Unlocked (The Turner Brothers)

I loved the characters in this passionate little book. This one is definitely a keeper that I will read again. I will also buy more books by Courtney Milan. If she was this good in a novella, I can only imagine how good a full length novel would be.

Even the bad historical romantic books have a kind of expected behavior (Romantic gestures) etc. that causes one's heart to beat faster (smile) as romance should. This book is the total opposite to that, for example when the heroine broke down and left a room the hero just let her go, no follow up! Where's the romance in that. The entire book is in disconnect mode. The first rope scene was so inappropriate and just cold. How could a person who was mocked for so long just respond to this stupid guy. He was not a child when he mocked her endlessly and publicly. Sorry I could not finish this one.

My only gripe with this story - I wish desperately that she'd made it a full-blown book rather than just a novella! I didn't want the story to end with these two - what fabulous characters! Fantastic read!

While the plot was pretty good.....it has been done over and over......this one had nothing new. The love scenes were NOT good at all. The author could not decide if she wanted to be like Robbins or not. Okay for free...would not buy.

The first chapter of Unlocked held my attention because of the humor, however, the pacing proved to be too slow and I wasn't motivated to complete the novel. Nevertheless, I will give it a second try when I have time.

Good story, but the author could have done much more with this. Maybe this was her first book. the one thing that sticks out, and made me almost throw the book out was the character's accidental reference to tampons in chapter 3, when the character meant to say "crampons". Not funny Courtney! (I guess a good editor is hard to find these days!) I'm a stickler when it comes to historical romance, or any historical fiction, it takes so little time to do the research. and Tampons are a no-brainer!!! They were not invented until the 20th century. i know those kinds of things don't bother some, but i find inaccuracies like that to be tiresome, and agravating.

I honestly don't understand the bad reviews on this book. Yes, it was short. It was a novella. I definitely got my moneys worth. Sometimes I read a synopsis and buy a book based simply on that, and ignore any bad reviews. I loved the premise of this book, and I wasn't disappointed. It stirred my emotions, and I will be looking for other books by Courtney Milan. I am a writer, and I would be proud to put my name on such a book!

The novella caught my attention at the beginning since it was basically about bullying, albeit in an adult situation. It was easy to be sympathetic to Lady Elaine's situation, since she was the object of ridicule for over a decade, and through no fault of her own. Not only was Elaine singled out, but her intellectual mother was also mocked, though she remained blithely oblivious to the whole situation. Enter the hero, Evan, the Earl of Westfeld, who has returned a decade later to make amends for instigating the bullying in the first place, and which his cousin has kept up in his absence. That sounds like the beginning of an interesting story, but it really never takes off the ground. The bulk of the book is odd and almost anachronistic in regards to the characters' behaviors, especially Elaine's. Truthfully, this little book seemed to be just a tray on which to serve up some soft core porn. Personally, I prefer a book that actually tells a believable story and has an interesting plot. The author missed the chance to do either of these things. Such a shame. Had I known, I would not have purchased it.

I wish I had seen these reviews before I purchased the book. I can describe this book in one word..."boring" or perhaps "incomplete." I purchased the Kindle version, and while I am not lost when reading the reviews posted prior to mine own, I'm beginning to think that maybe the Kindle version is an "Abridged". I felt as if pages were missing. The time line was erratic. One minute he's looking back 10 years, the next she's looking back 10 years. but there is no elaboration of the incidents or the parties connected to these memories. Then it's the present, then it's two months down the road and the couple is married. What happen to the antagonist of this book? I've never seen the "villain" just sit back and do nothing. As far as the "tampon" reference. I took it simply as a slip of the tongue made by the character and therefore the word was not truly a word for that period of time. Glad I only paid .99 for the download. I was very disappointed.

The novella caught my attention at the beginning since it was basically about bullying, albeit in an adult situation. It was easy to be sympathetic to Lady Elaine's situation, since she was the object of ridicule for over a decade, and through no fault of her own. Not only was Elaine singled out, but her intellectual mother was also mocked, though she remained blithely oblivious to the whole situation. Enter the hero, Evan, the Earl of Westfeld, who has returned a decade later to make amends for instigating the bullying in the first place, and which his cousin has kept up in his absence. That sounds like the beginning of an interesting story, but it really never takes off the ground. The bulk of the book is odd and almost anachronistic in regards to the characters' behaviors, especially Elaine's. Truthfully, this little book seemed to be just a tray on which to serve up some soft core porn. Personally, I prefer a book that actually tells a believable story and has an interesting plot. The author missed the chance to do either of these things. Such a shame. Had I known, I would not have purchased it.

I wish I had seen these reviews before I purchased the book. I can describe this book in one word..."boring" or perhaps "incomplete." I purchased the Kindle version, and while I am not lost when reading the reviews posted prior to mine own, I'm beginning to think that maybe the Kindle version is an "Abridged". I felt as if pages were missing. The time line was erratic. One minute he's looking back 10 years, the next she's looking back 10 years. but there is no elaboration of the incidents or the parties connected to these memories. Then it's the present, then it's two months down the road and the couple is married. What happen to the antagonist of this book? I've never seen the "villain" just sit back and do nothing. As far as the "tampon" reference. I took it simply as a slip of the tongue made by the character and therefore the word was not truly a word for that period of time. Glad I only paid .99 for the download. I was very disappointed.

To begin with, I must say I really appreciate Courtney Milan's writing ability and have enjoyed her previous novels very much. For some reason, this novella is not my favorite work of hers and it's probably because of those 10 years of suffering of the heroine here.

10 years is a decade. 10 years is one tenth of a century. 10 years is the time it takes for a newborn to grow enough to enter 5th Grade at school. And it shouldn't take 10 years for hero Evan to face up to his big mistake. Evan's cousin Diana, his partner-in-crime in the belittling of heroine Elaine, spends these 10 years marrying and producing babies and still continues to mock Elaine, no mellowing with motherhood for Diana here. And our heroine, Elaine: What can I say? She spends these 10 years allowing herself and her mother to be mocked and belittled. She might as well have posted a KICK ME sign on her back.

Go back these 10 years and we have 19-year-old Evan liking Elaine but she doesn't pay much attention to him, so he does the equivalent of pulling her pigtails and calling her carrot-top. (No, she doesn't have orange hair. That's just for saying something.) All his friends and dear cousin Diana take up the clarion call and mock Elaine too. Ashamed of what he is doing to poor Elaine, Evan runs off to climb mountains in Europe for 10 years. His friends and Diana stay behind and continue to make Elaine's life a living hell for those 10 years. Elaine rolls over and plays doormat for 10 years.

Then Evan returns, ten years later. He's ashamed and wants to make amends. He apologizes and starts to defend Elaine and her mother against the mockery of the ton. All of a sudden Elaine loves him. Oh, please. How???? For me, Milan needed to expand more on the relationship of H and h from the time of his return up to the time of their declarations of love for each other. I couldn't quite feel the reason for the love. All of a sudden it's just there. I realize that part of the problem is the short novella length, but some of the many pages spent on the H/h love scene could have been pages better spent, IMO, in showing me how they got to that stage in their relationship.

The idea of this novella is good. Milan writes very nicely. If that 10-year period had been 2, or maybe even 3, I would have liked this story so much more. (Did I by any chance overmention anything about 10 years in this review?)

The product description needs to state, clearly, that this is a sexually graphic novella. Yes, the story's premise is interesting . . . that's why I started to read it. But there are lots of folks that prefer not to read these, and it's highly annoying to get into a story and then have to abandon it due to content you find incompatible with what you like to keep in your head. So, if you like clean reads, this isn't it. 'Nough said.

Lady Elaine Warren entered her first season, flush with excitement and brimming with vitality. Evan Carlton, the young Earl of Westfield, was drawn to this vitality. Yearned to feel it. But because he was callous and immature, the popular Evan Carlton began to poke at Elaine, making fun of her at nearly every party until she became the butt of every joke in the season, until the vitality of Lady Elaine's spirit was damped out.

Evan, recognizing his wrongdoing but afraid of his consequences and unsure of how to react, flees England and doesn't return for 10 years. Upon his re-entrance into society, Evan is a changed man but society has not changed with him. Instead, it is the same people, with the same prejudices, making the same jokes that he had started 10 years ago, including the one about Lady Elaine. Unmarried and a wallflower, Lady Elaine looks at Evan Carlton defiantly refusing to allow him to diminish her one iota. She has spent the last 10 years trying to survive society and protecting her mother, a brilliant thinker in a time when brilliance in women is deemed nothing short of madness.

Evan's feelings of longing toward Lady Elaine haven't changed and he attempts to set right the wrongs he did to Lady Elaine. The more time he spends with her, the more he attempts to make reparations, the deeper in love he falls even knowing that he does not deserve Lady Elaine's affections and that he may never win her heart.

This story is like an anthem for every girl who has ever been mocked, criticized or made fun of. Lady Elaine's pain, her courage, and her ultimate triumph is painful and poignant. And Evan is just as sympathetic even though he was the instigator of a deep wrong against Elaine. There is so much emotion that pours out of this novella that I felt like my throat was tight the entire time. It is a magnificently constructed story that gives a real romance within a confined space of about 100 pages but I never felt like I was shorted in any way. I've had problems connecting with Milan's characters in the past, but this story resonated with me. I know I will be re-reading this story regularly.

Cut to the Chase:
Milan is a talented writer... but the main problem here is twofold. One, because it's a novella, the characters and plotlines all feel really underdeveloped. You have glimpses of characters that could be really interesting, and the start of a plot that could be good... but no more. Two, because it's one of those they've-known-each-other-for-years pairings, the action of "falling in love" (at least for the hero) happens outside of (specifically before) the book, which means that we're seeing more the aftermath of things than the core action in many ways. I'd skip this one and go straight to Milan's full-length work Unclaimed, which was fantastic.

Greater Detail:
Evan Carlton has just returned from a decade abroad. During that time, he's matured and become a skilled mountaineer; however, the reader finds out that before he left (at the tender age of nineteen), he made a laughingstock of Lady Elaine Warren. He mocked her laugh (so that she became known as Lady Equine), he mocked everything about her until everyone in his social circle (which was everyone, since he was so popular) teased her mercilessly. She became a spinster, and an outcast.

Of course, because this is a romance, we find out that the only reason he teased her was because he was secretly in love with her, and wanted her to notice him.

So... I have a few problems with this premise. Beyond the fact that the whole thing is just underdeveloped because it's a novella... it just feels kind of insubstantial. Though the writing is clear and the characters are mostly interesting, it's just hard to wrap my head around the fact that the central conflict is that they're kind of perfect for each other, but that he made her a laughingstock by trying to get her attention. I mean, Milan definitely is good at dramatizing everything, and there are a lot of kind of public apologies as our hero tries to make it up to the heroine, but we never get to see why he was so attracted to her in the first place (he gives a couple sentences as an explanation, but really? he fell in love that hard? and then stayed true for a decade?) And it's hard to really believe why she eventually forgives him...

It's a light and airy novella, and not at all poorly written, but I don't know if it was worth the dollar I spent on it... which is saying something...

Comparisons to Other Authors:
If we were talking about her longer works, like Unclaimed, I would say she's similar to Lisa Kleypas in terms of character development, but this one is more similar to other add-on books, like A Wallflower Christmas, or the Julia Quinn's Whistledown Papers... it's just kind of underdeveloped.

c booknosh.com

Sometimes I don't realize just how much I appreciate Milan's work while I'm actually reading it, so I usually wait until a little time has elapsed before writing a review. A few days and even weeks after hitting that 100% mark on my Kindle and moving on to other, more forgettable books by non-Milan authors, I find that much of Courtney's work will still resonate with me. It's not that I'm a blindly uncritical CM fangirl----(I think she's had a few clunkers, and I personally prefer less explicit sex scenes than the ones Milan and most modern romance authors give us, though that's just a matter of personal preference)---but I'm always happily surprised all over again by just how deeply, sneakily satisfying her work can be.

Milan is a smart author who writes for smart readers. (Which is NOT to imply that people who dislike her work are any less intelligent, of course; just that I feel her work has a little more substance and heft than most other romances!) She explores themes and issues beyond just 'so how soon will the hero and heroine get their happily ever after?!', but she usually does it with subtle depth and insight in lieu of hitting us poor readers over the head with heavy handed lectures and speechifying. As others have eloquently discussed, this book deals with bullying, exclusion, loneliness, forgiveness, the lingering effect past actions have on the present, and how the way we treat people sometimes says more about our OWN issues than the way we feel about the person in question. But rest assured it's not like an After School Special---there's an actual story, not just a tiresome lesson, and Milan has a way of dealing with tough but relatable issues in a way that's straightforward and true rather than preachy. And rest assured that despite tackling potentially depressing themes, the witty dialogue and snarkily observant prose ensures that the story is far more fun and hopeful than it is bleak.

I found both Evan and Elaine eminently likable. I sometimes have trouble warming up to Milan's heroines (I think she does a better job of writing flawed but lovable heroes), but I found Elaine among her better defined and memorable heroines. I didn't feel the character development or relationship suffered due to the book's relatively short length (about 180 pages), and in fact LOVE how shorter fiction forces romance authors to trim the proverbial fat: the repetitive conversations and endless misunderstandings, the extraneous sex scenes in lieu of including just one or two distinct and memorable ones, etc.
Milan in particular has a gift for saying more with fewer pages, and I actually love Unlocked and The Governess Affair more ardently than I do her full-length novels. (But, again, that's just me...I realize my preference for slightly shorter romance fiction isn't the norm!)

In short (too late!), if you want an enjoyable, smile-eliciting read that also has a surprising amount of substance and insight, I highly recommend this novella. Enjoy!

The idea behind the story would have been good, it started all right but... Does a guy really need an entire decade to realize he wronged the woman he supposedly loves? Didn't like it and I would not recommend it.

I've read all of Courtney Milan's published stories, including "This Wicked Gift," "Proof by Seduction," "Trial by Desire" and "Unveiled." I'm looking forward to reading "Unclaimed" (available next week). "Unlocked," was a nice way to re-acquaint myself with the characters of the Turner series.

The first thing I want to point out is that the author mentions on her web page that this story is "self-published." As such, it probably was not subjected to the same formal review process as most published books. I think a professional editor would have raised many of the issues that other reviewers have raised.

Timing -- I agree that having Evan away for 10 years seems excessive -- why did it take 10 years for him to "find himself"? Surely he could have grown a conscience within the first two or three years, particularly since he admitted to having regrets over his actions even before he left? In addition, there was a nine-month gap in the middle of the book where we could have had more discussion of the evolution of the change in Elaine's feelings for Evan. Then, the change in Elaine's feelings might not seem as abrupt.

Characters -- I thought that Elaine's character changed between "Unveiled" and "Unlocked." In the book Unveiled, Margaret Dalrymple commented about Elaine being snobbish, even after it was revealed that her failure to receive Margaret was due to her father's edict rather than any feelings that Elained personally held. It seems that someone who had been cruelly and consistently the butt of jokes would not be so snobbish. I also thought that Lady Cosgrove's metamorphis was abrupt and unexplained. Up until the last chapter or two, Lady Cosgrove was unrelentingly cruel to just about everyone -- truly the 19th Century "mean girl." I think that she is the type of person who would never think of changing until someone put her in her place -- and that certainly didn't happen in any appreciable manner.

Still, those are minor points as far as I'm concerned. I enjoyed the story, and felt that it was worth the 99-cent download. It's always nice to see the nice girl get the guy in the end, and I like the author's ability to put issues we can all identify with (in this case, bullying) in the 19th-centry context.

I don't normally read many historical romances. I find the old-fashionedness pretty boring, but it can also be fairly amusing so sometimes I indulge. In this case I'm glad I did. The story is every misfits fantasy.....to finally get your "revenge", because really Elaine got the last laugh and her chance at happiness. For those of you who complain about how long it took him to grow up and how easily she forgave him etc---this is the 1800's. Men often didn't marry until in their 40's which surely could mean some immaturity was the norm. And forgiving anyone is hard, not easy. And when Evan explained to everyone why he was so mean, it made sense to me in a way. He was in love and didn't know what to do with those feelings, so he protected himself by making fun of others. No, it's not right, but come on. We've all done stupid, hurtful things to make ourselves look better. And once it got out of hand, he didn't know how to stop it. I do have a bit of an issue with it taking 10 years to "grow up", but then again, he was still only 29 at that time and I personally think his actions seemed like those of a much older man. Besides, it's a romance novel. They aren't necessarily supposed to make sense :-p And for those of you hung up on the tampon thing....lighten up. It's a romance not a history book.

This was a short but good novel. Lord Westfield had been very rude to Lady Elaine when he was young. He caused others to ridicule her laugh. The problem was that he was young and embarrassed to be thought to have a thing for her and he got attention for being funny. She was mortified and about 10 years later she was still single and still being embarrassed. Lord Westfield had traveled in the 10 years and grew up. He came back when his father died and he inherited the title.

The Lord went back to the balls and came into Lady Elaine's presence again. He desired to undo his damage if possible and he realized he still loved and wanted her. However she didn't' trust him for good reason. Would she ever trust him? Had he totally lost her? Will he be able to change his cousin, Lady Diane? She is still trying to embarrass Lady Elaine and others. Read to find out the rest of the story.

I had read a flattering review of one of Courtney Milan's other books and so borrowed Unlocked from my friend who happened to have a copy. I want to stress that I am not normally a romance reader. However, I quickly became swept up in the story of Evan and Lady Elaine. For one thing, I felt so bad for Elaine's treatment at the hands of Evan and society. This type of merciless bullying, I'm sure, is happening today's sociey. Her reaction to years of such unkindness felt very realistic to me and she won my heart. Evan, though, is another matter. While I was initially full of seething hatred for him, he did end up redeeming himself by showing that he had suffered with guilt and had actually changed. I love that Elaine didn't immediately fall in love with him once he apologized and declared his love for her. He had to earn it! And boy, that scene where he shows his "vulnerability" is so freakin' hot!!!!

If anyone can make a romance reader out of me, it might just be Courtney Milan.