Review: Mostly cute and funny, even a bit silly at times, and well written.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 27, 2013
This isn't my favorite kind of HR, but if you're the type of reader that enjoys cutely written historical romances, this is a good one.  Ever sinceThe Lily Brand, I've read everything Schwab has written, enjoying some books more than others but never disliking any.The basic plot here is not new.  Hero Viscount Chanderley must marry an unexceptionable, socially-acceptable woman, but he falls in love with Miss Carlotta Stanton, who's about as exceptional as they come but not in a socially-accepted way.  She's a force of nature, a breath of fresh air.  As a graduate of Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies in Scotland, she can drive carriages and phaetons, protect herself from highwaymen, wield a crutch as a weapon, shoot straight, kill wild boars, discuss at length about catching and gutting fish, and more.  What she can't do is be society's ideal Perfect Woman.It's a fun story and well written and even has its moments of seriousness about women's role in society and their powerlessness against spousal control and abuse. And it has the added attraction of having few errors.  I recently read another Kindle romance that had ridiculous errors on every page so this was a welcome romance read.  An author who is actually literate!What I also like about Schwab's books is her nods to works of literature and even to movies or pop culture.  Here she was inspired by Thackeray's VANITY FAIR, Frances Hodgson Burnett'sEmily Fox-Seton Being "The Making of a Marchioness" and "The Methods of Lady Walderhurst"(which I just read a week ago, coincidentally) and cartoonist Ronald Searle's series about St. Trinian's School for uncontrollable girls, to name a few.  This adds a bit of interest to what is often an uninspired genre, the historical romance.So why not 4 stars?  The story is clever and funny.  Unfortunately, it is a romance and I did not like the hero, Viscount Chanderley.  He was uninspiring, weak, a bit whiny, and I felt that Carlotta deserved someone with more backbone and character.  It's not enough to be tall and handsome.  If his aunt hadn't gotten him off his tush at the end of the novel, he'd probably still be sitting there drinking and feeling sorry for himself.