A Convenient Marriage

A Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer 1220

Marcus, the Earl of Rule wants to marry into a well established and respected family and he decides that the eldest Winwood daughter, Elizabeth, would be a perfect wife. But Elizabeth is in love with a military man, Mr. Edward Herron, and a the middle daughter, Charlotte has no interest in marrying him, so the youngest lady of the family, Horatia, Horry, decides she should be the one to marry him. Marcus enjoys the very young Horry, her personable and outgoing nature and has no interest in marrying someone who doesn't want to marry him. They both agree that they will stay out of each other's business and have a marriage of convenience even while both their families are excited at the joining of their two families. Their marriage is a grand affair and shortly after Marcus is called upon to take care of some financial matters as gambling runs in their blood and Horry's brother, Viscount Pelham, has run up a lot of debts. Marcus is very easy going and has no problem shelling out money for Pel or to cover the gambling debts that Horry soon begins to run up as well.

But there is one matter that Marcus is not lax about and that is Horry's growing friendship with Lord Robert Lethbridge. Lethbridge had once run off with Marcus' sister and while he will not tell the tale to Horry he makes it clear that she must end the friendship. Horry knows that Marcus has his own special friendship with Lady Massey and has no intention of giving up a friendship that means much to her simply to please who husband since they had promised not to interfere in each other's lives. Lethbridge is playing his own game to get back at Marcus and he knows exactly how to get under Horry's skin and convince her she desires his friendship. When things go awry though Lethbridge is forced to to resort to more dastardly means and Horry is terrified that Marcus will find out and turn to Lady Massey. But Marcus is one step ahead of Horry and of course comes to save the day and much mayhem ensues before she discovers the truth. They both realize that they want more than a marriage of convenience because they are in love with each other.

Horatia was certainly very confident and she appreciated her own failings and I loved that she was willing to marry someone to ensure that her sister made a love match, even if she admitted that she was getting a good deal. The problem with Horry was that she was incredibly young, 17, and while many romance novel heroines are quite young, she acted like a 17 year old in many ways. Her outgoing nature led her to become kind of a laughing stock, a source of rather mean amusement, for the rest of the ton and she did not even mind or think that her actions were inappropriate. She had a large gambling problem and seemed to have no respect for money or for common sense really. Her insistence on befriending Lethbridge also came across as childish, because even though she didn't know why Marcus did not appraise her of his reasons, it just made no sense that he would want her friendship unless their were ulterior motives and she just came across as incredibly naive for falling for it. Her immaturity was contrasted, rather harshly in my opinion, with Marcus' own 35 years.

Marcus was almost a non-entity in the book and all I really could figure out about him was that he didn't seem to have any problems with his wife gambling away his fortune, which bothered me, and was just very blase about everything. I personally do not appreciate this attitude and wanted him to show some actual emotion about something. He also had a knack for figuring out what was going on very quickly and always was one step ahead of everyone else. He definitely felt the need to protect his young wife which was an admirable quality and he looked out for his sister's reputation. Their relationship was hard to pin down because they spent almost no time together and I really could not figure out what made them each decide/ realize they were in love with the other. Their marriage seemed to be them just co-existing together and not really being engaged in a relationship. The writing was very peppy and fast but it was a very long novel and there were very long stretched told from the point of view of third parties that did not really have much to do with the romance and it got old quickly.

Rating: A peppy read but the characters were not suited for each other and that was only part of the reason their relationship was not well developed.

Arabella

Arabella by Georgette Heyer 1113

Arabella Tallant is the oldest daughter in a family of eight children. Her father being the local vicar, they live modestly but by no means are they poor, and they are very family oriented and connected with each other. Her mother's best friend from childhood is now the widowed Lady Bollingbrook, and since she is Arabella's godmother, Arabella's mother asks her to sponsor Arabella for a season in the hopes that she will find a well connected husband and she can then bring her sister's out into society. Arabella is anxious to do what is best for her family and hopes to find a kind man who will love her. On the way to London her carriage overturns and she and her companion take refuge in a nearby hunting lodge. Robert Beaumaris is a very wealthy gentleman about town who has been hunted by matchmaking mamas and desperate young ladies for years and he automatically assumes that Arabella is one of these women. Overhearing his remarks Arabella is incensed and makes it clear to him that she is very wealthy as well and hopes to hide it from fortune hunters.

Robert knows that Arabella is stretching the truth but his friend overhears and word quickly spreads around London that she is an heiress and the fortune hunters do indeed come out. Lady Bollingbrook is beside herself, imaging that Arabella is the belle of the ton, but Arabella is crushed to learn that her impetuous outburst has created so many problems. Robert remains the only comfort she has during the parties and balls where everyone's eyes on her, but she worries what his reaction will be when he finds out the truth of her financial situation and fears losing him. Robert wants Arabella to confide the truth to him of her own volition- he does not want to force her hand, but he realizes it may be inevitable because he is falling for her and does not want to wait too long. Meanwhile Arabella's brother has gambled his way into a huge hole and Arabella believes it is up to her to make things right and the only person she can turn to is Robert. Robert is of course willing to do everything he can to help but he expects that at the end he and Arabella will stop pretending with each other and admit to each other that they are in love.

Arabella is much different than every other romance I have read and I wondered if it was even appropriate for me to review it here. It was obviously written a long time ago, originally published in 1949, and it sticks more to social norms and language that would have been used in the Regency period than most modern romance novels. Her writing reminded me of Jane Austen because it was wordy and long and slow with only moderate verbal interactions among characters. However, while I do not like Jane Austen's novels I found that I did enjoy this because it was essentially entirely a romance novel and the diction was more digestible for me. I really liked that Arabella was very true to her time and her situation; she tried to stick to social norms and pretty much did for the entire novel. She cared so much about her family and had a strong sense of duty to do right by them and felt guilt over the deception she had played out. She did what others expected of her and yet it was clear that she had a very strong sense of self and stayed true to her beliefs and values.

Robert was not in as much of the novel as I typically like in romances but I did get enough of him to make it clear that he was a really upstanding guy who cared about Arabella and wanted her to be happy. He started out a little stuffy but slowly began to reveal his more fun side and let loose a little bit. He acted out of character in order to be near Arabella and the way it was written made it so clear that he needed Arabella and the laughter she would bring into his life. Their relationship was slow and very staid and proper, in keeping with the entire tone of the novel, and they were very rarely alone together. They enjoyed each other's company and quickly came to see that they were compatible and that they could live a happy life together. There was one muted kiss at the very end of the book, but, as with much about the book that would normally not work for me, it was in keeping with the rest of the book. The plot involving her brother was often long and I did not really go for it, but it worked with the novel and was an opportunity to show how Robert and Arabella worked together.

Rating: It was an enjoyable book but it was not really my cup of tea. For what it was it was really good, but I don't think I will read too much more of Heyer's stuff.

The Proper Wife

The Proper Wife by Julia Justiss 1222

Viscount Sinjin Sandiford returns from years serving as Colonel during the Napoleonic wars determined to find a wife. His estate is in massive debt from his mother and father's spendthrift ways, but even though he's being forced into matrimony he wants to do it on his own terms. For years he was in love with his neighbor Sarah who was forced into marriage with the Marquess of Englemere, and he wants someone with similar qualities to her. Sarah was kind and understood the value of money and losing her was the hardest thing he'd ever done, but he admits that Sarah is happy in her marriage and she professes to want similar happiness for him. Even though he has never considered Englemere a friend, he offers to help Sinjin find a wife from among the middle class. Sinjin believes a merchant's daughter would be more likely to be helpmate, not as simpering and carefree with money as a noble wife. He knows for sure that Clarissa Beaumont, Sarah's friend, is precisely the wrong sort of woman for him. Clarissa is the darling of the ton and all has turned down several offers of marriage from the most eligible men in society. She dresses to her advantage and makes the most of the money that her family has and Sinjin sees her as a beacon of everything that is wrong with the ton.

Sinjin continues on his hunt for a middle class bride even while Clarissa's actions begin to chip away at the misconceptions he had harbored against her. She uses her popularity to help one of Sinjin's men who returned from war with a crippled hand and is being turned away by the young ladies of the ton. Suddenly Sinjin begins to think that the virtuous lady he had been contemplating for a bride is not precisely what he wants and that maybe impetuous and fun would be good things in a wife. There is a simmering passion between Sinjin and Clarissa that threatens to burst forth, which Sinjin discovers he doesn't mind at all. But she already knows that she wants something more with Sinjin and won't settle for anything less than his love. When Clarissa discovers a young woman who had been kidnapped and forced to work in a brothel, she decides that she needs to put a stop to what is happening. Things become dangerous when the baud goes after her and Sinjin rides to her rescue so that he can declare that he really does love her and they can live happily ever after.

Sinjin and Clarissa spent almost no time together in this book and probably around ten pages of their time together was spent without them fighting. They argued a lot and it was mainly about misunderstandings they had about each other or as a defense mechanism. He was convinced that she was a pretty bad person who didn't care about anyone but herself and she felt the need to defend herself against his attacks. There were times when it got really bad and they were really going at each other and I wondered how they could ever have fallen in love with each other. The love really seemed to sneak up on both of them and appeared out of the blue and was really not justified by anything that had happened in the book. There was a decent sense of attraction between the two of them and it simmered under the surface to burst forth at some very interesting moments. Unfortunately it seemed to be the only thing they did have going for them and it wasn't nearly hot enough to make up for the lack of quality get to know you time. A few kissing scenes and one very belated sex scene that was very lukewarm do not a relationship make.

This was especially a shame as there was a lot of promise with these two as Sinjin was so noble and judgmental and Clarissa so determined to present herself as frivolous even while she doesn't shy away from good deeds. I would have liked to read about them learning the truth about each other and having their relationship progress more naturally and have them fall in love and not just suddenly be in love. I did admire Sinjin for the way he faced his financial situation and was willing to do whatever he had to in order to make things right and that he was able to admit when his judgements about Clarissa were wrong and he revised his opinion. Clarissa was also great as society's belle who liked her admirers and looking good and still managed to try to do good in society. The plot involving the kidnapped girls was rather haphazardly done and lead to Clarissa acting in a very too stupid to live way. It was a noble cause, but I really wish it had been handled better. There was also a fun little side romance involving the officer she was helping. I really enjoyed Justiss' writing style as it was easy, descriptive and managed to convey both of their feelings, from both points of view, very well.

Rating: I really wish these two had spent more time together and I almost have a hard time categorizing this as a romance, but there weren't any major problems with anything in the book.