February 9, 2021
Busy, busy, busy.
It’s been awhile since I finished the book Any Rogue Will Do. I’ve had other, more important things to do!! Like skulking. Like watching Bridgerton for the 50th gazillion time! I bet I can quote Rege-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor verbatim by now. Yes, it’s a sad tale of obsession. I’m thinking about joining Bridgerton Anonymous. Anyway, back to my thoughts on Bethany Bennett’s debut novel, Any Rogue Will Do. I believe that, once again, I am in the minority of not liking a book as much as others do. For the most part, I believe this book was a decent first novel, with a few minor issues and one really big issue…at least for me: the heroine.
There are a lot of things going on in this book: a fake engagement, an indifferent father, an old scandal, a reformed drunk Scot, and more. Our heroine, Lady Charlotte Wentworth and our hero, Ethan Ridley, have a past. Seven years ago, he was a drunk, and she fell in love with him – I guess. Then he called her a Paper-doll Princess, and left after her father refused his offer of marriage. So, she became belligerent. She had some anger issues with Ethan, even though it was her father who refused him. Anyway, she’s blue, she’s angry, and she’s mad. Now, the years have passed and Ethan has reentered Charlotte’s life, and he wants to make amends. Like any heroine worth her salt, she can’t let that happen. For Pete’s sake, the story would be over too soon for that.
In the convoluted story plot line, it seems that Charlotte and her father have made a deal with each other. He has given her a few months to find a husband of her choice. Her choice is a man who will let her live her life the way she wants. Yeah, that’s going to happen! Anyway, she wants to remain single and manage a little “estate” of her own. Her father has picked James Montague as her husband. Montague is a real peach of a man. He is a Snidely Whiplash kind of villain, real oily, a real snake in the grass. He needs Charlotte’s money, and he will do anything to get it. He starts by rehashing the old “paper-doll princess” scandal. It is at this point that our hero Ethan steps in. He has a Romanceland Plan. Ethan decides that a fake engagement will be just the thing to stifle the gossip. I found this an odd plan, especially since neither Ethan or Charlotte seemed to really care about the gossip. One minute they cared, the next they didn’t.
Paper-doll princess. I guess I’m going to have to look up a definition for paper-doll princess, because honestly, I didn’t get the negative connotation. Unless it has to do with someone being perceived as perfect. How would that be scandalous? Having had a boatload of paper-dolls when I was young, I see nothing wrong with them, nor do I see anything wrong with being called one. Maybe paper-doll means wanting only money. Well, would being called that create a scandal? Isn’t that what the families of the aristocracy were all about? Maybe, it indicates someone who is perfect, but hasn’t any brains. Would that create a scandal? I don’t think so. I suspect I’m missing the point of the term, and I’m really too busy to look it up. After all, I have Netflix to watch. So, I’ll just complain about it. But, I didn’t understand the intention of the terminology, and that was a distraction. And, that is my problem, but it also indicates a problem with the narrative. When slang is used, there should be words surrounding that term which give one a hint as to the intent. Oh dear! Did I do a skip read? I don’t know, I can’t remember! Oh well.
On the other hand, I did understand how being dumped publicly by a guy would be insulting, and scandalous. I could also see how smart society would enjoy every minute of Charlotte's downfall. I just don’t understand how society would have sided with a drunk, working class Scotsman against one of their own. The pieces didn’t fit.
I guess what bothered me about this story was that Charlotte worried about what others expected of her, then she didn’t. She wanted a life that would have been completely unacceptable for that time period, one of separation from society. But then she worried about what they would say, or what her incredibly horrible father would say. And by the way, how can a husband and wife love each other so much that they exclude their children? I’m not fond of that trope in Romance.
Bottom line: When a romance works for me, there is magic in the pages. When I look back on the romance couples that I love, they all have something in common. They have captured my attention. I become entranced by their story, and I want them to have their HEA. I remember the characters I love long after I put the book down. It didn’t happen with this story. While I think the author may be promising, for me, Charlotte and Ethan didn’t work. The story was too scattered, and I found it too easy to walk away from. I was disappointed in this one, but will probably give the second story in the series a chance. As Captain Taggart says: Never give up! Never Surrender!
There are a lot of things going on in this book: a fake engagement, an indifferent father, an old scandal, a reformed drunk Scot, and more. Our heroine, Lady Charlotte Wentworth and our hero, Ethan Ridley, have a past. Seven years ago, he was a drunk, and she fell in love with him – I guess. Then he called her a Paper-doll Princess, and left after her father refused his offer of marriage. So, she became belligerent. She had some anger issues with Ethan, even though it was her father who refused him. Anyway, she’s blue, she’s angry, and she’s mad. Now, the years have passed and Ethan has reentered Charlotte’s life, and he wants to make amends. Like any heroine worth her salt, she can’t let that happen. For Pete’s sake, the story would be over too soon for that.
In the convoluted story plot line, it seems that Charlotte and her father have made a deal with each other. He has given her a few months to find a husband of her choice. Her choice is a man who will let her live her life the way she wants. Yeah, that’s going to happen! Anyway, she wants to remain single and manage a little “estate” of her own. Her father has picked James Montague as her husband. Montague is a real peach of a man. He is a Snidely Whiplash kind of villain, real oily, a real snake in the grass. He needs Charlotte’s money, and he will do anything to get it. He starts by rehashing the old “paper-doll princess” scandal. It is at this point that our hero Ethan steps in. He has a Romanceland Plan. Ethan decides that a fake engagement will be just the thing to stifle the gossip. I found this an odd plan, especially since neither Ethan or Charlotte seemed to really care about the gossip. One minute they cared, the next they didn’t.
Paper-doll princess. I guess I’m going to have to look up a definition for paper-doll princess, because honestly, I didn’t get the negative connotation. Unless it has to do with someone being perceived as perfect. How would that be scandalous? Having had a boatload of paper-dolls when I was young, I see nothing wrong with them, nor do I see anything wrong with being called one. Maybe paper-doll means wanting only money. Well, would being called that create a scandal? Isn’t that what the families of the aristocracy were all about? Maybe, it indicates someone who is perfect, but hasn’t any brains. Would that create a scandal? I don’t think so. I suspect I’m missing the point of the term, and I’m really too busy to look it up. After all, I have Netflix to watch. So, I’ll just complain about it. But, I didn’t understand the intention of the terminology, and that was a distraction. And, that is my problem, but it also indicates a problem with the narrative. When slang is used, there should be words surrounding that term which give one a hint as to the intent. Oh dear! Did I do a skip read? I don’t know, I can’t remember! Oh well.
On the other hand, I did understand how being dumped publicly by a guy would be insulting, and scandalous. I could also see how smart society would enjoy every minute of Charlotte's downfall. I just don’t understand how society would have sided with a drunk, working class Scotsman against one of their own. The pieces didn’t fit.
I guess what bothered me about this story was that Charlotte worried about what others expected of her, then she didn’t. She wanted a life that would have been completely unacceptable for that time period, one of separation from society. But then she worried about what they would say, or what her incredibly horrible father would say. And by the way, how can a husband and wife love each other so much that they exclude their children? I’m not fond of that trope in Romance.
Bottom line: When a romance works for me, there is magic in the pages. When I look back on the romance couples that I love, they all have something in common. They have captured my attention. I become entranced by their story, and I want them to have their HEA. I remember the characters I love long after I put the book down. It didn’t happen with this story. While I think the author may be promising, for me, Charlotte and Ethan didn’t work. The story was too scattered, and I found it too easy to walk away from. I was disappointed in this one, but will probably give the second story in the series a chance. As Captain Taggart says: Never give up! Never Surrender!
Time and Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm/Hot
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