Holding the Line Falls Flat

Holding the Line is my 1st book by author Jenifer Delamere. I was intrigued by the heroine Rose Finlay a young widow working full time at a telegraph office independently supporting herself. Having a 21st century lens the idea of a woman supporting herself  and having risen to the rank of assistant manager seems so modern in the late 1800's. 

In the 1880's A young woman's reputation in society was everything. I found it interesting how she (Rose) is allowed to move about society without a chaperone because she is a widow. However a single woman of marriageable age requires a chaperone.  I also did not know that widows wear a mourning ring symbolizing her status as a widow.  

The Heroine, Rose Finlay, has a tragic marriage. Her husband was unfaithful man, but did not realize this before she married him. She was deeply in love, but soon found out some major red flags about her husband. Because of her past, Rose is determined to help other women escape the same fate she did, by making young ladies aware of red flags.

Hero John Milburn (in his late 30's) carries a heavy burden caring for his two widowed sisters and caring for his nieces and nephews. He wants his oldest niece to make a good match in society and asks Rose to chaperone her to a local ball.

So to be honest, this landed in my DNF pile somewhat. I read about 75% of it, and ended up flipping to the last chapter and the epilogue to know how it ended. Unfortunately, this book moved at a glacial pace and in my opinion did not go anywhere. In fact, I could not figure out where it was going and realized that with 75% in, it was clearly going nowhere. 

The one thing I did like was that both Rose and John share an appreciation for the author Charles Dickens. Sadly that was all I did like. 

I genuinely wanted to like this book, the cover art is beautiful and the writing was solid, however the slow pace of the plot and the lack of substantive story development was a detrimental deterrent from my enjoying this book. 

I am curious, what do you do when you dive into a book you believe you will enjoy, but end up not liking it at all? Do you skip to the end, just quit, or are you in it to win it? 

~~Holding the Line was provided to me by the author herself and the publisher in return for my honest review. I received a complimentary copy of the book. All opinions expressed are my own, I was not required to write a positive review. All viewpoints expressed are my own. ~~