Review: Never Doubt a Viscount (The Flower Trilogy #1) by Lauren Royal

                                                        

Print Length: 416 pages

Publisher: Novelty Books (August 1. 2020)

From Goodreads.com: The Ashcroft family motto is "Question Convention," and eldest sister Violet agrees with the sentiment completely. For one thing, she's not planning to marry. Plain Violet is smart enough to realize any suitors would be after her large inheritance, or else interested in her beautiful younger sisters—and she'd much rather spend her time reading her beloved books than risking her tender heart...

Ford Chase, the Viscount Lakefield, has never spent much time around children…until he finds his young niece dropped in his lap. Although five-year-old Jewel is adorable, she’s also an annoying, unwelcome distraction from his scientific pursuits. Lucky for Ford, the matchmaking matriarch next door comes to his rescue—by sending her uncommonly intelligent daughter Violet to help…

  

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My Rating: DNF

Sadly, I opted to DNF this one at a little over 50% as I could no longer stand either the historical inaccuracies, the characters, or the utter boredom that came with reading it. And I HATE it when I have to DNF a book as I know just how much an author puts into writing. 

To start, I'm sorry, I don't care that your family motto is  "Question Convention," there is no way any respectable family would be letting their eldest unmarried daughter constantly be in the company of an eligible, titled, man whether they had a matchmaking mama or not. It just was not done. And no, her seven year old brother doesn't count as a chaperone. Honestly, I had to laugh not only at how many times Violet's maid wasn't even sent to accompany her (after sitting in the carriage upon their first meeting), or how often her one sister offered to take her place and was turned down without a reason given other it being inferred that Ford might take advantage of her younger, prettier, sister whereas he would never dream of doing so with her. 

Sadly,  I'm also have to touch briefly upon Jewel, Ford's very young niece (she turns six during the story) who is already apparently so well-trained in "female wiles" that she not only openly flirts with Violet's seven-year-old brother Rowan, but writes letters to him asking him to visit. In what world does a five-year-old know how to flirt? That in itself was quite disturbing (and it was the author that put it about that she was flirting, not me reading too much into it which makes it worse in my opinion). 

Moving on from that, I just couldn't get invested in the story. Ford goes out his way to make Violet a pair of glasses so that she can, you know, actually see the world around her, and while she gushes over how much she loves them.... she also doesn't want to be seen in public wearing them. Because people will talk. Okay and? She was so insufferably insecure thinking the world revolved around her, that I quickly wished Ford would find someone else. On the flip side of that, Ford had been using her from the start to occupy (aka free babysitting) his niece so he could work on his inventions because he couldn't afford the staff to actually occupy her, so perhaps those two were actually meant for each other as I didn't care much for him either. 

That being said, as I did DNF this one, please, if you are familiar with this author (although I know this is an older story), or the synopsis appeals to you, by all means please take a chance and read it for yourself, you may enjoy it more than I did.