Customer Reviews

Somewhere to Lay My Head

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I don't often read romance novels. There are one or two that really hit the spot with me for some reason; I'll read anything by Michele Jaffe. For the most part, however, I eschew the genre like the literary snob I pretend to be. And a book with "Harlequin" on the cover? Spare me. However, when I found "My Fair Gentleman" on the Discards rack at my local public library, I couldn't resist. A modern take on "My Fair Lady," with the genders reversed? My curiosity was piqued. Surely it would be worth a few hours of my time?

After the first couple of chapters, I didn't think it actually would. The setup is intriguing, but the characters left me cold. I did like Catherine, but how could I not? She's a classic Mary-Sue: warm and loving despite her cold and loveless upbringing, driven by the desire to help people, stunningly sexy if not a conventional beauty, smart, witty, artistic, organized, courageous, self-sacrificing, and a first-rate pool player to top it all off. Then there's Joe, the uncouth former Major League baseball player her fiance bets she can't pass off as a perfect gentleman at their upcoming engagement party. (Don't expect Catherine to struggle too much about that engagement when she starts falling for Joe - it was going to be a marriage of convenience anyway, and although the fiance redeems himself somewhat by the end of the novel, he comes across in most of his appearances as a perfect jerk.) As crass as he seems to be at first, Joe is soon revealed to be caring and intelligent as well as athletic, charming, and devastatingly sexy - a born gentleman in cad's clothing, though his cynicism about life and the mistakes he's made as the single father of a preteen daughter render him far less irritatingly perfect than Catherine.

The story itself is winsome, although I would have preferred to hear more about Catherine's actual work with Joe. The ending is quite satisfactory, as a truly odious character gets his comeuppance. Fans of the romance genre will certainly enjoy this novel, and it works well as a bit of light reading. If you're looking for a thoughtful new take on the Pygmalion legend, though, you won't find it here.