The style and language of the book are well crafted and still this book pressed pretty much all my dislike buttons. Aside from some historical inaccuracies and inconsistencies there were issues with characterisation. I hate it when a backstory tells me a woman is intelligent and independent but the character itself during the books turns out to be anything but. This book does NOT do this - instead she simply lacks intelligence. The characters remain, from beginning to end, selfish. All of these reasons made it impossible for me to empathise with the character. But worst was that I just felt like I had read this book a thousand times before. The story line is so typical and predictable it bored me to tears. The only saving grace is that the male character at least shows some form of rational intelligence - though from his backstory that again seems inconsistent. ( )