A fabulous first and second meeting between the hero and heroine had me turning pages quicker than I’m typing this. A few more chapters in and I was seriously rooting for the couple and figuring on writing a Desert Isle Keeper Review. As you can tell from the grade, something went terribly wrong. The momentum of the first third of the book is stopped dead, clichés popped up out of nowhere, and I began to wonder if I’d somehow switched books. A horribly memorable line began to run through my head: “I’ve Fallen and I can’t get up”.

The promising beginning had more to do with the witty and appealing interactions than plotting. Isadora Temple wakes to find Eppingham “Eppie” Rowley, Baron Blackworth and grandson of the Duke of Dearingham, in her bed. She uses a candlestick to defend her honor and screams loud enough to bring the rest of the house party. Because Eppie’s drunk he’s shown up in the wrong room at the house party. When Izzy realizes this she steps in to protect him and his paramour. She tells the assembled onlookers that they were having a lovers quarrel. This doesn’t appease Eppie’s father, who is determined to force his son to do the right thing.

After their initial meeting Izzy and Eppie must come up with a way to satisfy themselves and everyone else. These scenes crackle. Isadora is a funny, practical, down-to-earth woman who appeals to Eppie in ways that he didn’t even know he was looking for. She doesn’t mind being a fallen woman and has no real desire to marry him. When he first calls her Isadorable as a joke and later as a form of endearment it works in every way. She’s not adorable because she’s beautiful or cute as a button, she’s adorable because she’s witty and different and makes him laugh. Izzy lets him know right away that he’s not an Eppie to her and when she begins calling him by his middle name, Julian, everything fits for these two. They’re friends who will come to love each other.

So where does it all go wrong? It’s hard to pinpoint, but the clichés and misunderstandings got under way around the time Izzy is transformed from a plain, badly dressed woman into a well-dressed swan. Julian is even more attracted but fights the attraction. His reasons include: a) He doesn’t want to be tied to one woman; he’s not going to fall in love, and b)His father hates him so he doesn’t think he’s capable of making Izzy happy. These well-used plot points are exacerbated by increasing jealousy on Julian’s part and Izzy’s inexplicable transformation into a clueless ninny. Shall I call this character un-development?

The abrupt changes in character are echoed by abrupt changes in plot. We go from two friends deciding to work together to solve their problems to two people who barely share a scene with each other. Out of nowhere Julian decides Izzy must really love his best friend. Julian’s father goes from being merely abusive to being downright crazy without much rhyme or reason. And though it was nice to see Izzy befriend the original object of Julian’s ardor at the house party, the subplot that surrounds this character is pretty pointless.

Why there was such a sudden change in storytelling isn’t obvious. The first third of the book is evidence that this author knows how to write. Perhaps it all comes down to the need to create conflict and tension. But Isadora and Julian draw the reader in with their immediate connection and that connection is severed irreparably by these contrived conflicts. By the time the book ended I wasn’t rooting for them anymore. I just wanted to be done with them. Given the fine start that this novel had, it was quite disappointing. Author Bradley makes her debut here. I plan to keep an eye on her; if she can finish her next book as well as she began this one, it should make for a fine read.