by Lisa Kleypas
Series: The Ravenels #6
Published on February 18, 2020 by Avon
ISBN: 9780062371942
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance, Romance
Everything has a price...
Railway magnate Tom Severin is wealthy and powerful enough to satisfy any desire as soon as it arises. Anything—or anyone—is his for the asking. It should be simple to find the perfect wife—and from his first glimpse of Lady Cassandra Ravenel, he’s determined to have her. But the beautiful and quick-witted Cassandra is equally determined to marry for love—the one thing he can’t give.
Everything except her...
Severin is the most compelling and attractive man Cassandra has ever met, even if his heart is frozen. But she has no interest in living in the fast-paced world of a ruthless man who always plays to win.
When a newfound enemy nearly destroys Cassandra’s reputation, Severin seizes the opportunity he’s been waiting for. As always, he gets what he wants—or does he? There’s one lesson Tom Severin has yet to learn from his new bride:
Never underestimate a Ravenel.
The chase for Cassandra’s hand may be over. But the chase for her heart has only just begun...
Review
| Knight's Judgment | |
|---|---|
| Plot | |
| Characters | |
| Writing Style | |
| Cover | |
| Enjoyment | |
| Overall: | |
I don’t usually have romances on my anticipated releases lists because I tend to find them as they come out BUT Chasing Cassandra was one of those exceptions. I really enjoyed the first 5 books in the Ravenels series and couldn’t wait to read this one, especially because it featured Severin who was such an interesting side character in the previous installments. And I enjoyed it, I did. It just… wasn’t as amazing as I expected.
So the set-up is a marriage of convenience which I tend to like as a whole, and I think I would have liked it here too if it had happened sooner. What happened instead was a rushed attempt at a budding romance between Cassandra and Severin with multi-month time jumps before anything really moves forward. I was frustrated at the lack of a clear story. Most of the plot revolves around brief interactions between the two where they’re either mooning over each other or bantering. And beyond a side story where Severin takes in a street urchin and “learns” human emotion, the story itself was all but non-existent.
But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy Chasing Cassandra. I loved the back-and-forth dialogue when it lasted for more than a moment, and the romance had plenty of heat. I flew through the book in a few hours and found it the perfect escape from the real world, but it was definitely a surface-level read when it comes to anymore more than that romantic escape.
I guess I never really cared what happened with Cassandra. She’s a perfectly fine character and a good balance for Severin but nothing about her was interesting to me. Cassandra is a sweet young woman who sees what the reserved “emotionless” Severin can’t. And I really didn’t like how much emphasis was put on her eating habits and weight. It comes up often, both from those around her as well as her own thoughts. I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance so focused on the heroine’s weight like that and I can’t speak to the way it was handled but I wasn’t a fan.
And Severin felt ALL over the place. In the past books, he was a well-defined character and maybe it was the fact that we see his vulnerable side in Chasing Cassandra but it felt like he was flipping back and forth between two distinct personalities. I like his character a lot and wished it was a smoother transition.
All that said, I did like Chasing Cassandra and I’d definitely recommend the Ravenels series as a whole for historical romance fans. They’re consistently good and definitely make me want to check out her other series!
Book dragons love comments!