I liked and enjoyed the characters but I found the story ...
924927
When John returns to Italy to find a wife, Jane seizes the opportunity to move to America.  John, a worker at the Ford factories, and Jane live in a boarding house along with several other immigrants.  Jane quickly befriends Hannah, the mistress of the house, who helps expand Jane's world.

I have mixed feelings about the book.  I liked and enjoyed the characters but I found the story itself very unsatisfying.  The author spent a lot of time analyzing the characters, which she should have left up to the reader.  The story itself was a bit dull, lacking vibrancy and excitement.  Overall, not a book I would re-read or recommend.
199710
I liked the idea of this story. Altered-DNA super-men that were created for a purpose, but they just want to live their lives.

I liked Cora's character. She is truly a good person, you want to root for her the whole time. I hated how she blamed herself and how others blamed her. Yet she didn't treat them differently no matter how they treated her. Gavin was jerk and she let him be like that with her because she thought she deserved it. I didn't like that she let him walk all over her though.

I'm not sure how I feel about Gavin. I'm not sure he deserved Cora's love. I think he could have done a bit more redeeming for my preference. I liked reading his interactions with his family, it was when I actually liked him. I felt bad about his loss but didn't like how he used Cora or how he either didn't see or didn't care what he was doing to her every time he was with her and repeated that one sentence.

The story was certainly full of drama and intrigue. Not knowing what was going to happen next kept me engaged and reading. The pacing was consistent and the writing was well done. I could easily visualize the change Gavin went through because Angela wrote it clearly.

I loved the brothers and hope to read their stories next.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
1511374
I enjoyed the story but wish there could be an "ending" rather than a lead up to the next book.
4015741
The  idea of the story was good and I really enjoyed the twists and turns in the narrative. However the characters were stiff and a little one dimensional. Having said that, I did enjoy the book and I think this author will get better.
4402468
I enjoyed this book and very much liked the story. Unfortunately, I read it before reading Silk. I was able to follow the story and appreciate the characters (speaking of - that is one of the main reasons why Kiernan is one of my favorite authors - she expertly draws flawed characters and compels your empathy for them, even if you don't *like* them) and their roles in it, but I think the story and characters would have been richer if I had the foundation of the first book.

I'd like to give it 3.5 stars, and I really wish Amazon would enable such an option. My rating may change to 4 stars once I read Silk...
4680281
I was given this book for an honest review and it took me a bit to think of how to put this. It was a good story and i loved the idea behind it but somethings just were too confusing for me. Like the relationship between the main character and her mom. It never really gave a good explanation as to why the mother had treated her this way and her father was basically not caring enough to even stand up for her he just went along with it. Her personality was a bit lacking but aside from that it was a good story and it left me wanting to read book 2.
620834
The writing style is a little dry, but I liked the characters and the story.  Marin and Elissa are so distrustful at the beginning it was almost too easy for them to change.  Overall it was worth the read.
3717783
I liked the story and the writing style. I looked at the other reviews particularly the ones of 1 star saying scam. This had me confused. Although I enjoyed the book and character, I would not buy another as I felt I had just read half of the story and would have to pay to read the rest. I am not sure why with a good story to tell the author has chosen to go this route except to sell more books. He lost me.
1948029
It was a good story, though I thought it was a little drawn out at moments. It would probably be a more attractive to a younger audience, perhaps middle school to early high school. I liked the premise. Jen Maddox was a likable character on her semester long study cruise. It doesn't take long for her to meet a group of students who are much more than they seem. Once she sees something that she wasn't meant to see, she discovers that she, herself, is more than she realized. In an effort to find out what is really going on with this group of students, she is met with magical creatures that shouldn't exist, creatures that are bent on destroying this group of individuals along with her.

I read this book as part of a reading group and liked the premise. There were details of the countries and places Jen visited that I found interesting. However, instead of including so many insignificant details about each location, it would have been nice if she had concentrated on some of the details the reader may have been more interested in. Also, I found Jen to act more weak and immature than she actually needed to be. I think her character could have been more developed than it was. I thought the author lost focus on some of the characters and skipped through some of the interactions that needed more concentration. At moments, I was left confused and wanted her to delved into the characters' feelings and motivations more. But it was decent story. I'd be interested in the lives of some of the background characters and the relationship between her and Thomas.
4402822
I enjoyed the characters and the story, I was pleasantly surprised.
4543714
I liked the story and the premise but I felt like it was missing something. I'm not sure if it was the writing or if I just needed more to the story?
4831259
There were things I liked about this book and things I was left scratching my head over. While the good definitely outweighed the head scratching moments,they were present and they took me out of the story a bit.

I liked the overall story and the mythology of the Seers and Guardians. In fact, the mythology was very cool and kept the story moving. My biggest issue came from the idea that if someone was keeping an eye on Izzy the whole time and they knew who she was, why wasn't she exposed earlier? They knew what she was capable of, why not hand her over the first chance they got?

Frankly, I got tangled up thinking about that and about the betrayal/betrayer and got sucked out of the story.

I liked Kennan for the most part. I don't think he was particularly right in keeping the truth about Izzy's heritage from her, especially when he could see the signs coming, and he's not the best at explaining things until after the fact, but he was a good guy. I wasn't enamored of Ian when he first flailed his way on page. BUT... I can see how Izzy needed someone around who was a little less intense than Kennan.

As for Izzy, she doesn't always make the smartest choices, but she isn't willing to sit back and do nothing. And that matters.

Enjoyable for the most part, I just got hung up on betrayals and inept minions. Which could be an entirely me-thing, I'll admit.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
1542148
I liked this story and the characters. Some of the writing was repetitive but the overall read was enjoyable. This book was free but I liked it well enough to buy another book by Ms. Harrison.
1621218
I liked the story and give it 4 stars because the story line is just enough different from so many of the rather soppy regencies that I did become caught up in it.

There were many parts that were just so improbable for that time and place that it just did not come up to 5-star rating but that's just my opinion.  I have read many regency novels that were written at that time and during the previous era as well as any number of "modern" regency offerings during the past fifty-plus years. (I grew up in a family of avid readers, including my great grandmother who was born early in Queen Victoria's reign, and her parents were alive during the regency.)

It is romantic but in my opinion such a story could use a little more humor.
2652488
Interesting story and well written. I enjoyed the book and liked the characters.  My only but....is that I think you ended the story a little less detailed than I would have liked...but a good story..I will read more by this author.
814693
I wanted to like this book but found myself liking the characters more than the story.  I usually finish a book in a day or so.  This took me about a week.
3893071
I enjoyed this book but, like so many others who have reviewed this book, I too wish there was more to the story.  I was surprised to find at the end of the story an explanation by the author as to why the story was a bit choppy and areas of the lives of the main characters were cut short or left out to speed the story along.  "The story was this way to offer my readers an introduction to the my books at an affordable price." It just seems like it has so much more potential to be a deeply compelling story if all the scenes were fully developed and not hurried though.  The same goes for the characters.  The authors offers the idea of maybe a sequel someday.  Good book, good story idea just know it is written this way on purpose.