Customer Reviews

An Unladylike Offer (Harlequin Historical)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Esme Canville is desperate. She's been subjected to her father's abuse since her mother abandoned them, and now her last hope for escape through marriage is gone: the man her father has chosen to marry her off to is old, and just as cruel as her father.

Banished to her room, she watches out the window and sees a shocking scene: Cpt. St. John Radwell and his mistress having an argument. St. John has let his mistress go, but what's so amazing to Esme, giving her an idea and a glimmer of hope, is that despite the mistress screaming and throwing things, St. John remained calm and never laid a hand on her.

St. John needs a mistress; Esme needs an escape. He's a kind man, and while becoming a mistress will ruin her in the eyes of society, she's been kept from society anyway, so it's no great loss.

So she sneaks out of the house at night and propositions him.

St. John, however, has been trying to turn over a new leaf. He's tired of war, and semi-estranged from his family after trying to seduce his brother's bride (in the preceding book). The last thing his reputation needs is to seduce a virgin, and a lady. Adding to the urgency is his last chance to make something of himself: an inheritance he'll receive only if he remains scandal-free for a year. So he swallows his pride and bundles her off to his brother's house for safekeeping.

This pair is just so.... likable, and easy to sympathize with. St. John is truly trying to make amends to his family, and he doesn't deny or minimize his sins--in fact, he accepts more blame than he's really due, understanding that his past is the cause of the suspicion.

Esme, too, is strong and brave and... I was going to say self-effacing, but that's not really it. Both of them are distinctly lacking in a sense of entitlement that I found very appealing. They're both trying to improve their lives, but they're trying to do so by their own efforts. I fell in love with them both.

I also really liked the authentic feel of this story. So often in Regency romances, the characters end up flouting society's rules with impunity. Not so, here. For example, they have to come up with ingenious ways to keep Esme out of her father's and his choice of bridegroom's clutches, and to explain her absence, rather than just spiriting her away.

Esme Canville is in a dire situation; her unkind father has betrothed her to an old lecherous Earl. Esme has never had a season and has no experience at all with men. Her neighbor, Captain St John Radwell, seems her only hope. Esme shows up at his door and kindly asks him to make her his mistress.

St. John has recently returned from fighting in Portugal. He is a rakehell with lots of secrets but he is honorable and when Esme falls into a drugged stupor at his house he takes her to his brother and sister-in-law's home to recuperate.

There is bad blood between the brothers. St. John's brother Marcus is a Duke and their feud goes back many years. However, Marcus and his wife feel the need to rescue Esme from her circumstances and take her to the country with hopes of marrying her off to a nice aristocrat. Esme's father is led to believe that the Duke and Duchess found her wandering the streets in a fever and she is in their home recuperating.

At first I was unsure if I liked this novel. Initially the characters lacked depth and I could not empathize with them at all. This changed quite suddenly when the group resides at the ducal country estate. Marcus, the Duke is incredibly arrogant and untrusting of his brother, with good reason. Esme sees past St. John's faults and she has a steely determination to win him.

The star of this novel is St. John. His struggle with post traumatic stress is quite moving. He has kept this hidden from his family. Rather than on his skin, his battle wounds are deep in his soul. He and his brother have so much enmity between them that they actually come to blows.

The first half of the novel moves very slowly. The second half is wonderfully paced and the emotions are gripping. I was in tears at times as I read about the despair St. John felt over his past misdeeds. He and Esme treasure their stolen moments together. St. John is forced to deal with lost love, new love and the fear of losing his heart all over again. Esme knows she is on borrowed time. Her father is demanding she come home and honor the betrothal contract he has made on her behalf.

This book rates a four star. It would be a five star if more character development had occurred earlier in the novel. The end is a bit rushed with an added mystery of treason thrown into the plot. It wasn't needed. The sheer emotion of the two main characters along with the fragile truce of brotherhood between St John and Marcus was enough to keep the reader engaged.

First of all the back description throws you off a bit and the book went in another direction I didnt expect which was a disappointment. Esme is desperate to leave her father who physically abuses her and is marrying her off to a much older man so she goes to her new neighbor next door who happens to be a rake - St John and insists on being his mistress but St John is trying to be a gentleman - after returning from war, he wants to make amends with his brother the Duke and his wife Miranda and so he wants to repair his reputation (plus he is poor though waiting to find out if he'll be an Earl due to an inheritance). So fearing that Esme might kill herself like she hinted at if she returns to her father, he takes her to the care of his brother and his wife and two children. They agree to help Esme by lying to her father about finding her lost and in an illness (Yea, I wasnt buying that). During the next few weeks, St John and Esme become close and her father keeps writing to her to come back home. I liked St John and Esme character but though I understand why St John kept pushing her away (but I wanted to strangle him when he talked about taking her virginity and offering nothing) and though I can admire a female who can read people and know that she is wanted despite the hero's protest, at some point you need to get some back bone. Which came too late, she finally gets what she wants and now decides to make up excuses to push him away? What!? I wanted to slap her. Then the story is like a soap-opera, now the guy she is be-throned to is even more wicked than her father. And Esme gets bad ideas in her head about St John when she was so sure he loved her even though he never said it? The book just had too many silly and stupid things going on for my taste. I skimmed alot so I cannot in good conscience give this book more than a 2 when it could not hold my interest and just got me upset. And I was left wondering whatever happened to the children of the duke? why bring them in the tale if you hardly mention them? The hero/heroine were likeable but not enough to save this book.

There are, perhaps, a few places where the characters' past history and current personalities might not stand up to close scrutiny -- but the turns of phrase are quite deft, and the characters are simply _fun,_ so I'm not inclined to quibble. The faintest besmirching of the overall entertainment is a duel which has a slight jump and feel of "insert duel here" in the author's notes, but that's the only part which got my mind hiccuping.

The other reviews cover details quite well enough, and the bits that I really, really liked, I can't say or it'll spoil the snickers. (There is quite a fair dose of humor here and there!) Unfortunately, the first of those is just _after_ the sample text ends.