USA Today bestselling author Charis Michaels enchants with her Awakened by a Kiss series, taking our favorite fairy tales' forgotten characters and making them the hero of their own story. An heiress with a plan… Lady Helena Lark has spent years trying to escape her wedding to the vain and boring Duke of Lusk. She’s evaded, refused, even run away. When her family’s patience runs out, they pack her off to London to walk down the aisle. But Helena has another idea: find a more suitable bride to take her place, even if she must look for a replacement duchess every day. A bodyguard with a job to do… Declan Shaw, better known as “The Huntsman,” is a mercenary who can pick and choose his clientele. After his last job, escorting a young noblewoman to France, landed him in jail under false accusations, he wants nothing to do with aristocrats or women. But the law isn’t done with him, and if he agrees to babysit a duke’s errant fiancé, the payout could make his legal troubles go away. A most unexpected alliance… When their worlds collide, Declan realizes that containing his new client is only slightly harder than keeping his hands off her. Helena senses an ally in her handsome new bodyguard and solicits his help. Together they must escape the forces that oppose them and fight for the fairy-tale love they desire.
Series
2 primary booksAwakened by a Kiss is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Charis Michaels.
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Overall, I enjoyed this book more than it frustrated me. I liked the dynamics between the main pair (not only their relationship but the situation they found themselves in). I really liked the premise and the fairy tale aspects (though I do wish they had been used to better effect. )And the cover! It's one of the prettiest covers I've come across and what initially drew me in.
However, the execution was not great. As for the FMC, Helena, we're constantly told how smart she is, but none of her plans seem to back that up and she seems somewhat juvenile for her 24 years. And Declan, the MMC, has some pretty high stakes if he doesn't complete the job he was let out of prison for, and yet he never really tries. (Don't get me wrong, I liked the dynamic, and it was necessary for the plot, it just seems like there should have been more of a struggle on his part and it should have taken longer then a few hours for him to jump ship and be team Helena.) The side characters were mostly flat and one-dimensional, even the antagonists. The conflict was... underwhelming. The dialogue was occasionally stilted and even eye-rolling at times. The historical anachronisms were... jarring (especially regarding undergarments. I won't rant about how the dresses relied on undergarments for their shapes and that it would have been exceedingly obvious if the FMC wasn't wearing anything under her gown. Which she did, in public. Twice.) Also the sex scene was... weird and frustrating and almost made me put the book down. What was with all the rolling? And could he not prepare her, even a little?! This man supposedly loves her and isn't inexperienced himself - he should know what to do. Honestly, it came across as the author not knowing how the female body works, which might have been acceptable in the older historicals, but haven't we moved beyond that by now? Also the name Knightly Snow. Just no.
But I digress. On the whole, it was a cute, fluffy story with some emotional depth; it never got dark, though I did feel for Helena's predicament. I do wish we could have gotten a little more side character development (especially with the sisters, the “potential duchesses”, and the antagonists) and more in the epilogue - like her parents' reaction to the marriage and an elaboration on the status of her relationship with her sisters and Declan's family.
Over all, this could have been really good, and while I mostly enjoyed it, the more I think about what could have been done with this story, the more disappointed I am. That being said, it's not a bad read, and I might continue the series at some point. Hopefully, the rest of the series will be better.
