Review: If I Fall

Posted April 10, 2012 by Jen in 3 stars, Guest Review, Historical Romance, Rating B Tags: , , ,

Please welcome Angela, who brings you today’s Guest Review of… 
If I Fall
Author: Kate Noble 
Release Date: April 3, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
The Blue Raven #4
ISBN: #978-0425247112
Genre: Historical Romance
Format(s): Paperback (352 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Publisher
About the book:
After a duke’s betrayal, the resilient Sarah Forrester reinvents herself as the Golden Lady: society’s leading light, the beautiful and witty life of the party. It’s all a façade of course-one that protects her from another intimate disloyalty. When her old friend, Lieutenant Jackson Fletcher, returns to London, he is determined to rediscover the true and trusting Sarah he once knew. It’ll take more than a kiss and a promise. It might even call for an innocent and necessary deception.
Then Jackson is enlisted to help capture the lead suspect in a murder— a man who happens to be Sarah’s most ardent suitor. Jack must continue the deception, and weathering this newest and gravest betrayal will be Sarah’s ultimate test. But as Jack’s passion for her grows, he must also reveal his own secrets. And as the killer turns his attention to his pursuers, more than love and trust is put at risk.
What Ang is talking about:
Overall I enjoyed this book. The characters were fun and engaging and the story line fun. The relationship between Sarah and Jack is a classic historical romance relationship complete with all the issues that accompany a woman of wealth finding a husband.
The reason for it’s B rating is that I felt like there was too much going on in many places. This book has more O’Henry twists than O’Henry himself, which rather than adding to the story line distracted from it. Because of the fact that every time I thought I’d come to a point where things were closing up another twist is thrown your way, it nearly felt like a way for the author to lengthen the novel when it didn’t need. Add to that all side story lines and characters floating around the novel (i.e. the Blue Raven, murder and espionage, Lady Whitford and Bridget), and I would lose track of the main story line for a moment or two, necessitating either a reread by the reader or a recap by the author, which I found frustrating. Any one or even two side stories would have been plenty but piling them all into one novel was a bit of an over kill. 
Despite its flaws, or maybe because of them, this book was a fun distraction, and I think anyone picking it up would likely enjoy the time spent in London for the Season.
Angelas Rating:
Liked it, but I had some issues – recommend (B)
Purchase Info: