Highly improbable, highly improper situation

-
Gareth: Lord of Rakes (The Lonely Lords #6) by Grace Burrowes   

 ...'scandalous, shameful, scounderlous bad man!'
so Felicity Hemmings Worthington at one stage describes Gareth Alexander, Marquess of Heathgate.
I must admit initially I had reservations about the plot. I really liked the main characters but, Yikes! the whole premise left me aghast and agape.
Really I was halfway convinced that Burrowes had run amok and this novel was nothing more than a bodice ripper --albeit 'of the first water.'
My perceptions were turned on their head. Gareth (the novel) emerged as an enthralling, deviously plotted Regency romance embedded in the idea of women and inheritance laws, reverting of land and titles to the crown where no male heir is found, ownership, brothels and prostitutes, and the legalities of this profession in these times. In an  interesting appendage Burrowes discusses these factors.       

In this Lonely Lords episode a penniless spinster, made penniless by the law of Escheat, (where the title and lands, in this case the title of Viscount belonging to her father, reverts to the crown if no male inheritor can be found), inherits a gaming house/brothel. Conditions of the inheritance are Machiavellian to say the least, including eventual loss of virtue. To save her younger sister from a life of drudgery and pernicury the spinster attempts to fulfill the inheritance.
Added to this the sexual encounters although tender yet passionate are again constructs of the premise. A lot of disbelief initially needs to be suspended.
But then this is perhaps a Beauty and the Beast story in a different guise:
*Dowdy looking Beauty (very proper spinster) in predicament
*Approaches Beast (disenchanted marquess) for distasteful help
*Beast agrees reluctantly
*Beast acts beastly to try to scare Beauty off
*Beast finds himself falling in love
*Beauty finds that beast is all she could wish for
*Beast acts in Beauty's best interests
*Beast rescues Beauty from threats
*Beauty is victim no more
*Alls well that ends well--with surprises--but ah! The agony off getting there!
... and a villain of course lurks in the proverbial shrubbery
There are moments that I really enjoyed in this misplaced unintended relationship.
More than once I was struck by Felicity's introspective musings about their relationship. 'Did a gallant knight ever bring his lady anything more precious than hope?'
Frisson aplenty, steamy romance and more. Good reading!

 A NetGalley ARC

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more