Review: A Little Bit of History, Loads of Fun
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2012
History, historical romance and erotica are seldom used together in one sentence, but for "Kissing Mr. Bellamy" you can use all three and then add laugh out loud funny at the same time.The prequel, concurrent and sequel to "Whispers of Time," "Kissing Mr. Bellamy" follows Roger Bellamy, a private investigator and Emily Templeton, a scholar of Egyptian history and a spinster whose uncle recently died. Though the magistrate ruled the death as natural causes, Emily believed that her uncle was murdered because of a tiny red mark at his neck.For those who have read "Whispers of Time," Gabriella and Damon (the protagonists in that book) make cameo appearances. And for those who have not read the other book, "Kissing Mr. Bellamy" gives enough material to explain Gabriella and Damon's presence.The book tells the story of how Emily and Roger solved the murder, caught the culprit and of course, their whirlwind courtship and how they fell in love.***MY TAKE ON THE STORY***There was an instant spark between Roger and Emily. Roger figured out early on that behind the dowdy appearance of Emily is a very beautiful woman. Emily on the other hand found Roger's dark countenance complete with his facial scar dangerously attractive.But, the sexual attraction is only half of the story. The other half is both parties are also intellectual equals. And this is the reason why I gave this book five stars. A lot of historical romance novels and of course, romantic erotica included, the woman is just this beautiful girl that more often than not is damsel in distress or just chattel. Emily being portrayed as an independent and intelligent woman, albeit poor and spinsterish give a different view of women from the Regency Era.There is also the aspect of Egyptian history. Though a small part of the book, the information given by the author actually makes the story telling very interesting and thus also explains a lot of things that were going on in the peripheral. I was not expecting a history lesson like "The Mummy", but what was given was very enlightening and in tune with the story.And finally, the humorous way the story was told, on how Roger and Emily interact is priceless! The setting is of course very Regency Era and the speech is actually proper for the time period. You can actually hear the characters talk in their very aristocratic British accents and you cannot help yourself but laugh because what they're saying can be transported to the 21st century without losing its meaning.