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meganbmooreElspeth Clayton’s brother is being held for questioning in a French gaol. Desperate to save him, she’s disappointed when friends she had relied on are, for various reasons, unable to help her. In her search for assistance, however, she repeatedly runs into Valerian Gervaise, an ill-tempered dandy who is looking for a nurse to accompany his ill aunt to France. Or so he claims. Before long, she’s been caught up in his schemes, and they come to an agreement that she’ll masquerade as a nurse if he’ll help her find and rescue her brother.
In the first half, Elspeth and Gervaise both almost come across as caricatures. Elspeth is stubborn and almost irrational in her heated reactions, and Gervaise is so ridiculously high handed and arrogant that I sometimes wondered if he was faking it. A little before the halfway point, however, both characters “settle down” for lack of a better term, and it turns from an entertaining romp with somewhat irritating leads to just an entertaining romp with adventure. And I like how Elspeth is strong willed and goes on an adventure without falling into the typical “feisty” tropes, and Gervaise is grudgingly chivalrous while still being completely ornery. And I’m amused by how Elspeth’s friends who can’t help her are the much more common hero types, but end up not being a lot of use.
This is, I think, book four or so of a series, and so there are a fair number of minor characters whose significance was lost on me, at least partly, and several things that it seemed I was supposed to read a deep significance in, or get a “nudge nudge, wink wink” from, but not so much so that it threw me out of the story. The book is set in 1749, but I think Veryan normally writes in the Regency period, and it shows in a lot of her terminology and attitudes. Not to mention references to the guillotine.
In the first half, Elspeth and Gervaise both almost come across as caricatures. Elspeth is stubborn and almost irrational in her heated reactions, and Gervaise is so ridiculously high handed and arrogant that I sometimes wondered if he was faking it. A little before the halfway point, however, both characters “settle down” for lack of a better term, and it turns from an entertaining romp with somewhat irritating leads to just an entertaining romp with adventure. And I like how Elspeth is strong willed and goes on an adventure without falling into the typical “feisty” tropes, and Gervaise is grudgingly chivalrous while still being completely ornery. And I’m amused by how Elspeth’s friends who can’t help her are the much more common hero types, but end up not being a lot of use.
This is, I think, book four or so of a series, and so there are a fair number of minor characters whose significance was lost on me, at least partly, and several things that it seemed I was supposed to read a deep significance in, or get a “nudge nudge, wink wink” from, but not so much so that it threw me out of the story. The book is set in 1749, but I think Veryan normally writes in the Regency period, and it shows in a lot of her terminology and attitudes. Not to mention references to the guillotine.