The Dragon's Bride by Jo Beverley
When they were fifteen, George Connaught "Con" Somerford, the second son of the Duke of Wyvern, and Susan Kerslake, the illegitimate daughter of the local smuggling captain and a local noblewoman, became friends and then lovers. Except that Susan, desperate to escape the polite pity and disdain of her heritage, only became Con's friend because she thought he was the heir, thinking he would rescue her from her life, and when she learned the truth, she told him so. Ten years later, her brother, David, is the new captain and Susan is working at Crag Wyvern as the housekeeper (looking for gold, of course) when Con returns home as the new Earl of Wyvern.
This book started hitting my "no way, walk away" buttons almost in the first chapter. Giant mistrust issues festering for a decade, perception of a wrong done to the male (and in historical romance novels, the gender is very significant, as that's where all the power lay) and the heroine as the hero's servent, even if she could have walked away at any time. Yet, I kept reading. It helps a lot that Susan actually did do what Con thinks she did (rarely the case) and that she was very upfront about it, and is very honest with herself about her reasons. Con, for his part, largely avoids being hateful, and keeps himself from crossing my "ok, go die now" line in these books.
If it makes sense, I'm not really sure how much I liked the book, but I do think it was pretty good, and, as is often the case with Beverley, I'm very appreciative of the fact that she can make me buy into a plot that should make me run for the hills. That said, Anne, the woman Con was planning to marry(they're almost always planning to marry someome else...)? I think I recall the other book where she almost married one of Con's friends. After all this talk about how she perfectly nice and respectable but dull by the men, I hope she gets a moment to shine ans figuratively give them the middle finger when/if she gets her own book. I'm also very glad Con's brother was dead the whole book. I've read Beverley characters like that who aren't dead, and don't care to again.
This book started hitting my "no way, walk away" buttons almost in the first chapter. Giant mistrust issues festering for a decade, perception of a wrong done to the male (and in historical romance novels, the gender is very significant, as that's where all the power lay) and the heroine as the hero's servent, even if she could have walked away at any time. Yet, I kept reading. It helps a lot that Susan actually did do what Con thinks she did (rarely the case) and that she was very upfront about it, and is very honest with herself about her reasons. Con, for his part, largely avoids being hateful, and keeps himself from crossing my "ok, go die now" line in these books.
If it makes sense, I'm not really sure how much I liked the book, but I do think it was pretty good, and, as is often the case with Beverley, I'm very appreciative of the fact that she can make me buy into a plot that should make me run for the hills. That said, Anne, the woman Con was planning to marry(they're almost always planning to marry someome else...)? I think I recall the other book where she almost married one of Con's friends. After all this talk about how she perfectly nice and respectable but dull by the men, I hope she gets a moment to shine ans figuratively give them the middle finger when/if she gets her own book. I'm also very glad Con's brother was dead the whole book. I've read Beverley characters like that who aren't dead, and don't care to again.