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The Tales of Marielle Clarac #2
The Beloved of Marielle Clarac
Plain, unassuming Marielle never expected to be engaged to someone like Simeon. After all, he's Vice Captain of the Royal Order of Knights, and the heir to a noble family far more esteemed than her own. But who cares about petty things like differences of rank in high society? In her eyes, Simeon embodies everything her fangirl heart desires. He's exactly her type: the dashingly handsome, bespectacled man with a dark side. Marielle would love nothing more than to spend all her time enjoying lovey-dovey bliss with her fiancé—when she’s not pursuing her secret profession as a romance novelist. Instead she's been roped into helping the crown prince find a suitable bride. Soon there’s engagement drama all over the place—and how can Marielle enjoy her own engagement when she’s knee-deep in sorting out everybody else’s!? The second volume in the adventures of the devious fangirl who secretly obsesses over her fiancé and everyone around him!
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 15, 2020
Volume 2 shifts the focus back onto Prince Severin's court, and his romance (or lack thereof). Mommy dearest is getting impatient at his lack of desire to find a woman, so she sets up a royal party in the dead of Winter to have Severin choose a bride candidate. And Severin is going to need his good friend's help both during the courtship and after to win the right lady's heart. But will that lady reciprocate?
This one is a bit more political oriented than the first volume as it brings in Severin's sisters and Severin's potential bride to be (a Lady Michelle Montague of a lesser noble house with old prestige). All of these character's have betrothals to different kingdoms, and even within those kingdoms, there are opposing factions hoping to present their own bridal candidate / break off engagements. It's a decent amount that you can navigate if you want, but it's nothing you have to get bogged down in. The passion of love + romance is still a major focus.
There's also that element of court intrigue that verges on mystery that continues from the previous volume (the whole Luten section of the story). This time the one narrative takes up basically the whole story, which is uncovering what's going on with Lady Michelle, and why she doesn't appear to be so readily interested in marrying the crown prince. Everything gets answered in the end, so no worries about the story leaving you hanging.
Some of the comedy is becoming a bit old hat. The one that feels the most forced might be Prince Severin showing up in the middle of a scene of passion between Marielle and Simeon, even if still funny. Hopefully when his whole romantic plight is solved, Marielle and Simeon can kiss + give passionate speeches to each other to their heart's content. And of course, there's some tired "fangirling" and "rider crop" stuff too that is almost background noise to me at this point than comedy. And don't get me started on that thief, Luten or whatever he wants to be called now. I do appreciate how both Marielle and Simeon get in their sadistic cracks about him deserving punishment, being dirty, and just generally attacking his deservedly poor character. Marielle sure enjoys when Simeon gets slightly vicious with him too (if only he was holding a rider crop!).
The ending is pretty enticing I think for Severin fans, and it should be interesting to see how his whole thing plays out. For Marielle x Simeon fans, the book presents them as lovers in no uncertain terms, many tight embraces (probably the best aspect of this volume). And as the Spring date for their wedding approaches, the time for their romance to be completely uninhibited by boundaries is fast approaching as well. So we have that to look forward to as well.
This one is a bit more political oriented than the first volume as it brings in Severin's sisters and Severin's potential bride to be (a Lady Michelle Montague of a lesser noble house with old prestige). All of these character's have betrothals to different kingdoms, and even within those kingdoms, there are opposing factions hoping to present their own bridal candidate / break off engagements. It's a decent amount that you can navigate if you want, but it's nothing you have to get bogged down in. The passion of love + romance is still a major focus.
There's also that element of court intrigue that verges on mystery that continues from the previous volume (the whole Luten section of the story). This time the one narrative takes up basically the whole story, which is uncovering what's going on with Lady Michelle, and why she doesn't appear to be so readily interested in marrying the crown prince. Everything gets answered in the end, so no worries about the story leaving you hanging.
Some of the comedy is becoming a bit old hat. The one that feels the most forced might be Prince Severin showing up in the middle of a scene of passion between Marielle and Simeon, even if still funny. Hopefully when his whole romantic plight is solved, Marielle and Simeon can kiss + give passionate speeches to each other to their heart's content. And of course, there's some tired "fangirling" and "rider crop" stuff too that is almost background noise to me at this point than comedy. And don't get me started on that thief, Luten or whatever he wants to be called now. I do appreciate how both Marielle and Simeon get in their sadistic cracks about him deserving punishment, being dirty, and just generally attacking his deservedly poor character. Marielle sure enjoys when Simeon gets slightly vicious with him too (if only he was holding a rider crop!).
The ending is pretty enticing I think for Severin fans, and it should be interesting to see how his whole thing plays out. For Marielle x Simeon fans, the book presents them as lovers in no uncertain terms, many tight embraces (probably the best aspect of this volume). And as the Spring date for their wedding approaches, the time for their romance to be completely uninhibited by boundaries is fast approaching as well. So we have that to look forward to as well.
October 7, 2020
Marielle is still head-over-heels for her beloved Simeon. Simeon's best friend, the Crown Prince, is starting to get pressured to get married as well---and he's ready to rope Marielle into helping him choose a suitable bride.
I can't for the life of me remember the Crown Prince's name, but I suppose it doesn't matter overly much since no one uses it. If you enjoyed the first book at all, this one takes most of the same characters and ups the stakes, leading to a wacky romantic comedy with a (very) few serious bits to balance it out.
Marielle is still a fun main character. Her unassuming demeanor and plain exterior hides someone who is incredibly obsessive with what she likes. This frequently baffles the people around her. Simeon, despite his lead in age, has no experience in romance, so he's frequently more innocent than one might presume, although as he's growing used to Marielle he's trying to build a relationship.
I do appreciate that Simeon confronts Marielle with her tendencies to treat people as characters and not people, and that he can't always tell when she's being serious, or what serious means to her. She's so enthusiastic about her hobbies that she can leave the people around her rather cold. And although I'm not sure how I feel about the final twist with Michelle, I do appreciate that certain assumptions made early on were indeed not correct.
Overall if you liked the first book, this one feels like it holds together better, by virtue of being a single cohesive plot over the whole book. If you liked the first one, Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
I can't for the life of me remember the Crown Prince's name, but I suppose it doesn't matter overly much since no one uses it. If you enjoyed the first book at all, this one takes most of the same characters and ups the stakes, leading to a wacky romantic comedy with a (very) few serious bits to balance it out.
Marielle is still a fun main character. Her unassuming demeanor and plain exterior hides someone who is incredibly obsessive with what she likes. This frequently baffles the people around her. Simeon, despite his lead in age, has no experience in romance, so he's frequently more innocent than one might presume, although as he's growing used to Marielle he's trying to build a relationship.
I do appreciate that Simeon confronts Marielle with her tendencies to treat people as characters and not people, and that he can't always tell when she's being serious, or what serious means to her. She's so enthusiastic about her hobbies that she can leave the people around her rather cold. And although I'm not sure how I feel about the final twist with Michelle, I do appreciate that certain assumptions made early on were indeed not correct.
Overall if you liked the first book, this one feels like it holds together better, by virtue of being a single cohesive plot over the whole book. If you liked the first one, Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
July 12, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this volume. The romantic development between the female and male protagonists is excellent, a solid 5.
Poor Prince Severin, just when he believes he has found love, only to have his heart broken due to a spoiler. Despite that, I found it enjoyable. There were numerous scenes that had me laughing, particularly Simeon's amusing perception of Marriell's fangirling. I found it endearing.
I found myself smiling throughout the conversations among Marriell, Simeon, and Prince Severin, often feeling exhausted as they struggled to keep up with Marriell in her own world. The moment when the prince expressed, “This conversation is proving too high a mountain for me to climb. I cannot go on like this,” was incredibly charming to me.
Now, I hope the Prince manages to find his love in the next volume.
Poor Prince Severin, just when he believes he has found love, only to have his heart broken due to a spoiler. Despite that, I found it enjoyable. There were numerous scenes that had me laughing, particularly Simeon's amusing perception of Marriell's fangirling. I found it endearing.
I found myself smiling throughout the conversations among Marriell, Simeon, and Prince Severin, often feeling exhausted as they struggled to keep up with Marriell in her own world. The moment when the prince expressed, “This conversation is proving too high a mountain for me to climb. I cannot go on like this,” was incredibly charming to me.
Now, I hope the Prince manages to find his love in the next volume.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2021
I think I’ll miss Lutin and Dario. And damned if I wasn’t spot on about lady Michelle. This installment had mixed reviews, some liked, it some didn’t. I liked this second installment. Overall it was a good mystery that I enjoyed reading.
January 11, 2022
The prince is almost like a brother to her now. I'd really love to see one where she does matchmake for her actual brother the flower obsessed gardener.
April 11, 2022
i’m tempted to see her pick the thief and see how that plays out 🧐
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews