Marianna

I finished it! My Review: 5 stars!

Here are my updates:

First snow just started in Kolpino, St. Petersburg, Russia. The kids are crazy happy.

I'm gonna tuck in with some hot chocolate(winter has come!) and read.

"She wasn’t one of the young ladies he’d met in the crowded hall earlier. Those had all been beauties, hoping to catch his eye. And she—whoever she was—was not a beauty. Her dark hair was swept into a no-nonsense knot at the back of her neck. Her lips were thin and her nose was sharp and a bit on the long side. She was dressed in a dark blue gown trimmed in ivory—no lace, no ribbons, just simple fabric. Even the cut of her gown bordered on the severe side: waist pulled in so tightly he wondered how she could breathe, sleeves marching from her shoulders to her wrists without an inch of excess fabric to soften the picture." 

I'm really liking the fact that she's not beautiful.

"There was something boyish about his good looks: a hint of shyness in his smile, a leanness to his frame. Or maybe it was the way that he looked away from her so quickly and then glanced back."

I'm starting to truly feel the chemistry between them. So good.

10%

“They’re magnificent.”
I was not expecting this from him. That's done it. I'm in love.

50%

"It was stupid to say that his heart had been broken by a pair of people he’d never met. It was even more idiotic that it was true. But for months after, every time he thought of that moment, he felt a sharp sense of loss. As if they really had been his family, and he’d lost them all at once under tragic circumstances."

*sob* Just let me hug you, Robert!

60%

"...But… I told you, I know him. He’s rather too persistent for a bare refusal.” The woman looked off into the distance, as if remembering something. Her lips compressed in distaste. “He tries, and he tries, and he tries again. With Robert, he won’t give up until you slap him in the face as hard as you can. Betray him once, and he’ll never look your way again.”

Oh God, NO!

70%

“I can’t even look at you right now. Get out."

The first thing in this book that feels contrived. I think there was enough drama without adding that.

75%

"Is this going to be like one of those dreadful novels where you warn me not to fall in love with you, and if I do, then you’ll turn into Bluebeard and try to lop my head off?"

Ha! Funny.

80%

I don't think I'll be spoiling anyone if I say that they get married. This is a romance after all. The first marriage night, however, is a surprise. I freaking LOVE it!

100%That ending is just wonderful. I'm so happy I read this!