Brazen and the Beast

I was anxiously looking forward to the second book in the barenuckled bastard series. When I won a giveaway I was thrilled and this is my honest review. The premise of a lady in historical times deciding to live her best life for a year was fascinating. The year of Hattie is something we should all aspire to have at one time. It’s the idea of living for yourself and discovering what and how to make yourself happy. That’s my interpretation. The best part of the book is that everyone can have their own interpretation of the year of Hattie. Whit is such a fascinating hero because of how he achieves success as a bastard in historical times. The development of Whit and Hattie’s relationship is fascinating. Both are trying to achieve their dreams and trying to figure out how to explore their attraction as well. It’s a wonderful story written in a spectacular way. I can’t wait until the next book in the series.

This was a terrific addition to the series. I love the fact that, like the first book, this takes place mainly outside the usual setting of ballrooms and house parties. Instead, we see the world of the London docks and the poor of Covent Garden.

Hattie is the daughter of a man who, through his successful shipping business, earned the title of Earl. Intelligent and feisty, Hattie has turned her back on society and wants to run her father’s shipping business. Unfortunately for her, her father doesn’t agree and wants her married. She plans to take control of her life by first making herself unmarriageable, then actively pursuing her dreams. Her plans hit a snag when she finds a breathtaking man unconscious and tied up in her carriage.

Whit, also known as Beast, is one of the Bareknuckle Bastards who run the underworld of Covent Garden. He’s convinced that Hattie knows something about how he came to be in her carriage and is determined to discover what it is. He is also intrigued by Hattie herself, especially when he discovers her plans for the night.

The first encounter between Whit and Hattie sucked me right into the book. Whit is not accustomed to being at a disadvantage, and he does not take it well. Hattie, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoys having the upper hand. The back and forth between these two was awesome, right up to when he kisses her – right before she shoves him out of the moving carriage. Undeterred, Whit manages to escape his bonds and follow Hattie to her destination. He intrudes on her plans, determined to get the answers he seeks, and ends up striking a bargain with the unintimidated Hattie.

I loved both Hattie and Whit. Hattie is bold and determined, brazen in her actions, though her outward confidence covers up some deep-seated insecurities. She has reached the ripe age of twenty-nine with no suitors because she does not match up with Society’s requirements. She is tall, outspoken, and a bit on the plump side, and is completely convinced that no man will find her attractive. Whit is gorgeous to the extreme, powerful and intimidating. He is also protective of those he cares for, and that includes the denizens of Covent Garden. Some sweet scenes show just how much he cares. I especially loved the ones with the children. He also has some baggage of his own, thanks to the events of the past, baggage that makes him believe that he isn’t good enough for her.

The development of the relationship between Hattie and Whit was great. They are well-matched from the beginning, and the sparks between them are intense. It was fun to watch Hattie stand up to Whit and blow all of his expectations out of the water. There’s nothing like rushing to the defense of a woman only to discover that she has her attacker well in hand. Their “business” arrangement of him helping her with her plans while she arranges for the return of what was stolen quickly falls by the wayside as the attraction between them burns hotter. I enjoyed seeing Whit’s growing respect for Hattie and her abilities and how his attitude helps her overcome her doubts about herself. There are some obstacles, not the least of which are threats against Hattie from a ducal nemesis of the Bastards, which leads Whit into actions that he thinks will protect Hattie. I laughed out loud at her reaction to this, as she shows herself to be Whit’s equal in deviousness. There’s an emotional and heart-wrenching scene as Hattie makes it clear that she will accept nothing less than what she deserves from Whit. It takes a near tragedy for Whit to realize the truth about his feelings for her, and I ached for him as he feared for her life. His big moment at the end was awesome, and the epilogue was a perfect ending.

The continuing storyline of the feud with brother Ewan provided some interesting moments. His encounter with Whit was intense and showed a man who was on the edge of desperation. But his scene with Hattie had a twist I didn’t expect. I can’t wait for the next book to see how the author redeems him.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters. Devil and Felicity make several appearances. I especially enjoyed Devil’s advice to Whit regarding his revenge plans. Hattie’s friend Nora was terrific. I loved her “take no prisoners” support of Hattie. It was also interesting to see her attitude toward Society. There’s a story there, and I’d like to see more of it. Once again, the brothers’ coworker, Nik, has some interesting input into events.

Brazen and the Beast is the second book in Sarah MacLean’s The Bareknuckle Bastards series. Though I believe I would have been better served by reading the first book – references to the prior story were made and I feel like I missed important stuff – I didn’t really care, because I LOVED this book!

Lady Henrietta Sedley was the daughter of an Earl who owned a shipping company. Her father was not born to the title, so his son would not inherit the shipping company by right. Hattie wanted it; she loved it, and it was her dream to take over the company. She was turning 29, and that dream was part of the “Year of Hattie”. She decided that if she lost her virginity, her father would realize that marriage was not in her future and he would grant her wish. When her best friend Nora went to drive her to a brothel, they found a beautiful, unconscious man in their carriage. This man turned out to be Whit, known as “Beast”; he was a king of Covent Garden. He discovers that she was on her way to lose her innocence. When she cuts him loose and pushes him out of the carriage, he decides to follow her and cut a deal….with him agreeing to give her the pleasure she wishes to experience.

I cannot express how much I absolutely loved Hattie and Whit! Hattie is one of my favorite heroines ever! She was older and plump and had physical self-esteem issues. She thought no man would find her attractive. She did, though, have great self-confidence as a businesswoman. She knew the shipping business and had no doubt that she could run it successfully by herself. She was also very talkative and funny. Then there’s our Beast. ~SIGH~ He was not talkative and communicated oftentimes with grunts. Though a king in the underground with his brother Devil, he was a good man who truly cared about his men and women in Covent Garden. Whit found Hattie wildly attractive and found her brazen behavior exciting; he thought of her as his Warrior. (I feel another SIGH coming on!). Their chemistry was off the charts, and their steamy times together were beyond sensual. And he didn’t mind if she wanted to be in charge… This story was absolutely amazing!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

3.5 Stars

There is a lot to love in Brazen and the Beast, so let us start there.

Hattie is a five star character, for me, 100%. The tale starts with her venturing into what she calls ‘The Year of Hattie’. The year she thoroughly takes control of her own life, starting with an extremely bold move to make her self un-marriageable. I adored her from the very beginning. She’s not a standard beauty and has some insecure moments because of that but those moments are balanced with so many more moments of pure strength. The title doesn’t lie, she is brazen and wonderfully so.

Beast (or Whit) would also get a rather high rating from me. Though, I am extremely partial to a hero of few words. He’s just that. Expect a fair amount of grunting, he’s good at that. Luckily, Hattie learns to speak it fluently quite quickly.

The dichotomy between the two was perfection. Every interaction was entertaining even the moments that were heartbreaking. They are just so well suited and I love the way MacLean writes couples in just that way.

While I loved the characters, the banter, the humor and the teasing side players…something was missing.

I think sometimes the middle book in a trilogy can too easily become so much of a setup for the final book that some of the magic gets lost. Now, technically, you could read these as stand alone titles, the couples are all different but the stories are deeply intertwined. But there were things that needed to happen in this book to put all the players in place for the next and I felt like that became too much of this plot line that Hattie and Beast really didn’t have as much action as maybe they could have. I could just be really picky because I love Hattie so much and I wanted more. I don’t know. But I do know there were parts that seemed to drag on more than they needed to and I thought maybe it was just to get the word count instead of giving them some real action. Also, there was a thing or two that felt unresolved. Not terribly important things but I still would have liked them touched on.

I HATE TYPING THAT.

This is a favorite author of mine and I adore her books, but I feel how I feel. It’s still a great book and I’ll always be fond of the year of Hattie, I just don’t know if it will be at the top of my re-read pile.

This is my first read by Sarah and I really enjoyed this one. Some of the plots that happened in here were different from a historical romance I have read before. So it was a nice surprise. I loved the main characters conversations, had a slight banter to them. I just think it was a tiny bit too long for me. Overall, I did like it and look forward to reading more of Sarah’s work.

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.