I really wanted to like it

I almost put this book down for good before I finished it. I was close. It sat on my nightstand for a good couple of days after I first cracked the cover and slogged through the first fifty pages. You see, I really wanted to like it. What is not to like? Girls in fancy dresses, the whole 'upstairs-downstairs' motif, rakish young men, looming poverty, scheming frenemies...this is the stuff to read on rainy days with a box of chocolates and a warm blanket.

Instead I looked for laundry to do because I just didn't like it. It had all the elements, but it never soared. Too many points of view, too many cliches, too few plot twists, too much inane dialogue. I could go on....but it is too painful. YA really needs a good historical chick-lit series, but folks, this isn't it. It makes a brave attempt, but falls way short of the mark. Don't believe all the reviews on B&N etc.....bypass this one. And yes, I did finish
it.