Review: Twists to the genre
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 22, 2013
This review can also be found at Beyond the Squee: Book Reviews[...]I loved the beginning of this book. Sophia is in a carriage and needs to be in the Inn. There is a sea of mud between her and the stoop. Blake, who she had hoped to not see right away, strips off his boots, socks, and wades to her. We all know what's going to happen, and indeed, it does.She thinks he did it on purpose and so begins the continuation of their miscommunications.Sophia hasn't ever told anyone why she left at the age of 14. Blake, once he found out where she was, never went to her. She left because her father sold her, basically, to an abusive man. And what takes this down a bookmark rating is the fact that the Old Duke never got what he was due. I like my bad guys to get what's coming to them. I don't think this is a spoiler, as he's gone when the book begins.Sophia keeps her secrets, as does Blake. Blake thinks that her life as a courtesan was all trinkets, new dresses and romping bewteen the sheets with many men. Part of her secret is that it really hasn't been that many men, and if she hadn't taken on this persona, she would have been dead. Somehow he just doesn't get that.Very few books that I've read that have had a main character who was less than pure. And even fewer that followed a courtesan. This was an interesting theme and I think that Ms. Stuart gave us a seldom seen perspective. I have to applaud her for giving Sophia men that appreciated her.There are a few twists and turns, some that I saw coming, and some that caught me by surprise. I sure wanted to smack Blake a couple of times! I actually didn't need to, as Sophia slapped him four, or was it five, times. Why, yes, he did deserve it!This one had me turning the pages, wondering if something else BAD was going to happen, and wondering just how this would all come together. I would have liked to have had just one more chapter, as I like to see my main characters down the road a bit. But the ending was a good one, especially followed by the author's note.Thank you, NetGalley and Carina Press, for the opportunity to read Behind the Courtesan.