organized in other facets of their lives.  I did however, lover the other two wives and am looking forward to reading their stories in future books.