Weekly Reader: Bared To The Wicked Baron by Ava McAdams; Captivating Regency Romance But With A Very Misleading Title

 

Weekly Reader: Bared To The Wicked Baron by Ava McAdams; Captivating Regency Romance But With A Very Misleading Title

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: In the Romance genre, certain things sell and are as  omnipresent as scary things are to a Stephen King novel. Sex sells as shown by the covers featuring barely dressed lovers wrapped in each other's arms. Certain time periods sell as shown by the glut of historical romances, particularly during the Regency Era. Certain words in the title, like "Wicked," Naughty,"  "Forbidden," "Sinful," and "Passion," sell as well. Those words reveal something dark and forbidden about the romance that Readers are about to indulge into. It's a business decision, but at times it is an unnecessary one especially when the title is extraordinarily misleading.

Take Ava McAdams' novel Bared To The Wicked Baron. It would be a halfway decent Regency era Romance of a couple getting to know each other despite outside forces attempting to break them up. 

However the title Bared To The Wicked Baron suggests something else. It suggests something more salacious and sultrier than what we get and it seems to do so only to sell the book to more Readers.

The titular Baron is nowhere near wicked. Sir Phillip Andrews, The Baron of Havordshire, is actually a sweet, but private baron who is caring for his ailing mother. He has been steadily losing money and now resides in a humble cottage to care for her. He has a few loyal servants, but he does much of the nursing himself. Because of this, he doesn't have a lot of time to do the usual social routine of a man among the ton. His friends convince him to spend one night away at a ball so he can finally relax. Now does this sound remotely wicked to you?

He is not wicked in temperament nor in reputation. I could sort of understand if Phillip harbored a reputation of being wicked to ward women away from him so they, and the Reader, don't know that he is caring for his mother leaving his family problems to be a surprise. Perhaps it could be the hidden heart inside his Byronic reputation. But his family conflict is revealed in the second chapter. No one describes or refers to Phillip as wicked and he never behaves that way. Arthur Thistlewood from The Second Mrs. Thistlewood has more right to the adjective than Phillip does. At most Phillip could be private, maybe secretive. Were Bared To The Private or Secretive Baron taken as titles?

Because he has been AWOL from social duties, Phillip's friends warn that his time may be up pursuing young viable women to be brides and give birth to his heirs without looking like an aging fool. Another character running out of time is Helena, daughter of the Earl of Brimsey. She is 27 years old and missed an earlier Season, because of her family's dwindled finances. Now her parents say better late than never and she needs to be married before it's too late. Naturally she goes to the same ball in which Phillip is dragged. The two meet, share a dance, and begin to fall in love.

Their courtship is rushed. That could be attributed to their ages in a time period where they were expected to already be married and the implied anxiety that would happen in a time period where death in childbirth is far from unheard, when late in life pregnancies can produce many long term complications, and when the medical profession amounted to guesswork.  Helena and Phillip's courtship is steamy in that it's an emotional release for a long delayed dream, one that satisfies them on a personal level. They are a nice decent couple that couldn't be further from villainous if they tried.

There is a wicked character in the book that complicates Helena and Phillip's courtship. They use underhanded means to come between the couple like physical attacks and secret confidences. More cannot be revealed but that person is definitely not a baron. This character has some development but it is revealed too late since they are unbearable and annoying throughout. In fact, their villainy is pretty transparent and certainly not compelling. 

Bared To The Wicked Baron is a decent romance but it promises to be something else. With so many words that could have been chosen for the title, wicked should not have been one of them.

New Book Alert: The Second Mrs. Thistlewood by Dionne Haynes; Memorable Regency Historical Fiction Reveals A Woman's Struggle To Leave An Abusive Marriage

 

New Book Alert: The Second Mrs. Thistlewood by Dionne Haynes; Memorable Regency Historical Fiction Reveals A Woman's Struggle To Leave An Abusive Marriage

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: When I first received Dionne Haynes' novel The Second Mrs. Thistlewood, I often mistakenly referred to it as The Second Mrs. DeWinter, in reference to the unnamed narrator and protagonist of Daphne Du Maurier's classic female Gothic novel, Rebecca. Until I read the book, it did not occur to me how right I was. 

The Second Mrs. Thistlewood invokes the spirit of Gothic authors of the past like DuMaurier and The Bronte Sisters. It has the creepy isolated home, the dark brooding male character with a previous marriage, and the naive heroine with very passionate feelings towards him. However, it does so with a modern 21st sensibility that reveals that if you marry a Heathcliff, Edward Rochester, or Maxim De Winter, don't expect to be treated well.

The plot focuses on six years between 1814-1820 during the unhappy marriage of Arthur and Susan Thistlewood. His first wife died leaving him with a son, Julian. Susan remembers that during their early courtship, Arthur was kind and loving. He seemed to be a good fit and her father heartily approved of the marriage. Unfortunately, Arthur has steadily lost money because of the gambling tables. Now he spends his days drinking, plotting to revolt against and kill the king, and beat and belittle his wife.

We are spared flashbacks of their early meeting and courtship, showing when they were younger, in love, and Susan was blind to his temperament. Normally I would question that and yes it would show the abusive marriages don't always start out that way. Arthur's abuse would have caught the Reader off guard as much as it would have Susan. However, it is also right that she did not do this.

This approach is sort of like if Emily Bronte had ignored the first half of Wuthering Heights that explored the origins of Catherine and Heathcliff's tempestuous passionate romance and just focused on the middle part that explored how miserable Heathcliff made the people around him including his wife, Isabelle and son, Linton. As one of the few people who have made my dislike of Wuthering Heights clear, I approve of this approach.

Haynes clearly did not want to fall into the trap that happened with many Gothic authors. She did not want to make her brooding male character a misunderstood Byronic complex antihero that perversely attracted female, and a few male and nonbinary, Readers. She wanted the Readers to dislike Arthur as much as Susan does. (Unfortunately considering how many fans Edward Cullen and Christian Grey have and the strange nature of attraction that Readers have towards certain characters, Hayes's intentions may do the opposite and cause Arthur Thistlewood to have fans among his Readers. Thankfully, I am not one of them.)

Arthur is a true monster. He hits Susan when she does not obey him. He makes a habit of denying her even the basic comforts such as building a fire to "save on money" but then orders her to buy a fancy dress when they go to drop Julian off at boarding school so they can put on airs of pretense. He practically flaunts his affair with a maid over Susan's head but questions her whereabouts and when she receives packages of books. When Susan gets a job at a dressmaker's shop, Arthur helps himself to her earnings. 

Even his seemingly altruistic traits such as challenging the English class system and defending the rights of the poor are under suspect. He seems less willing to help others, after all he doesn't care much about his wife, son, or the people around him, than he is excited about the prospect of starting a violent revolution. He has a sadistic bloodthirsty nature that isn't just satisfied with inflicting pain. He wants to inflict it on others including the King, and appears to use the class struggles as an excuse to do so.

By contrast Susan is much more developed and a stronger character. She knows that she is in a loveless marriage and English Divorce Laws at the time will not allow her to leave unless for reasons of adultery. She waits in anticipation as Arthur manipulates his way out of being officially caught with the maid. When Arthur's political interests become violent, Susan plays the loyal and loving wife, never letting him know that she prays for an arrest and long prison sentence. There are times when she is stuck in the same situation hoping that she will be free from her unhappy marriage only to be disappointed when he reappears to hurt her once more. However, these chapters show the draconian claustrophobic atmosphere many women were caught in at the time where they could do very little to change their marital status, even if they are being physically and psychologically abused by their husbands.

However, Susan shows quite a bit of strength and resolve despite her unhappiness. Unlike Arthur who makes a lot of noise about caring for the poor, Susan actually does. She befriends and cares for Anna, an emigre from France who is victimized by anti-French sentiment after the Napoleonic Wars. Susan also perseveres working at the dress shop to the point that she develops a talent for designing clothes which she visualizes opening her own shop one day. She saves and hoards money so that she can be financially secure in case Arthur ever does leave her life. She also shows a maternal side towards Julian wanting to become a more loving influence towards him rather than his cruel father.

Susan also mentally escapes her situation by reading, particularly the works of Jane Austen and poetry. It is during a trip to the bookstore that she encounters William Westcott, a Bow Street Runner, who is investigating Arthur's violent insurrection connections. Susan and William exchange a love of books and develop a friendship that grows into a romance when Susan realizes what a sweet man William actually is, unlike her husband. 

The Gothic novel that The Second Mrs. Thistlewood most resembles is not Rebecca or Wuthering Heights or even Jane Eyre, a classic that is just as much a landmark of feminist novels as it is of Gothic Literature. It is most similar to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.  

In both, we get women trapped in unhappy abusive marriages that resort to using subterranean means like practicing their talents in secret so they can hone them into a career and hiding money for security in absence of their husbands. They eventually achieve independence and discover love with much better and more understanding men. However, Tennant also explores Bronte's devotion to Christian doctrine by having her protagonist, Helen Graham Huntington forgive her husband, Arthur before he dies. That may have pleased Readers then or revealed Christian charity, but that is not what Susan Thistlewood is looking for. 

Instead Susan Thistlewood is looking for a life for herself, one where she doesn't have to the nameless unimportant Second Mrs. Thistlewood, abused and forced to be subservient to her husband. She longs for a life for herself, where she can become Susan, a strong independent woman with friends, family, and real love.

New Book Alert: The Awakening of the Lost Baroness by Hazel Linwood; Sharp Brisk Plot Driven Regency Era Romance

 

New Book Alert: The Awakening of the Lost Baroness by Hazel Linwood; Sharp Brisk Plot Driven Regency Era Romance

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Regency Romance #2 is The Awakening of The Lost Baroness by Hazel Linwood. Similar to The Heiress of Epsom by Hedley J. Huntt, both take great detail to explore the Regency era with its elegant style, rigid class snobbery, and literature that explored both the witty and passionate sides of the people that lived within it. 

However Huntt and Linwood differ in their approaches. The Heiress of Epsom had a few bursts of plot but brimmed with a pair of likeable characters. By contrast, The Awakening of the Lost Baroness had characters who are less defined but are surrounded by a plot that is a lot more engaging, sharper, and has a few interesting twists.

Amanda Jonson lived her life as a commoner until on her mother's deathbed, the older woman revealed the truth: She was once a maid who was secretly engaged to a Baron's son. When the family found out, the Baron was forced to end the marriage and marry a more acceptable woman. Amanda was finally welcomed into her father, the Baron of Foley's family and is accepted by him, her grandmother, and younger half-sister, Patricia.

She also attracts the romantic attention of Lord Henry, the Earl of Sutcliffe. Unfortunately, Patricia is also in love with him, much to the delight of his mother, and Amanda's grandmother wants to set Amanda up with the Duke of Avery.

The plot moves along at a brisk pace,so brisk that we don't always get to know the characters. The revelation of Amanda's family ties are revealed before the events of the book, so we don't get to know what her former life was like, her mother as a person (besides Amanda remembering her after death), how she feels about her sudden windfall, or the family and Henry's initial reaction about her and vice versa. 

The book is set five years after the reveal and Amanda is already settled into the family. A couple of early chapters or a prologue would help to establish her as a character.

However in this case, the plot moves the characters rather than the other way around. When Amanda's father is taken ill, the question of her marriageability becomes important. She is taken to London to meet Avery. Meanwhile, Henry has made his choice to wed Amanda and he will disinherit himself to do it. He also moves to London to make his own way in the world, either through the army or investing in other friend's businesses.

 It is a bit contrived that both would find their way to London, but since they live in a rural area and London is the central hub of contemporary life at the time, it makes sense.

There are some pretty tense scenes that reveal that in a Regency Era Romance, all is not necessarily fancy dress balls and invitations to tea with Grandmama. Amanda, Patricia, and their grandmother are invited to the opera and Amanda is invited to sit in Avery's box seat. It is in Avery's box seat that he attempts to rape her. Only Amanda's fast feet save her from becoming victimized by the Duke's brutality.

 Besides the deplorable actions of the Duke, even worse is the behavior of her Grandmother who still wants her granddaughter to go through with marrying Avery even after Amanda tells her what he did. ("He is not….the gentleman that he should be, but we are doing this for your own good," Grandma says like a "loving" grandmother should.)

The only one who will defend her is Henry and he is prepared to do so with pistols during a duel. The duel chapter captures how high the stakes can be in such a potentially dangerous situation. It also fortunately takes the romance out of such a conflict by revealing it for the bloody destructive mess that it is, even when both parties survive.

There are some points that leave one scratching their heads especially when it's revealed that much of the plot was orchestrated by some scheming characters. In reality, such characters would be revealed as sociopaths and certainly deserve to be estranged from the others or punished more than they are, but that does not happen. Retribution is cast aside for Happy Ever After.

Where The Heiress of Epsom takes a meandering time where the Reader gets to know the characters, The Awakening of the Baroness speeds through so the Reader can see the world around the characters. Both offer loving tributes to an era that is worth exploring again and again through literature.

Weekly Reader: The Heiress of Epsom: Her Lady's Heart by Hedley J. Huntt; Cute, Charming Character Driven Regency Era Romance

 Weekly Reader: The Heiress of Epsom: Her Lady's Heart by Hedley J. Huntt; Cute, Charming Character Driven Regency Era Romance

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: For the first romance books of this month, I am reviewing a pair of Regency era Historical Romances. What is it about this era that inspires the romantic side of authors and Readers? Sure there are many romances set in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Quite a few Westerns and some books set during the World Wars sprinkle with more than enough love stories. But the Regency Era, between 1811-1820, in England tops the list of historical romance fiction time periods and these won't be the only two that I am reviewing this month either. 

The most obvious reason is that the authors and Readers are fans of the works from that period, particularly Jane Austen, so they want to pay tribute to one of their favorite authors. Another reason could be because of the period itself with the elegant styles and architectures, the social customs and manners. There is a quaint elegance that people want to study and escape into. 

With that elegance and fine manners, there was also a contradiction. This was a contradiction in which many rebelled against convention and embraced passion and emotion. This wasn't just the era of the cultured politeness of Jane Austen. This was also the era of the Romantic poets like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, and the "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" Lord Byron. The time of the Rake, those lady's men who could challenge the norm and arouse the interest of the young swooning ladies and the ladies who mocked and satirized those conventions in Gothic novels and comedies of manners.

It is the convention vs. passion that many authors seem to find so irresistible and like to put in their works. 

That is what is intrinsic in the first two Regency era Romances, the side of convention: young people being forced into situations that they would rather not be in, like arranged marriages vs. their romantic passionate feelings for the right person. In a sense, they tell the same story of young people from wealthy and titled families falling in love with someone considered unsuitable and fighting off family pressure to marry someone more acceptable. However, authors Hedley J. Huntt and Hazel Linwood choose different ways to tell them and in their differences show their writing advantages.

Huntt's version of the Regency Era, The Heiress of Epsom: Her Lady's Heart, is strong on character with a slight plot. Very little goes on story wise, but we are given two charming lovers that are so likeable and packed with brilliant traits that I like the journey that they are on.

The first of the lovers is Lady Caroline Cartoghan, the only daughter of Zachary Cartoghan, the Marquess of Epsom. As is the role of many young women of the time, her only job is to marry up to give her family more prominence. The only thing higher than a Marquess is a Duke and that's one step closer to Royalty. In fact, her parents are practically salivating over the fact that Finley Rashford, Duke of Kirkeby, will be arriving soon to appraise his potential bride. She is more interested in Oliver Russell, the local potstal worker. Oliver Russell, a man with no title.

Or rather Oliver had a title. He was once a Viscont of Barj, and his father an Earl, but that was before his alcoholic and compulsive gambling father lost the family wealth, home, and title. Who help engineered his downfall? Why none other than the Marquess of Epsom, Caroline's father. Once he gets to know Caroline, Oliver sees a potential pathway to romance.

Caroline and Oliver are a winning pair both in their time together and separate. They both question the societal rules. Even though Caroline considers her maid, Vivian, a friend and confidant, she despairs that she doesn't know her as a person or her life outside of working for the Cartoghan Family.

Caroline is a woman who while loves her parents is starting to question her role in this snobbish society. Her older brother, Jack, can romance many, drink himself silly, and do whatever he wants. But if she steps one toe out of line, it is a cause for scandal. She questions the double standard.

The only place that she can feel welcome is the local bookstore. There she reads French Literature, sensational novels, and works that are forbidden, and is free to express herself in ways that are more open.

That is what attracts Oliver to her and vice versa. They are both characters who question the norm. Oliver shares a similar passion for literature, particularly poetry, which he often quotes to swooning maidens like a pop singer quoting their lyrics to adoring fans. He is clearly a charming flirt, but that's not all to him.

Unlike Caroline, Oliver is able to cross class lines. In fact, now that he is outside of his former class, he sees how foolish those people are. That is probably why, even though he tried before like funding a failed expedition, he shows no current interest in regaining his fortune or title. In fact, his best friend is bookseller, John Ruppert, who gives him books and good solid advice. He has an inner circle that includes various people of different social classes from Lady Ryssa, a rich dowager looking for a handsome young wealthy man to marry to Marvy, a poor young boy who delivers messages between the lovers and who Oliver and John treat like a kid brother.

Since Caroline's parents forbid Oliver from calling on the house, the two maintains their relationship via correspondence, hitting each other exactly where their hearts lie: through writing. For example Oliver writes to Caroline, "My heart yearns for you, for an eternity with you, or at least a second in passing." It's the letter writing that one would expect between lovers from that period. They express such emotional heartfelt words through writing that societal constraints deprive them from revealing with their voices.

This is a book that not a lot happen. But when it does, it happens in quick spurts followed by many chapters and pages of contemplation and indecision. Most of the actions are motivated by Caroline and Oliver's behavior and mannerisms. In one chapter, Caroline asks Finley some provocative questions that show that intellectually, she runs circles around this guy.

Another chapter features Oliver and Caroline engaging in a kiss that is seen by Finley and Jack, both of whom are not happy. Oliver and Caroline kiss to express the physical passion which they can no longer deny and only share through letters.

The final third of the book is too delicious to reveal but hinges on Caroline feeling smothered by her family's expectations and desperation to do anything to end their control over her. It also hinges on Oliver's love for her and concerns about gaining back what he lost.

The Heiress of Epsom is a fine tribute to an era that continues to fascinates both Readers and Authors. Caroline and Oliver make for a charming lovely pair to welcome Romantics into that time.