Review: An awkward read.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 10 16, 2011
This book is more of an information dump about the late 1700s than it is a romance.  Lots of details about the Stock Exchange, the French Revolution, the slave trade, women's role in society, the game of cricket as played at a house party, various games to be played at a gaming club, etc.  This could have been interesting but the writing was a bit on the clunky side and needed editing.  Shorter and crisper would have worked for me.  For example, here's how Tetel Andresen describes our hero and heroine's mutual orgasm at one point in the story:  "Moments later they shuddered together, as if releasing a flock of doves."  I shudder to imagine to where the doves would have been released.In case you are needing a synopsis of the story, hero Anthony Maddox enters into a marriage of convenience with heroine Marianna Lowth.  She had been friends with Anthony's uncle Edward, who, when he died, left instructions in his will that Anthony would inherit Maddox Hall only if he offered marriage to Marianna.  Marianna agrees to the marriage to gain a measure of control over her life, since at that moment she was living with her brother and his wife.  Anthony needs Maddox Hall because he is involved as a government agent in finding French spies and the estate offers a good vantage point for that. (It must be noted that Marianna is not aware of Maddox's work for the government.)The marriage gets off to an indifferent start.  Maddox is off chasing spies most of the time and leaves Marianna to her own devices.  She gets involved in the stock exchange, meets people and develops an active social life, and just in general learns to entertain herself without the interference of a husband. (BTW, it must be mentioned that they have agreed not to consummate the marriage.  Marianna's wish, not Maddox's.  On the occasions that Maddox is home he learns about Marianna's interests and is not amused.  So we have conflict at first and a gradual getting to know one another and a not-too-believable finally falling in love. Spy and stock market issues are also somewhat resolved along the way.It wasn't a very romantic read for me.  I didn't like the writing style much nor did I find myself liking the characters very much.  They needed to be fleshed out a bit more and also needed to communicate with each other much better for me to appreciate it as a work of romantic fiction.  The book did have its historical fiction aspect covered better and perhaps that's what the author was more interested in.  But the awkward writing took away from my enjoyment of any aspect of the story, romantic or historical.