Review: A Different Era, A Different Point of View
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 27, 2012
The story of Lucien and Sherry,Bayou Bride (Sweetly Contemporary Collection)began with Sherry meeting Lucien via a phone when Lucien called Sherry's home looking for his brother Paul. A mistaken assumption on Lucien's part that Sherry and Paul were involved romantically was strengthened when Paul told his older brother Lucien that Sherry and him were engaged.That precipitated Sherry's trip to New Orleans. Lucien, trying to make Paul do the right thing and honor an earlier "engagement" to another girl intercepted Sherry and brought her to Bayou's End, the Villere's home away from home in the bayou.***SPOILER ALERT*** (I will be discussing several items here that will reveal the plot)For this who missed it, this was written in 1978. And I am glad that the author did not try to "update" it to make it more contemporary (as in 21st century). And yes, 32 years seem not a very long time for the book to be classified "historical" romance, but if we take into consideration how much have changed in the past 30 years (the internet, mobile phones, computers just to name a few), then this book should be in the historical romance category.The first chapter already told me that this book is not truly "contemporary" because Sherry had to go go back and forth the office and her boss's house to bring documents. If this book is set in the 2000s, then it could have been emailed or done via an extranet, so there is no need for the "secretary" to do the heavy lifting.Also, the word "secretary" and secretarial school was used. Today, we have Admin Assistants and Personal Assistants, though the work they do are actually the same as secretary.That said, as I continued reading, I began to look at this from a "historical" point of view. That's why I did not have to suspend my disbelief that Sherry would easily agree to go to the bayou to see Paul. If it is today, Sherry could have contacted Paul via text message or call his cell phone. And though what Lucien did was technically kidnapping and in fact in the book, the word "abduction" was used, if we used the 2000s point of view, Sherry actually willingly went with Lucien. So this is not an abduction. It's two consenting adults.As it turned out, the romance between Lucien and Sherry developed at Bayou's End. The author also took us to a tour of the beautiful wetlands of Louisiana. Remember, this is also pre-Katrina, so as a reader, I found the description poignant and I really felt how much we have lost. Then, there was also the Cajuns and their culture. Jumping the broom was something new to me. For me, the exposure to Cajun culture albeit short and abbreviated already made this book worthy.Reading other reviews here, someone mentioned rape. Quite frankly, I did not see any rape in the book. I did not feel that Lucien was forcing himself on Sherry. I did not even think that there was any sex in the book, unless you count the steaming kisses. As for the "abuse" that was mentioned because Sherry had some bruises, I see it more as accidental.Of course, at this forum, or any other forum, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Only thing I will say is that you have to look at the era that this book was written. This was pre-Monica Lewinsky wherein "having sex" was pretty much defined as beginning with a kiss. This was also before "date rape" and the woman being able to say "NO".From a historical context, Lucien might not be the metrosexual today who is very much in tune with his feminine side and Sherry might not be the independent woman who can defend herself and readily devise a escape plan. They are a product of their generation.