You guys, I so LOVED this book!! I mean, I already suspected I was going to because hello, it's Sophie Jordan and her historical romances are among the best in my humble opinion, but that I would stay up till 2AM to finish it? Yeah, I hadn't expected that.I love Sophie Jordan, her writing is always spot on and engaging and just makes me BE there in the moment with the characters with my heart racing, breath hitching, stomach clenching and just all of that good stuff! And How To Lose A Bride In One Night really brings all of these elements and I just loved it! It is a bit darker than her other romances in that some horrible things have happened in both the hero's and the heroine's lives and they are slightly broken because of it. But it was still beautiful.
I really liked Annalise. She was so naive at the start and she loses that and gains some street savvy and just more confidence and a better sense of herself as a person throughout the novel. I loved that after she wakes up in a gypsy tent after being tossed overboard by her new husband, she decides she's not going to be a victim again. It takes a few tries to get there and to truly be strong and now cower in a corner, but she gets it and I respect that.
And guys, our hero Owen is just so beautifully broken! I mean, I know there are people who are attracted to this and want to fix things, I'm not really one of them, but I just wanted to hug him and tell him it would be alright. He has a good soul and it has seen some awful things, many of them from his own doing and he's decided love and marriage aren't for him because of it. He owns up to his brokenness and he was just so trying to do the right thing by Annalise and I really thought he was exceptionally patient, not pushing her for details on her life before he found her. I probably wouldn't have been that considerate.
These two butt heads beautifully! It was really sweet to see them grow more and more towards each other and falling in love and it takes WEEKS! YAYYYY! I mean, you can't tell me you love someone you've met yesterday, that is just bogus and these two take their time falling in love and it is AWESOME! I had tears in my eyes for so many of the scenes and not even just the obvious ones! Sometimes there would just be a line that would make my heart clench!
Oh, and can I just say that I am absolutely horrified by the original tale that inspired this book and that I'm much more satisfied with the way this one ended and that I can totally understand her having to explain to her daughter that no, that is not how it should be!
So I stayed up till 2AM to finish this because I could just not put it down! And the boyfriend was even sound asleep next to me (usually this triggers my sleep switch as well) and I STILL just kept on reading and it was GLORIOUS! There were real problems and just GAH GO READ IT! IT IS SO GOOD!
My rating: 5 stars
Made me crave: it was the middle of the night, I don't really eat then