Slightly Sinful by Mary Balogh

Mary Balogh, I have decided, has never met a fake engagement/marriage (of convenience) plot that she didn’t like. Seriously, it’s been in, I think, 5 of the 7 books of hers that I’ve read.

Thrown from his horse during the Battle of Waterloo, Alleyne Bedwyn wakes up in a brothel. With amnesia. Also in the brothel is Rachel York, a young woman who recently fell victim to, and was left penniless by, a con artist. The madame is Rachel’s former nurse, and the prostitutes were scammed by the same conartist. Alleyne (called Jonathan) initially believes that she’s one of the prostitutes, but soon learns otherwise. Rachel’s mother left her a set of valuable jewelry, but she can’t claim the jewelry from her uncle, from whom she is estranged, until she’s 25. Together, Rachel, Alleyne, and the prostitutes come up with a plan to trick Rachel’s uncle into believing Rachel and Alleyne are married, in hopes that he’ll turn the jewelry over early.

Like Slightly Wicked (which, come to think of it, also featured a heroine who initially pretended to have more sexual experience than she did) this is good more because Balogh is a good writer than because of the book itself. Actually, I suspect Balogh may have been trying to write a lighter book, and “light,” IMO, isn’t really her strength. She’s much better when she’s ramping up the angst. (And keep in mind that I’m very much not one for angst just to have angst.) There isn’t even much done with the amnesia angst (and remember, this is romance novel amnesia, so the personality is exactly the same and there are no headaches or rages or anything that goes with actual amnesia), beyond worrying if there’s a wife and kid out there, and even that is mostly centered around Alleyne remembering promising to return to a woman before the battle. That isn’t as effective as it could be, as (A) we know the woman is his sister, Morgan, who would very much root for him and Rachel, and (B) we know she’s perfectly safe and in England, after being all but dragged back in Slightly Tempted.

Solid, but not the best Balogh I’ve read.

Rite of Conquest by Judith Tarr

This historical fantasy focuses on William the Conquerer and his wife, Mathilda (Or Maud, or Matilda, whichever you prefer), from William’s youth through the battle of Hastings.

Tarr knows her history pretty well, but still plays fast and loose with it at times, and not just with the fantasy aspects. Here, a somewhat romanticized William is a reincarnation of King Arthur, and he and Mathilda are both descended from druids. The Saxons have all but driven magic from England, and Norman rule (specifically, William) is meant to fix that. The first half focuses on the early (and rather ahistorical) courtship of William and Mathilda, which is actually Mathilda (who seems to serve the role of Merlin, Morgan, and Guinevere, at different points) teaching him how to handle his magic and destiny, and ending with their marriage.

Unsurprisingly, Mathilda is largely on the sidelines in the second half (As we all know, women don’t do much once they’re wives and mothers, though being husbands and fathers doesn’t affect men.), which focuses more on the Norman and Saxon politics, and much of her page time is given to Harold.

A pretty good read, but not a very involving one, and some of the uses of both history and mythology made me go “Oh really?” in different ways.

As an aside, anyone have any good books about Guinevere to rec? The only one I’ve read is Kim Headee’s Dawnflight (which, IIRC, was supposed to be the start of a series, but I guess didn’t do well enough, unfortunately).