Books like Destiny Unleashed

Ho Hum is about the best I can say about it. The dialogue is uneven, the characters changing moods so quickly that if the story was not so simplistic one could get confused. The words interfere with the story somewhat for example all these synonyms for a verbal answer: retorted, protested, acknowledged, whispered, agreed. Actually she kind of uses these in rotation but protested is the one most frequently used. Makes sense with the story line as Destiny protests her feelings for her old lover William, William protests Destiny's mistrust of him, Richard protests his Aunt Destiny's taking the job in Europe and then spending time with the enemy, the wives protest their husband's unromantic suspicion of their Aunt Destiny's relationship with William etc. Lots of protesting going on here. Also, Destiny "chuckles" a lot. That bothers me. Chuckling, it seems masculine and stilted and just weird. When is the last time you used the word chuckling in conversation, or even in writing? I thought the book, while not offensive, was a waste of my time.