On Male Virgins: A Review of Unclaimed by Courtney Milan

Unclaimed by Courtney Milan is the second book in the Turner trilogy. Let me say right up front that I highly recommend both books to anyone who likes historical romance, or even someone who thinks they might be curious enough to try one. You can find my review of book 1, Unveiled, HERE.

Mark is a highly intellectual man who has written a book on the importance of male chastity. To his great surprise, the book has risen to astonishing popularity, garnering him a knighthood and a swarm of fans. Unfortunately it has also attracted some enemies. One such enemy puts out a reward to any woman who can seduce the virtuous knight and ruin his reputation. Jessica has spent seven years as a courtesan and is determined to get out of the life. Knowing that the reward money would set her free, Jessica sets out to seduce Mark.

Positive Comments:

This is a highly character driven story, and fortunately the characters are quite likeable. Mark is genuinely noble and ethical, but desperately wants someone to see beyond all of that. Jessica is a strong, somewhat hardened character who's sole focus has been survival for a very long time. Yet Jessica does have a sense of morality, and right from the beginning she didn't really want to hurt Mark.

I guess have to take a moment to mention the virginity thing. Male virgin heroes are quite rare in romance novels, where as female virgins are a dime a dozen. I'm not sure whether this is supposed to reflect real life, or if it's because male virgins are thought to be unappealing. Personally, if it's the latter reason, I think that's codswallop.There is something oddly appealing about male virgins in a romantic book. I can remember two off-hand: Jamie from Outlander (a 5+ star book IMO) and Conrad from Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark books. In both cases the virgin factor was a huge positive for me. Anyway, in Unclaimed Mark is a virgin, and it does make for interesting plot and character developments. Not to mention the tension it creates.

The plot is mostly driven forward through internal conflict. Both Mark and Jessica have some scars from their past to be dealt with. The nature of these past hurts are revealed at a pace that built anticipation but did not, for the most part, feel drawn out. Between the well crafted plot and the Victorian country setting, I found it easy to immerse myself in the story.

Critical Comments:

Two very minor things. First, Mark was almost too perfect. Usually, even a brilliant and loveable hero will, being a man, screw up at some point in the story and make the reader just a little peeved at him. To me that moment is kind of crucial, because it puts the reader on the heroine's side and makes you root for her. It also helps the hero to seem more real. Without it, Mark comes across rather like a Prince Charming figure. But hey, who wouldn't marry Prince Charming, right? Second, Jessica's ongoing worry that she will hurt Mark or ruin him just by being with him wore a bit thin for me after awhile. Her worries were understandable, but somewhere around the second time she thought she might leave him for his own good I lost some patience. Thankfully the problem is resolved in a satisfactory manner, but it still bugged me just a bit.

Overall, it took me a total of a couple of hours over a two day span to read this book--very fast for me. That's a testament to how well written and enjoyable this novel is. Historical romance fans won't want to miss it! 4 stars.

*Speaking of Prince Charming, don't forget to vote for you favorite fairy tale. Poll ends Sunday! Happy Reading!*

On Marriage: A Review of Mistress by Marriage by Maggie Robinson

Mistress by Marriage is the bookclub pick over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. The chat takes place at 9pm on Tuesday September 27th.

The premise of this book is essentially the "marriage in trouble" trope. Edward and Caroline are trapped in a terrible marriage. Edward is strict and stuffy. Caroline is wild. The two have amazing chemistry in bed, but can't get along outside of it. For most of their marriage, Caroline has been banished to Jane Street, a district usually reserved for rich gentleman's mistresses. Edward visits once a year so they can have sex, but otherwise she's left to her own devices. She makes friends with courtesans and writes dirty novels. Both she and Edward assume that it's only a matter of time before Edward works up the nerve to sue for formal divorce. But then Edward decides that perhaps once a year is not enough for him...

Positive comments:

The characters are certainly original and interesting. Caroline frustrated me a bit, but she had her redeeming qualities. I liked that she made a life for herself on Jane Street--consorting with fallen women and writing her dirty books. I was really amused by the details of her books--how she'd write Edward as a villain or a hero. Edward is a rather priggish character who clearly needs some shaking up. I did enjoy the opposites attract  aspect of the relationship.

The love scenes are hot, and there are many of them. I'm not sure that this can be labeled as erotica, but I do think it would appeal to many fans of erotica.

This book is full to bursting with angst. That could be a positive or negative depending on taste, but for the most part, I liked it. There's a great deal of emotional struggle, and a lot of character development as a result.

Critical Comments:

I'm actually not a huge fan of the "marriage in trouble" trope. It especially did not work for me in this book, because I got the sense that the characters were never actually in love at the beginning of their marriage. Edward was in lust, Caroline needed to be married, so they got married. There didn't seem to be any real basis for an emotional connection between the two of them.

I never fully connected to the story. At times it felt forced, other times it felt aimless. There was nothing in the plot to get me really excited, or keep me wondering what would happen next. It's predictable. It's not boring, exactly, but it certainly isn't exciting.

I mentioned Caroline's personality as a positive, but there are also aspects of it that were negative. She throws temper tantrums and breaks things, and she behaves and thinks like a child. Those details really frustrated me because they made me re-think whether this was a character who deserves a happily-ever-after.

My final point is something I feel a little uncomfortable bringing up. An expert in history, I am not. But the characters in this story just didn't seem to behave as I would expect for people of that time period. I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong--whether it's the dialogue, the narrative, or the plot itself. The characters' attitudes were one thing that stood out particularly. At one point, Edward and Caroline were discussing a child molester, in comparison to a homosexual person. Edward is really quick to announce that gay men are a-okay as far as he's concerned. Here's the quote--

"No. Most men of that persuasion would not (molest a young boy). They are simply seeking affection like the rest of us, although they can be hung for it."--Maggie Robinson, Mistress by Marriage

Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't that strike you as a little too enlightened? A little too modern of a view point? Especially for a stuffy, by-the-books hero? My point in all of this is, the book doesn't successfully recreate the atmosphere of it's time period. The story could easily have taken place today, with a few adjustments, or in any other time period.

So overall, I did like some aspects of the book. I think if you like "marriage in trouble" stories or "opposites attract" stories, this book might be worth reading for you. For me it was just average. 2.5 stars.

On Male Prostitutes: A Review of Her Ladyship's Companion by Evangeline Collins

Her Ladyship's Companion was a book that I randomly selected to read on my Kindle because the premise sounded interesting. I had no prior knowledge of the author and I hadn't read any reviews. As with many of my randomly selected books, it was something of a mixed bag, quality wise. I have much to talk about with this book, but I'll try not to ramble.

The book is set in Scotland/England in 1811 and centers around Isabella, a woman in a loveless marriage. Her husband is abusive and hateful, and consequently Bella has grown quite depressed. Her cousin, who doesn't really know the cause of Bella's melancholy, thinks to cheer her up by hiring a male prostitute for her (as one does). Gideon comes to spend two weeks with Bella, and the two discover both mutual attraction and begin to show signs of affection.

Now, the reason that Bella is in this terrible marriage is that she was caught in an indiscretion with a stable boy, and her brother decided that the best possible solution was to marry her off quickly. In this, and other details, the book attempts to address female sexuality and how it was viewed at that time. Almost every time Bella attempts to take any agency in her own sex life, disaster ensues. This novel did a good job at addressing this idea and it comes to a fairly satisfactory resolution.

Aside from this quality, while I did not dislike Bella, she is not a character I would want to be. I pitied her. She's a helpless character, at the mercy of whatever happens to her. I wanted to see her develop more strength, or self sufficiency, than she did. Perhaps I'm being too hard on her, because given the time period her helplessness is not entirely her fault. But some backbone would not have gone amiss.

Gideon is also characterized as a victim of unfortunate circumstances. He's just trying to make the best of his low birth and status. He's pretty passive as far as heroes go--not an alpha male at all. I noted that the author took great pains to mention that, despite his long career as a prostitute, Gideon never agreed to sleep with men no matter what they offered to pay. It was as though the author was worried that readers would suspect him of being gay or bisexual.  In addition to this, the author tries very hard to present Gideon as the much desired opposite of Lord Stirling (the abusive husband). All in all, I felt like his character was forced and unimaginative.

With two slightly weak, pitiable characters, it's hard to get really invested in a romantic relationship. But, to be absolutely fair, it was surprisingly not terrible. The sex was hot and plentiful. There are lots of sweet, tender moments. While I didn't find the happily-ever-after completely satisfying, I did believe that Bella and Gideon cared about one another.

There was one detail about the relationship that just...irked me. MINOR SPOILER:  After Gideon leaves Bella and tries to go back to his life as a prostitute, he finds himself impotent. Yeah, he can't get it up for any other woman now (because that's what true love does?) I've seen this done a lot in paranormal romance--usually in the "fated mate" trope. This bothered me on a couple of levels: First, because I felt like his biggest motivation in returning to her was to get his equipment operating again and secondly, because I feel like it cheapens the monogamy. He's with her and only her, not because he made an emotional commitment to loyalty, but because he physically can't be otherwise.

What kind of recommendation can I make with this one? I don't want to suggest it to anyone, because it's such an odd book and it isn't very well written. But then again, there isn't anything glaringly wrong with it. So, I won't warn you off of it, if the premise sounds good to you. 2.5 stars.