Review: Nice plot, poorly executed
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 17, 2013
** spoiler alert ** This is a very nice plot poorly executed. I won't rehash the plot; the blurb sets things up. And I know this is HR and we suspend disbelief, but this author tested my powers of suspension. Alasdair is an opium addict, as a result of his war wounds and (apparently) an unscrupulous doctor in cahoots with Alasdair's cousin. He rescues Mary, and she wants to help rescue him. I'm no expert, but Alasdair's recovery from addiction seems astonishingly fast and fairly pain-free. After a couple of feverish days and one relapse, he seems fine. And while he's recovering, he and Mary are on the run cross-country with no money. And so, a potentially touching story is glossed over.And here's a little thing that irritated me. Mary has no clothes other than what she's wearing when he brother puts her up for auction. Then, suddenly she has another dress. But later, when she and Alasdair arrive in London after marrying in Scotland, she has an entire fabulous wardrobe, because Alasdair has written ahead and ordered one. None of these dresses seems to need alteration, and the elegant slippers all fit. And Mary, a village vicar's daughter, has no problem navigating the ins and outs of ton etiquette.In other words, everything -- from the serious to the frivolous -- happens too easily. The only thing that kept this from being a two-star for me was Alasdair's humor, integrity, and honor.