Review: "Compromised" by Kate Noble

Compromised by Kate Noble

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not "inspired" to write a full review, so I'm just going to share some of my random thoughts...

If you're a fan of Lady Whistledown, the popular character created by Julia Quinn in the Bridgerton series, chances are you'll enjoy Compromised. While I was reading this book, I found myself thinking that it could have been written by Lady Whistledown, so "peculiar" its humorous writing was. Here's an example:

Finding the drawing room in perfect order, bookish Gail, lovely Evangeline, and Romilla divested themselves of their cloaks and bonnets and sat down to tea. This was a habit of Romilla’s that baffled both the girls: Every day, no matter what anyone was doing, tea was served at half past ten in the morning. Most of society was not yet awake at half past ten, but since the "Reign of Romilla," everyone named Alton most certainly was.

Once, Gail had summoned the wherewithal to ask Romilla about her odd habit. Romilla had replied curtly, "I am up before dawn every day and breakfast shortly thereafter. By half past ten I am hungry." A look of concern crossed her face, as she added, "Abigail, dear, it is most rude to inquire as to one’s gastric tendencies—please don’t make a habit of it."

This made Gail think better of asking why Romilla didn’t simply sleep in later. She’d hate to be accused of questioning someone’s somniferous tendencies.

That passage has Lady Whistledown's witty humor all over it, IMHO. As I'm a big fan of that fictional character, reading Compromised was a very pleasant and entertaining experience to me.

Two things prevented me from giving this book 5 stars:

1. The ending felt too rushed and kind of abrupt. The epilogue was nice, but I missed that "special" insight into Max and Gail's HEA.

2. The secondary romance was distracting. I understood it was necessary to give Gail's sister Evangeline her own HEA, as Gail wouldn't be truly happy if Evangeline wasn't too, but having both romances wrapped up at the same time, at the same scene, didn't work too well for me. Max and Gail should have had their own exclusive moment there.

Overall, this was a good read, with somewhat unusual and very likeable characters. If you're looking for a light and funny read, look no further. Grab this book and enjoy. :) I was very impressed, considering this is Kate Noble's debut novel.



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