The plot had SO much potential! The idea that an American heiress was being taken advantage of by an evil, impoverished English lord and the only one who can save her is her former fiancé, a dashing American sea Captain, is fun and exciting. The way everything played out felt too forced. There were good bones, but not enough substance. Everything felt like it started off great, but then it fell to the wayside for a half-baked romance between Cilla and Samuel. Their attraction was sudden, but the ease with which Cilla allowed Samuel "liberties" lost me. She wasn't all that "proper" now, was she? It was too quick. The abruptness of it all left a funny taste in my mouth. The ease with which Samuel and Cilla embark upon their "romance" did not sit very well with me. I think one of the biggest issues was that I didn't care enough about the characters.
The attraction between Samuel and Cilla felt unrealistic and very superficial. Part of the problem was that we essentially knew VERY little about Samuel other than that he was born a bastard, loved the Baileys as if they were his own family, and he became a sea captain. That's it. We know none of his hobbies, no anecdotes, nothing beyond his desire to save Annabelle from a disastrous marriage to the man who'd tried to kill him. He was horribly underdeveloped. As I noticed during my first reading of this book back in 2013, I didn't fall even a little bit in love with him...and that's the downfall with any book in this genre. Readers have to care about the male leads; we have to be attracted to them; we have to have the opportunity to find things we love about them - whether a personality quirk, something they do that's sexy, or even the steamy image we generate in our own minds...I had none of that with Samuel. I don't even think I ever got a good description of him beyond that he had tanned skin and dark hair. For the life of me, I don't even know what color eyes he had. Cilla was pretty much the same. She had a bit of a better backstory; perhaps because a great deal of the book was told from her perspective. This may have also contributed to my issues with Samuel; maybe if more of the story had been from his perspective, then I might not have found his character so lacking. Unfortunately, Cilla still fell a bit short for me. She was nearly as hollow as Samuel. The fact that she'd fallen from grace by running off and marrying a man against her family's wishes, she was forced to work for wages, and yet she was still invited as a GUEST in high society was extremely unrealistic. This, and the informality which all of the characters seemed to speak and address one another felt a bit amateur. Some of the wording in the dialogue felt off as well (some of it even too modern to suit the story). I don't know if it was an attempt to make the Americans seem different, but it was more abrasive than realistic.
Additionally, there was a huge revelation about Raventhorpe in Samuel's investigations regarding the lord's underhanded business practices and possible human trafficking...and it was brushed off...almost forgotten and didn't feel as weighty as perhaps it should have.
The story's pacing felt a bit wonky as well. I flew through the first part, excited to see where the story was going to go. Then...everything slowed down. No exaggeration, this book took me months to finish because of this. And then, all of a sudden, there were 20 pages left in the book and it all came about rather abruptly. Where was the development? Where was the real building of a relationship between Cill and Samuel that DIDN'T focus around bedroom antics? WHY did they fall in love?! Overall, I was a bit frustrated with this book. As I mentioned, it had so much potential, but it simply didn't live up to what it could have been. I have enjoyed books by Mullins in the past, so I don't know why I struggled so terribly through this one.