What a Scoundrel Wants

As per contest guidelines, I will now give a review of the won book: What a Scoundrel Wants, by Carrie Lofty. There is a link here, at BN, for those of you interested. Just $3.99 without a member discount, and $3.59 with!



I have to confess I am late on everything this year, including this review, since the Holidays took over, and I'm picking up shifts at work. So, while having read the book a bit ago, I am just now posting. So if things seem a bit fuzzy, that's why. My copy is also upstairs while I sit cozily downstairs on the couch awaiting dinner. :)

So, the description. The book is about Will Scarlett, nephew of the Robin Hood, and how he has issues with Robin and himself. He meets a less than reputable woman who happens to be blind - Meg. They, of course, fall in love after quite a long time, but have various issues in romance and with Nottingham. Will is being set up and has to clear his name with the aid of Meg.

My points that I want to cover are as follows, when there is a giant SPOILER don't read it for obvious reasons...

1. I didn't like the characters at first. Both have moral issues, Meg seemingly more than Will, and I have trouble liking characters that aren't "nice". I am a boring traditionalist in my characters, I know, and I'm sure it says something lacking about my own character or something - I hate psychology. Will made me mad because he was being an immature dork towards Robin, AND he was originally working for the bad guy. Seriously, Will, after Robin Hood raised you, seriously? And Meg, she's kind of a bitch, and while she has reason to be, it angered me. It also angered me (although not at her but for her) that she was used by that one dude whose name started with an H that I can't remember. Love and sex and all that. :( But, I did eventually get into them. It took a little, and only in the sense of being able to like them, but I did. They changed for the better, and it made the book good for me.
2. I'm not a fan of historical characters. This one is more a preference, so for those of you who don't like them either, that's what it is about. It wasn't done badly, just not my preference.
3. I hated the sister. It makes me really not want to read the book on her, the sequal. Granted, she hung the flowers in the home, which speaks of a buried tenderness. Same issue here, I don't like morally despicably characters. I'm sure she will change, but (SPOILER) it didn't seem in the preview of the next book that she would get with Jacob, which made me sad. She also never thanked her sister, ever! And, she hated Will for chucking her into jail, but she was doing something illegal. :( (END SPOILER) I dunno, I just don't like her too much.
4. SPOILER! When Will was captured and hanging from the pull, and he killed him by (I assume) breaking his neck, he came back later. Explanation? Was he not dead? Was this supposed to be Dryden or something?
5. Great job with Dryden. Nice. :)
6. SPOILER - Marian kind of made me mad. She was part of the reason why Will had issues, and she just let him live with it, and get him in trouble with everyone he knew. Real shitty.
7. SPOILER - I liked when Meg was ditched in the woods near the end.
8. SPOILER - it didn't seem like Finch played too big of part, and it seemed like he should have. He's the sheirff, typical Robin Hood aspect.
9. I liked Meg's work. Cool stuff. Village people piss me off. Prejudiced smhucks.
10. There's more, but I'm having trouble remembering it all...
11. I like how we didn't have to wait forever for sex. Yeah, I know. Honestly, it's not the reason why I read these books, but based on their romance it was nice to have a change.
12. I liked the dog. :) Too bad he wasn't in there more.
13. Little John, stinky? I wanted him clean! Like the bear in the Disney version... :)
14. I liked the interaction between Will and Meg, even though I didn't really like either one at first.
15. That's all I can think of right now. I'll add more later if I can think of it.

Overall opinion, good book, well written. It didn't take long to get into it, even though it took me a bit to get into the characters. It didn't draw me in like a book that I wanted to read in a day, but it was good. Interesting book. The ending was a bit rushed though, it seemed like; all the development, which was good development, was in the beginning, but it left the ending feeling a bit hollow. I don't know if extending the ending would have made it better, or if just more development would have been better. Maybe more of the sister? I dunno. The climax didn't seem to be near the ending, but more the end of the middle. I also don't know if I shall buy another book of this author. It was serious. For those of you who have read Julie Garwood, you know what I'm looking for - lighthearted. This was good, but a bit more serious, which certainly isn't bad, just not what I was looking for.

If anyone has any questions, feel free and ask. I would recommend the book to those who like this type of genre. It was a good book.

THANK YOU ANN AND CARRIE FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS BOOK!!!! If either of you have any other questions that you want me to answer, feel free and ask!

~Nicole M.