No Man's Mistress by Mary Balogh - Wayback Machine

January 28, 2020

Sometimes ideas work and sometimes they don’t.
spoiler alert
https://marybalogh.com/
Often when I read a book, I envision the author going through their bright lightbulb idea process. I think a lot of times, “what-if” ideas pop into an author’s brain, they talk to their editor or sidekick, and then they run with it. Regardless of how far out in left-field those ideas sometime are, a good author can pull it off. However, sometimes even if the author happens to be the “queen of romance,” even then they can’t pull it off. For me, No Man’s Mistress is such a case. Mary Balogh is famous for tackling subjects which don’t always work in Romance novels. She’s tackled infidelity, rape, abuse, and in most cases, she has been able to give the story a HEA which is believable. This time, her “what-if” was a heroine who at one time was a high-priced courtesan, and now she is in hiding, trying to start a new life.

Viola Thornhill believes she is the owner of a country estate. She has been living there for a couple of years. She loves it there; she has formed friendships with the village people, and they have grown to love and respect her. Life is perfect for her, until Ferdinand Dudley shows up claiming the estate for his own. Unlike her, he has the legal right to it. He won it in a card game, and he’s got the documents to prove it. When he rides up on his horse, he is enchanted with the place, it is everything he has always wanted. But there is a woman who is claiming it as her own. So, we have a conundrum.

At first, I thought this story was going to be humorous. Maybe along the lines of The Money Pit or War of the Roses. You know the plots. The combatants wage war; they divide the house, and try to drive the other one out. And, in the beginning, Viola makes some attempts at sabotage, but they all fail. I thought Viola was a pretty nasty person at this point. She is obviously in the wrong, she natters on that she is the owner, even when she really has no papers proving it. Then she tries to drive him out. Then Ferdinand’s brother (Jocelyn from More than a Mistress) shows up and burst her bubble. He recognizes her as the high-priced courtesan, and tells Ferdinand. Ferdinand is a tad bit upset at the news. It seems he has feelings for Viola. His anger is understandable, but then the story goes downhill. Viola wagers with Ferdinand that she can seduce him, and if she does, she will get the estate. She becomes a cold, calculating woman, and I did not like her. Of course, she succeeds in her seduction. However, she discovers something: twenty-seven-year-old Ferdinand has never been with a woman, and that makes her feel dirty. She runs away. He finds her, solves her problems, marries her and they live happily ever after among the aristocratic society. Yeah, that’s going to happen…puleese. That was my one big issue with this book, other than her being a nasty heroine.

The heroine was a courtesan. The why-she-was-a-courtesan did not really matter to me. I knew she was threatened, and forced into it by an evil man. However, that was not enough for me to accept that Viola and Ferdinand would ever have their HEA. Yes, I know this is fiction, this is romance, anything can happen. I know, historically, there were some courtesans who married their aristocratic lovers. But those women were never welcomed into that society. Sophia Wilson was one of those women who captured one of the tons elites. However, she was seventeen when she married a forty-one-year-old man. That only makes me cringe. From what I can gather, her married life must have been depressing. Not having any real friends would make one’s life pretty miserable.  By the way, Sophia is the sister of Harriette Wilson, another courtesan. In fact, four of the Wilson sisters were high priced prostitutes. While they mingled with the ton, they were never really accepted, they were scorned most of their life. That is one of the problems with being a student of history while loving historical romance books. Sometimes the two do not mix very well. No matter how good Ms. Balogh is at writing poignant words, society would never accept Viola. And, not just the ton, but the good people of the village where she had found a home would probably turn their back on her. I do not care how many dukes frowned at the people who snubbed her. I do not believe any woman would ever have really been her friend, and would Ferdinand have been comfortable standing in a crowded room of men, never knowing which man his wife had been to bed with. Jealousy works in mysterious ways, or maybe not. Men have affairs, those women show up at parties, and the little woman is required to accept that. Not everyone can become friends with a husband’s ex-lover. But Viola wasn’t a lover of men, she was a prostitute. I just had a hard time buying into a happy ending for Viola and Ferdinand. I wish Ms. Balogh had a different lightbulb idea she used for Ferdinand's story, because he’s a really nice guy. And, there aren’t all that many nice guys in Romanceland.

Bottom line. I couldn’t get past the set-up for the romance in this story. Realism took over my thought process, and I wasn’t able to overlook Viola’s past. I was uncomfortable with the storyline. Since this is part of a series, and these characters are in the other books, you might want to read it. Maybe you can get past the story; maybe you think Ms. Balogh succeeded. And, that’s alright. That’s why there is more than one book in the world, because we all like different things.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality:Warm