Book Review: A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman

Want to know if A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman is worth the read? Here’s my full review to help you decide

A Daring Pursuit Info

Author: Kate Bateman

Published: 24 May 2022

Rating: 3/5

Where to buy A Daring Pursuit

Amazon

A Daring Pursuit Summary

TWO ENEMIES

Carys Davies is doing everything in her power to avoid marriage. Staying single is the only way to hide the secret that could ruin her—and her family—if it was revealed. For the past two seasons she’s scandalized the ton with her outrageous outfits and brazen ways in a futile bid to deter potential suitors. Outwardly confident and carefree, inside she’s disillusioned with both men and love. There’s only one person who’s never bought her act—the only man who makes her heart race: Tristan Montgomery, one of her family’s greatest rivals.

ONE SCANDALOUS BARGAIN

Wickedly proper architect Tristan needs a respectable woman to wed, but he’s never stopped wanting bold, red-headed Carys. When she mockingly challenges him to show her what she’s missing by not getting married, Tristan shocks them both by accepting her indecent proposal: one week of clandestine meetings, after which they’ll go their separate ways. But kissing each other is almost as much fun as arguing, and their affair burns hotter than either of them expects. When they find themselves embroiled in a treasonous plot, can they trust each other with their hearts, their secrets…and their lives?

A Daring Pursuit Review

A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman is the second installment in the Ruthless Rivals series.

The book in my opinion is average and unfortunately some scenes or plot points fell flat. 

I had read the first installment in the series and was looking forward to reading the next one as I wanted to see how the author will show us how deep the family feud was between the Davies and the Mongomery’s.

But I was sorely disappointed because in A Daring Pursuit there was no telling nor showing what else made this feud so intense.

It truly felt like the author didn’t care about this premise anymore as it had been explained away in the first book and now the trope is just a pretense.

So, if you skipped the first book and dove right into the second one you might not understand nor grasp fully why the ancient family feud still persists.

Aside from this, another let down for me regarding A Daring Pursuit is the inconsistent pacing.

Towards the end we suddenly get a random plot point of our two main characters chasing down a bear and then being chased by a bear only to uncover a devious plot.

This plot point seemed very haphazardly put together to increase the time our main characters spent together as well as to inject drama and action into the plot.

Not all was bad with A Daring Pursuit, I still enjoyed some aspects of the plot.

An aspect I enjoyed and appreciated was the complex emotions Carys felt about being a non-virgin in a society that viewed non-virgin women as immoral or whatnot as well as her complexity with her sexuality and her self-confidence,

It was refreshing because a woman isn’t going to change immediately. Carys isn’t going to turn into a sex kitten overnight just because she lost her virginity 

There will be days where she will be insecure as the society she lives in highly values virginity in  women although I can never understand why a woman’s virginity is so prized yet men are allowed to just sleep with whomever they want.

The math ain’t mathing here because who are these men sleeping with then if at the time homosexuality was frowned upon and women were supposed to be chaste and virginal.

So far these are the only things that I recall in regards to A Daring Pursuit from Kate Bateman.

The male lead is your typical Duke of North stereotype (if you read a lot of isekai manhwa you will understand my reference).

Will I recommend this book? I would say yes, it’s still an enjoyable read, just don’t have high expectations.

If you enjoyed my review of A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman then you might enjoy my other reviews

Book Review: Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

Book Review: Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt

Book Review: When A Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt

Book Review: The Vixen by Christi Caldwell