Hell’s Belle by Annabelle Anders
(link to goodreads)
Review by Mod E
Why yes, I am still working through the RITA finalists and am a sucker for a pun-based title.
Genre/Category: Historical, finalist in the RITA’s Historical Short Catagory
Major Trope: Fake Marriage turned real
Is He An Ass? Yes, of the dumbass variety. There’s a major plot point that could have been resolved if the hero had bothered to find out what happened to an old flame, but he chose to wallow in his major daddy issues for ten years instead. (Spoiler: he also thought she was pregnant with his child and yet still does not bother to find out what happened. Actually, let’s just upgrade him to full Ass.)
Smut? Glowing. It’s rather euphemistic but there’s a fair amount of it throughout the book, which is fun for a historical.
Other thoughts? The hero is so dense, he doesn’t even realize he loves the heroine until the last scene after a poisoning/kidnapping/rescue plot that is smushed into the last two chapters and comes totally out of nowhere. Frankly, she deserves better.
Final Grade? Meh.
