Non-traditional Sherlock Holmes with an unlikeable main character. If your a romance fan you'll be like this.
599013
If I could give 1/2 a star I would. I was hoping for a fun adventure featuring Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell... Instead I read a story that was so slow to read, I almost gave up within a hundred pages. The writer introduces Mary Russell, she was instantly obnoxious and arrogant. I can see what L.King was trying to do, establish Mary Russell as the young female version of Sherlock. However, this reader found Mary to be unlikable, rude and without substance. Then L.King  establishes a bond between Sherlock and Mary, and begins to build on that relationship by having them team up to solve a few small mysteries. None of the small stories are entertaining or reminiscent of traditional Holmes adventures and last 10-20 pages. Once you finally get into the larger murder mystery it's dry, without the cleverness or cunning you'd expect to see from Holmes ... or in this case Mary. The story withdraw allow you to examine clues or attempt to solve the mystery yourself. Once the ending drew near the bond between Sherlock and Mary grows into an almost sick romantic relationship. If you like romance novels read this drivel. If your looking for a traditional pastiche .. Keep looking cause you'll be horribly disappointed.
266439
A poor imitation of a Sherlock Holmes mystery.  I found it rather boring and slow reading.
2232965
Horrible main characters!!! Conceited male lead and whiny unrealistic dramatic female lead are the setups to a horrible book.  I particularly disliked the fact that Luca knew he was all mighty and powerful, but no one knew his potential.  He had no real advantage when he was in a fight (that was described).  Chloe was the ultimate annoyance epitomized! No one acts the way she does, it's unrealistic and impossible.  PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. I had a really hard time getting over these two characters and couldn't get into the plot.
3077640
I received this book from the author and Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock for my honest review. Charlotte and Joanna a r e the female version of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. The book doesn't specify what year this takes place, but I believe it's the late 1800's, but I am horrible at dates! The women are approached by a woman looking for her missing husband. So the hunt for clues begin. I'm not a big fan of books that have the old world English, it's just so hard to understand! The characters are ok. I just couldn't relate to them , and no not because they were lovers. I just can't place my finger on why. Despite all this the plot of the story was good, and how they solved the mystery. This was the first book in the series but because it's not my style of reading I won't read the next one. There was some explicit sex scenes so only mature readers should read this. So with everything I've said I'm only giving this book a 3 star rating based on the plot alone.
101029
Horrible conceited main character.  Doesn't give a damn if the man she hurts loves her.  Poorly written and badyl plotted.
363054
The main character Elizabeth is not a sympathetic character.

I relly disliked her and it took away from teh rest of the story.

Some of the other characters were far more interesting.

Skip this book and look for another.
2696895
Actually, maybe too many twists.  Neither Holmes nor Russell are in it very much so not as interesting as I had hopped.  Would not recommend it if you're looking for a Holmes/Russell story.
4813802
Not my type of mystery, to much focus on the romance in the first chapters. It got to the point were I was skimming the pages to get to the twist and turn parts of the story. By the end I could have cared less who the villains were. I do not know if reading the first two books in the series would have helped or turned me off of this one.
2605720
This book does not belong in the romance category. It is about a woman finding religion and MAYBE love. By the end of the book, she has had one date and not even a kiss. The love interes is a handsome doctor, which seem to be his only appealing characteristics. Lame book.
1655970
I agree with Les Bell, except I give only two stars. My biggest problem was that the characters had no substance, no unique humanity.  This was especially evident in the relationship between the detective and his girlfriend.  He would come home from work exhausted, and she would feed him, sympathize, say she loved him, and lay out his clothes for him the next say.  Next day, tbe same thing without any meaningful development of their relationship or their personalities.  (His dog does not have a personality either.)

The book is more like a case file than a novel.  I will not be reading the next book in this series.
2411873
I have realized that every spin off of Sherlock Holmes disappoints me greatly (I am an ardent fan of the BBC series with Jeremy Brett as Holmes).

I do not intend to spoil the plot and hence I shall write no more about the mystery.

On the bright side, they have tried hard to do justice to Sherlock Holmes whimpsies, e.g, fencing, the hat, existence of Mycroft et al.

This one simply adds to my big fat collection of Sherlock Holmes DVDs. I won't dispose of it, but I won't be watching it for the second time either.
4939424
A too innocent, too noble and too unbelievable heroine.  A mean hero who uses her sexually but treats her cruelly.  These are two things I hate in a romance.  I won't even talk about the plot which is full of holes.  I did not like this at all!
2464173
The premise for this novel, although not original, was intriguing, woman loses her memory, etc. and someone is out to kill her.  Sounds like a lot of fun, but this story quickly degenerated into a "Romance" novel with totally unlikeable and cartoonish characters and not enough mystery.  If you are into "Romance" novels you might like this novel but if you aren't beware.

There should be warnings stuck to the titles of books-For example-Warning! This is a Romance Novel masquerading as a mystery suspense novel. I love Mystery/Suspense novels and despise "Romance" novels.  I like romantic novels, but to my mind these so-called Romance novels are never romantic.  I think that I have been sucked into reading Lisa Jackson before and hated that book too.  I read a lot of books and will have to make a list of authors I dislike- Lisa Jackson will head that list.
708243
Characters are not interesting. I'd read the other two in the series so had to finish this one. Won't read the next.
38672
Not my kind of romance. This was not your typical alpha male. He was insensitive and sexually creepy. There were times when his inability to communicate made him seem as if he had Asbergers syndrome.  I could not relate and felt no romance between the pair.
1482688
This is not a mystery - it is a romance novel.  The plot is simplistic and unbelievable.  The characters are just okay in development and the dialogue can be trite. Three quarters through I completely lost interest and had to stop listening (Audible).
4005314
Maybe skip the book if you know anything about abusive relationships, or find abuse to be strangely unromantic.  It's pretty bad, even for a romance novel.

I had read book 2, awhile ago.  I remembered the plot as two strong private investigators, one an upper-lower class Bow Street Runner, the other a lower-upper class society widow, with a secret relationship that did not need marriage.  I remembered it as full of two-way respect and strong female gumption.

So I'm more than a little bemused to find that in book 1, the 'hero' is outright abusive.  He sure ticks off the red flags of an abusive relationship.  He is not a hero, he is a manipulative person who destroys women without compunction, and uses his superior strength to cow and coerce and instill fear in women.  Pretty sickening.

She's stranded in Rome after the socialite she was a paid companion for took off. She stayed afloat with starting an antiques and souvenir shop.  So in comes this detective who literally SMASHES EVERYTHING IN HER SHOP and forces her to leave.  He literally destroys her livelihood, through criminal destruction of her property, and forces her to leave her home with only the things she can grab in 10 minutes.

So then she is back in London, ekeing out a careful life and trying to put her niece through a season so she has a future.  He barges in, sees that she has set herself up as a private detective and has more information than he does.  Oh, and he wants her sexually and hasn't stopped talking about her (even though he hasn't tried in any way to right the wrong he did by destroying her livelihood and forcing her to leave her home and shop).

So to win her over, he treats her with contempt, throwing her business card at her and saying she's either crazy or stupid.  Lovely, sir.

Then he decides they should be business partners (because his wanting it and his hidden sexual desire are more important than what she wants and needs), and when she hesitates because he doesn't seem that good at his job and oh yeah he destroyed her life in a terrifying violent way, he HOLDS HER OFF THE GROUND UNTIL SHE AGREES TO HIS DEMANDS.  I'm not even joking.

So now they're partners.  Except when a client comes to see her, he insults her and undermines her authority TO THE CLIENT by saying that she is not actually a partner - even though he had just physically restrained her by his much stronger body into agreeing to be his partner - but that she was actually his assistant.

In the end, they bicker and then become lovers, because women must accede to a man's desires even if that man is an abuser, and solve the mystery.  But realistically, this is not a romance novel.  It's a fictionalized book of The Red Flags for Abusive Relationships.  It gave me knots in my stomach.