Review: She Should Have Been a Blonde
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 3, 2014
By Loyalty Divided takes place during the English Civil War of roughly, from 1641 to 1649 which resulted in a temporary abolishment of the English monarchy. I knew so little of this era of English history that this book had me scurrying to Google to educate myself.Anna Lady Maitcliffe is the orphaned daughter of a family of noble parentage who has been taken in as a ward by Lord William Gantry. William and his wife Arabella have a son named Morton, with whom Anna is madly in love. Morton is equally in love with Anna, but resists her advances as he is an upright young man who knows it would be wrong to take advantage of Anna’s situation as a ward in his father’s household. When Morton refuses a position in King Charles’ army and declares his support for the Parliamentarians, his father banishes him from the estate, and Morton joins the Parliamentarian army as an officer. His mother, Arabella, dies of grief shortly thereafter.Anna is convinced that Morton, having rejected her advances, is enamored of her hated rival Catherine Thornton. Lord William is pressuring her to marry Catherine’s brother Thomas, but he has a reputation as a rake and Catherine decides that rather than marry him, she will try to seduce Lord William himself. He is pushing forty but still handsome and charming. Naively (or perhaps not so naively), she asks him to teach her what will be expected of her in terms of pleasing her husband in the marriage bed. After initial reluctance, he obliges and the outcome is predictable.If the outcome of lust is predictable, the vicissitudes of war are not, and Anna is given a reprieve from the planned nuptials.I have to admit that I found it difficult at some point to sympathize with Anna. She has got to be one of the most neurotic heroines I’ve ever encountered on a page, always sabotaging herself. You’re beloved lies at death’s door, you rush to his side, you painstakingly nurse him back to health. Then, of course, you stay by his side so that the first thing he sees when he regains consciousness is your angelic face and he realizes that you are his salvation, right? Not if you’re Anna Lady Maitcliffe. You convince yourself that your beloved is in love with the squire’s daughter and you take your leave and leave him to the blandishments of a love-struck thirteen year old! Oh Anna, tch, tch! Fortunately for Anna, her rivals are even more pathetic than she is.As silly as she is, Anna does have an astounding talent as a horsewoman. She can bring her horse to a gallop and sometimes outrace either William or Morton while riding sidesaddle! Something I never imagined possible!A fun read, lots and lots of sex, some violence, and an intriguing look at the history of the time.