October 6, 2020
Bodice Ripper Time
http://anne-stuart.com/Man, it was like reading a book from the Wayback Machine, except The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England, Scotland and Wales wasn't a book written a long time ago. It's brand new! This book is here, now, in all its offensive glory. If you have never read an Anne Stuart book, you might be a little shocked when you read this one. On the other hand, if you've read her books, then you won’t be surprised. And, depending on your mood when you read it, you might even like it. Or, maybe you will become offended and throw it against the wall. I think it all may boil down to your mood. Sort of. If you are in the mood to read a book about a disreputable rake/hero who is really immoral, unscrupulous, unethical, (I'm running out of descriptions), then this book will hit the spot. I guess I was in the mood, because I liked the book, or at least the parts with Christopher St. James Constant, Earl of Adderley and his heroine Byrony Marton. There is a big “if only” coming. I wish the author had left the secondary romance out, and focused entirely on Christopher and Bryony. If only she had concentrated on just one couple, this book would have received a higher rating from me.
First of all, let's talk about the title of this book. The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England, Scotland and Wales. I loved the title, I thought it was fun. I also thought it was a great nod to the romance genre. I was excited when I saw the title, and happy to see Anne Stuart write a historical romance again.
In the first few chapters of the story, we are introduced to Christopher, and he lived up to all of my "Stuart" expectations. He was a rotter. It opens up with him, and his friend, George Latherby, drunk. They were both really, really wasted. Being the hero of the book, Christopher is of course not a drooling drunk, but a handsome, sleepy-eyed, arrogant drunk. Well, it seems that his "pox-ridden" friend Latherby has lost a large sum of money to him in a game of cards. The problem arises when George asks for an extended time to pay, and Christopher refuses. You see, George is about to walk down the aisle and marry a boring, unattractive woman who has a large dowry. The dowry is why he is marrying her. He’s going to do that in just a couple of weeks, so he doesn’t quite see the problem with getting an extension. But, Christopher doesn't really care, he's bored. He, like me, was in a mood. He suggest they kidnap George's bride, go to Scotland and force her to marry George. George doesn’t care. In fact, he agrees that Christopher can “have” her first. It also makes no difference to George whether Christopher leaves any seed behind. As you can tell, these guys are not anywhere close to being hero material. But yet, according to Ms. Stuart one of them is. Anyway, George and Christopher/Kit are off to kidnap a bride. Of course, there is a slight problem.
Neither George nor Christopher are capable of doing the dirty work, so they hire a couple of blockhead goons. The low-life guys have never seen George’s bride, so when they break into her room they find two women. What’s a thug to do but grab both women? Now, there are two women, Cecilia the beautiful, and Bryony the ugly freckled one. Bryony is the bride. We are off on a road trip.
Road trip. So, the kidnappers and kidnap-pees are in a coach on their way to Scotland. George falls asleep, and Cecilia faints, which leaves the other two combatants staring at each other. Christopher/Kit is immediately attracted to the so-called plain Bryony. It must be the freckles. He is entranced with them. Do you know how I know that? Because my little Petunia's, he mentions those freckles 500 gazillion times in the book. Bryony is also intrigued with Christopher/Kit. She has twitching parts. Oh how I wish Cecilia wasn’t in the carriage with them, she was a distraction. Following behind is the handsome Bow street runner who was hired to find Cecilia. He is also a distraction. Which leads me to my “if only” pondering.
If only. There were so many times in this book when Christopher/Kit and Bryony are dialoging, or bantering. Throughout the book we get many glimpses of Christopher, and we really need to see those glimpses. There are so many questions when it comes to this man. But, we never actually see what makes him into the awful man that he is. Bryony, on the other hand, is a typical ugly, freckled, red-head aka gorgeous woman-but-doesn’t-know-it heroine. She falls in love with him, she sees him differently than the rest of us. We are never given the chance to see into his mind. Why is that? Well my little Petunia’s, every single time there is some insight into his character, the secondary romance between Cecilia and Bow Street interrupts. If only more time was given to the main couple, maybe we would have been able to see for ourselves what Bryony saw. As it is, I didn’t see any redeeming quality in Christopher/Kit, and I really wanted to.
If only number two. This book had so much going for it. Christopher/Kit had all the makings of a wonderful Stuart hero. But it seemed to me that the same things kept happening over and over again. As I said earlier, he mentioned her freckles 50 gazillion times. A lot of the dialog was repetitive, as if the author wrote it one week, came back, forgot where they were, and wrote the same thing again. Christopher/Kit also left Bryony twice, broke her heart twice, and each time she was ready to take him back. If only I had been allowed to see why he was doing what he was doing. He was a complex character, but none of that complexity was explained, or maybe it was so subtle I couldn’t get it.
Epilogue. The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England, Scotland and Wales has an interesting epilogue. We find out what happens to our characters through one of their descendants. We are flipped into modern days. One of Kit and Bryony’s female descendants, Mary, is taking her fiancé Richard Latherby through the estate. While Richard is commenting on how much the paintings would bring in auction, Mary is wondering whether she and Richard are suited. Is there a sequel in the air?
Overall. I liked parts of this story. I actually liked Christopher/Kit; I just wish I could have been given more insight into why Bryony loved him. As I said, this reminded me of older romances. I remember when I started reading romances a long, long, long time ago, it was rare to get any look into the mind of the male characters. That is what happened in this book. This is a middle of the road recommendation, accompanied by a warning: watch what mood you’re in when you read it.
http://anne-stuart.com/Man, it was like reading a book from the Wayback Machine, except The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England, Scotland and Wales wasn't a book written a long time ago. It's brand new! This book is here, now, in all its offensive glory. If you have never read an Anne Stuart book, you might be a little shocked when you read this one. On the other hand, if you've read her books, then you won’t be surprised. And, depending on your mood when you read it, you might even like it. Or, maybe you will become offended and throw it against the wall. I think it all may boil down to your mood. Sort of. If you are in the mood to read a book about a disreputable rake/hero who is really immoral, unscrupulous, unethical, (I'm running out of descriptions), then this book will hit the spot. I guess I was in the mood, because I liked the book, or at least the parts with Christopher St. James Constant, Earl of Adderley and his heroine Byrony Marton. There is a big “if only” coming. I wish the author had left the secondary romance out, and focused entirely on Christopher and Bryony. If only she had concentrated on just one couple, this book would have received a higher rating from me.
First of all, let's talk about the title of this book. The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England, Scotland and Wales. I loved the title, I thought it was fun. I also thought it was a great nod to the romance genre. I was excited when I saw the title, and happy to see Anne Stuart write a historical romance again.
In the first few chapters of the story, we are introduced to Christopher, and he lived up to all of my "Stuart" expectations. He was a rotter. It opens up with him, and his friend, George Latherby, drunk. They were both really, really wasted. Being the hero of the book, Christopher is of course not a drooling drunk, but a handsome, sleepy-eyed, arrogant drunk. Well, it seems that his "pox-ridden" friend Latherby has lost a large sum of money to him in a game of cards. The problem arises when George asks for an extended time to pay, and Christopher refuses. You see, George is about to walk down the aisle and marry a boring, unattractive woman who has a large dowry. The dowry is why he is marrying her. He’s going to do that in just a couple of weeks, so he doesn’t quite see the problem with getting an extension. But, Christopher doesn't really care, he's bored. He, like me, was in a mood. He suggest they kidnap George's bride, go to Scotland and force her to marry George. George doesn’t care. In fact, he agrees that Christopher can “have” her first. It also makes no difference to George whether Christopher leaves any seed behind. As you can tell, these guys are not anywhere close to being hero material. But yet, according to Ms. Stuart one of them is. Anyway, George and Christopher/Kit are off to kidnap a bride. Of course, there is a slight problem.
Neither George nor Christopher are capable of doing the dirty work, so they hire a couple of blockhead goons. The low-life guys have never seen George’s bride, so when they break into her room they find two women. What’s a thug to do but grab both women? Now, there are two women, Cecilia the beautiful, and Bryony the ugly freckled one. Bryony is the bride. We are off on a road trip.
Road trip. So, the kidnappers and kidnap-pees are in a coach on their way to Scotland. George falls asleep, and Cecilia faints, which leaves the other two combatants staring at each other. Christopher/Kit is immediately attracted to the so-called plain Bryony. It must be the freckles. He is entranced with them. Do you know how I know that? Because my little Petunia's, he mentions those freckles 500 gazillion times in the book. Bryony is also intrigued with Christopher/Kit. She has twitching parts. Oh how I wish Cecilia wasn’t in the carriage with them, she was a distraction. Following behind is the handsome Bow street runner who was hired to find Cecilia. He is also a distraction. Which leads me to my “if only” pondering.
If only. There were so many times in this book when Christopher/Kit and Bryony are dialoging, or bantering. Throughout the book we get many glimpses of Christopher, and we really need to see those glimpses. There are so many questions when it comes to this man. But, we never actually see what makes him into the awful man that he is. Bryony, on the other hand, is a typical ugly, freckled, red-head aka gorgeous woman-but-doesn’t-know-it heroine. She falls in love with him, she sees him differently than the rest of us. We are never given the chance to see into his mind. Why is that? Well my little Petunia’s, every single time there is some insight into his character, the secondary romance between Cecilia and Bow Street interrupts. If only more time was given to the main couple, maybe we would have been able to see for ourselves what Bryony saw. As it is, I didn’t see any redeeming quality in Christopher/Kit, and I really wanted to.
If only number two. This book had so much going for it. Christopher/Kit had all the makings of a wonderful Stuart hero. But it seemed to me that the same things kept happening over and over again. As I said earlier, he mentioned her freckles 50 gazillion times. A lot of the dialog was repetitive, as if the author wrote it one week, came back, forgot where they were, and wrote the same thing again. Christopher/Kit also left Bryony twice, broke her heart twice, and each time she was ready to take him back. If only I had been allowed to see why he was doing what he was doing. He was a complex character, but none of that complexity was explained, or maybe it was so subtle I couldn’t get it.
Epilogue. The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England, Scotland and Wales has an interesting epilogue. We find out what happens to our characters through one of their descendants. We are flipped into modern days. One of Kit and Bryony’s female descendants, Mary, is taking her fiancé Richard Latherby through the estate. While Richard is commenting on how much the paintings would bring in auction, Mary is wondering whether she and Richard are suited. Is there a sequel in the air?
Overall. I liked parts of this story. I actually liked Christopher/Kit; I just wish I could have been given more insight into why Bryony loved him. As I said, this reminded me of older romances. I remember when I started reading romances a long, long, long time ago, it was rare to get any look into the mind of the male characters. That is what happened in this book. This is a middle of the road recommendation, accompanied by a warning: watch what mood you’re in when you read it.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Hot
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