Time flies - Tick Tock
http://ammandamccabe.com/
The Governess’s Convenient Marriage by Amanda McCabe is the second in the Debutantes
in Paris series. I have a vague recollection of reading the previous novel, but not enough to help me follow parts of this story. This story is about Lady Alexandra Mannerly, who when the story begins has a giant crush on the crofter's son, Malcolm Gordston. Alexandra is thirteen years old and Malcolm is about nine years older. Because Alexandra really doesn’t have all that much to do, she is allowed to ramble around the countryside. During these wanderings, Alexandra became acquainted with Malcolm and they developed a friendship. They talked, they dreamed, they fished, they roamed the land together. Because of all the time spent together, Alexandra develops an adolescent crush. Malcolm does not return the feeling. To him she was just a child who he could talk to and who follows him around. He may have had an idea that she was infatuated with him, but he was of an age when his interest resided in more fully developed females. You know the ones I’m talking about - the ones with giant convex chests. Men. Anyway, one day when Alexandra was wandering the countryside she stumbles across Malcolm in an embrace with the local hot girl – her chest happens to be convex. She was crushed. Then things change, and that happens a lot in this book. Malcolm’s father dies, and he is forced to leave the land. Malcolm decides he must go off and seek his fortune, leaving Alexandra. Lucky for her, her father never finds out about his daughter’s crush on Malcolm. Her tyrant of a father would never, ever allow any kind of a relationship between her and the son of a crofter.
Time hurtles forward. Years pass and it’s time for Alexandra’s coming-out. She’s having a standard aristocratic debutante time, even though her heart isn’t really in it. She’s dancing, chatting, fluttering her fan, dancing, going to the opera, walking in the park, riding, and dancing. Meantime, Malcolm is becoming rich. Then something scandalous happens involving Alexandra’s father. Alexandra and her family become pariahs and are forced to leave society. This book doesn’t really tell us what it was that caused them to be shunned. I’m guessing it may have been in the previous book, but since I cannot recall that book this plot became a problem. I have to say that this novel did not work as a standalone. Anyway, Alexandra, her tyrant father, and her whiny mother disappear into the country. They are shunned by the society which was so important to her father.
Time hurtles forward again. Years pass and now Alexandra calls herself Miss Mannerly instead of Lady and she is a governess. While she isn’t really disguising herself, she’s not making any loud announcements about what family she belongs to. She is in Paris, a city in which Malcolm Gordston is launching his newest, grandest department store. Yes, Malcolm is a very wealthy man. He is now also interested in Alex. When she was having a coming-out, they stumbled across each other, and he noticed that she had developed some interesting curves. But at that time her family hadn’t done whatever it was that they did, so her father wouldn’t allow any contact between her and Malcolm. Even though he was rich, rich, rich. But that was past; now her father’s somewhere hidden and she’s a governess – Malcolm decides he will court her.
The island of disappearing characters. Alex’s father appears, and makes it known to Alex that they need money. Alex is surprised to see her father again, but because of some ridiculous loyalty she agrees to do what he wants. Which is marry Malcolm. Her father walks her down the aisle, she marries Malcolm, then her father just kind of vanishes out of the story. It was all so odd. I’m not sure why her father appeared. I thought the author might have him make trouble for the couple after they were married. But that didn’t happen. He was there, and then he just vanished to the Island of Disappearing Characters – poof.
I guess Malcolm and Alex enter into a marriage of convenience, which of course was anything but. They talk, they laugh, they love, and they overcame allllll the obstacles. Actually, as I look back on the story I would have to say this was a rather lifeless tale. I realized that by the time Malcolm and Alex were married I had lost interest in the story. There were introductions of plots which didn’t go anywhere, characters who vanished, and the pace of the passing years uneven. I’m not a big fan of books which leap through the years, some authors succeed with that narrative and some don't.
While the main characters in this story were interesting, they got lost in the uneven writing, plot-lines which didn’t blend, characters who had no purpose, and year jumping. Sorry to say, this story didn’t work for me.
Time/Place: 1800s England and France
Sensuality: Warm
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