Book review: Ransom My Heart
I saw this on the "New Books" shelf at the library, and I nearly burst out laughing. "Princess Mia" publishing her first book, and a historical romance at that? I read Meg Cabot's first Princess Diaries way back in high school, and mildly enjoyed the Anne Hathaway movie...but this, this has to be something else.
At least, I first thought.
Ransom My Heart by Meg Cabot Princess Mia Thermopolis
Finnula Crais has a big problem on her hands: her sister is knocked up, and to make matters worse, she has used up all her dowry buying trinkets and dresses to look pretty before her no-good, penniless lover. So, she decides what any self-respecting, fiercely independent sister would do: kidnap a rich prisoner and use the ransom to help her sister make a respectable marriage. Except she has the bad luck to capture the rich and wealthy (though she does not know it yet--of course) Lord Hugo, Earl of A Very Wealthy Land Somewhere in Merry Ole England. Back from the Crusades (which the author mentions took place in Egypt, but since when the hell were the Holy Lands ever near the pyramids), Hugo is ready to settle down and inherit the land which his late Lord Father left him. And when he sees this fiery redhead attempting to kidnap him...
Oh why do I bother. Do plots really matter in a romance novel?
My thoughts
At first, I sincerely thought--honest to God--that Meg Cabot was having a go at romance novels with tongue-in-cheek humor. All the supposed essentials of a modern romance are there, after all: an independent yet ornery heroine, a charistmatic rogue of a romantic interest, heaving bosoms, ripped bodices, etc, etc. So, I suppose for the first one hundred or so pages, I was almost genuinely entertained. The interaction between Hugo and Finnula sparkles with wit, even if it's inevitably predictable. Moreover, the story, though derivative of countless other romantic comedies (with a dash of Robin Hood thrown in), kept me on my toes--at first.
But then after two hundred pages, I realized with sinking dismay that Meg Cabot was serious about making this a good historical romance...and that's when I couldn't finish it anymore.
It was just so...crammed with every possible plot device that can happen to characters in a romance novel. There's an attempt on the Lord Earl's life! There's a pregnancy! The heroine is framed for a crime she doesn't commit! She realizes she loves him too late! Oy vey. Like the book itself, all those gimmicks were wearisome rather than inventive.
**I haven't read the tenth and last Princess Diaries book (not that I really plan to), so I'm not sure if "Princess Mia" meant to "publish" her book in earnest. I briefly searched Cabot's website and "Princess Mia's" too for any hint that this book is not really a serious attempt, but to no avail.
At least, I first thought.
Ransom My Heart by Meg Cabot Princess Mia Thermopolis
Finnula Crais has a big problem on her hands: her sister is knocked up, and to make matters worse, she has used up all her dowry buying trinkets and dresses to look pretty before her no-good, penniless lover. So, she decides what any self-respecting, fiercely independent sister would do: kidnap a rich prisoner and use the ransom to help her sister make a respectable marriage. Except she has the bad luck to capture the rich and wealthy (though she does not know it yet--of course) Lord Hugo, Earl of A Very Wealthy Land Somewhere in Merry Ole England. Back from the Crusades (which the author mentions took place in Egypt, but since when the hell were the Holy Lands ever near the pyramids), Hugo is ready to settle down and inherit the land which his late Lord Father left him. And when he sees this fiery redhead attempting to kidnap him...
Oh why do I bother. Do plots really matter in a romance novel?
My thoughts
At first, I sincerely thought--honest to God--that Meg Cabot was having a go at romance novels with tongue-in-cheek humor. All the supposed essentials of a modern romance are there, after all: an independent yet ornery heroine, a charistmatic rogue of a romantic interest, heaving bosoms, ripped bodices, etc, etc. So, I suppose for the first one hundred or so pages, I was almost genuinely entertained. The interaction between Hugo and Finnula sparkles with wit, even if it's inevitably predictable. Moreover, the story, though derivative of countless other romantic comedies (with a dash of Robin Hood thrown in), kept me on my toes--at first.
But then after two hundred pages, I realized with sinking dismay that Meg Cabot was serious about making this a good historical romance...and that's when I couldn't finish it anymore.
It was just so...crammed with every possible plot device that can happen to characters in a romance novel. There's an attempt on the Lord Earl's life! There's a pregnancy! The heroine is framed for a crime she doesn't commit! She realizes she loves him too late! Oy vey. Like the book itself, all those gimmicks were wearisome rather than inventive.
**I haven't read the tenth and last Princess Diaries book (not that I really plan to), so I'm not sure if "Princess Mia" meant to "publish" her book in earnest. I briefly searched Cabot's website and "Princess Mia's" too for any hint that this book is not really a serious attempt, but to no avail.