Hazard by Jo Beverley
Jul. 18th, 2008 08:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreAnne Peckworth was born with a twisted foot that has caused her to be an object of pity her entire life. She’s almost gotten herself engaged twice, only to have the men cry off when they found women they thought were more interesting. Please note that this made me irritated with said men in their own books, though largely because they liked to go around talking about how she was nice yet dull. Now, however, her younger sister wants to get married, and their mother refuses to consider it until Anne herself is married, regardless of whether or not Anne is actually interested in getting married herself. Race de Vere is unfortunate enough to have a father who, after winning the lottery, changed his name to that of the Earl of Oxford, not exactly the thing a former army man living as a secretary wants to be saddled with.
Being the secretary and friend of the latest man to almost-jilt Anne, Race becomes friends with her brother, Uffman, so he can check in on her and make sure she’s not depressed so his buddy won’t have to feel so guilty. After giving her a few pointers on how to separate the wheat from the chaff in the marriage mart, then flees before he can fall for her himself. Not that it works well for him. As you can no doubt tell, I have Issues with how the men in this series act towards Anne. It’s not so much the semi-regular almost-jilting, but how they tend to talk about her as an object of pity, and a boring one at that. And then send their friends to fix things so they won’t feel guilty. I should note, though, that while the narrative doesn’t make a big deal of it, it’s well aware of the sexist assholery present there.
I was naturally inclined to like this book, due to Anne’s treatment before, but I think I would have liked it more if Race hadn’t entered her life out of pity. One thing about Beverley, though, is that, in addition to making unusual plots work, she tends to keep the books pretty focused on the heroine. Instead of wallowing in Anne’s lameness and Race’s unsuitable background and army angst, the book is squarely centered around Anne’s going from a wallflower who makes excuses for the men who dump her to someone who takes charge of her own life and relationships, and goes after what she wants. She even gets a bit of payback on the “almost-jilted” front. It’s not my favorite Beverley, but still pretty good.
Being the secretary and friend of the latest man to almost-jilt Anne, Race becomes friends with her brother, Uffman, so he can check in on her and make sure she’s not depressed so his buddy won’t have to feel so guilty. After giving her a few pointers on how to separate the wheat from the chaff in the marriage mart, then flees before he can fall for her himself. Not that it works well for him. As you can no doubt tell, I have Issues with how the men in this series act towards Anne. It’s not so much the semi-regular almost-jilting, but how they tend to talk about her as an object of pity, and a boring one at that. And then send their friends to fix things so they won’t feel guilty. I should note, though, that while the narrative doesn’t make a big deal of it, it’s well aware of the sexist assholery present there.
I was naturally inclined to like this book, due to Anne’s treatment before, but I think I would have liked it more if Race hadn’t entered her life out of pity. One thing about Beverley, though, is that, in addition to making unusual plots work, she tends to keep the books pretty focused on the heroine. Instead of wallowing in Anne’s lameness and Race’s unsuitable background and army angst, the book is squarely centered around Anne’s going from a wallflower who makes excuses for the men who dump her to someone who takes charge of her own life and relationships, and goes after what she wants. She even gets a bit of payback on the “almost-jilted” front. It’s not my favorite Beverley, but still pretty good.