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Nothing really roars in The Flapper’s Scandalous Elopement, a Roaring Twenties romance that is exceptionally wholesome and traditional considering it’s set in an era defined by its hedonism.
Jane Dryer is the last flapper standing. Her sisters have gone off and married happily, leaving Jane at home with her rich parents and the dubious honor of being told by her father that she
“…will remain here. . . We needed all this room when I built it because of you girls, and it’s only fair that you help take care of it. . . Forever. There’s no reason for you to get married. You’ll inherit all this.”
Now, sitting alone in The Rooster’s Nest (I always thought that it was the hens that had the nests but, hey, maybe modern equality has reached the barnyard. . .), she encounters David Albright, the Nest’s current piano player. David’s actually got a fortune and is hiding out from his family who want to marry him off ASAP. Jane and David agree to marry on the conditions that she’ll attend a family gathering in his hometown of Chicago to quell any further attempts at making him part of a dynastic alliance and after a “quickie divorce” he’ll pay her whatever she needs to be liberated from her parents.
The Flapper’s Scandalous Elopement, with its just-before-Thanksgiving setting and emphasis on the magic of snow angels, hot chocolate, and family reunions in a wintery Chicago, has a cozy holiday atmosphere that I really liked. In keeping with that vibe, Jane is a sort of ‘God Bless Us, Everyone’ Tiny Tim of a heroine, who mainly functions as the conduit for reconciliation between David and his brother. Also like a child, and somewhat more frustratingly, Jane has a childlike blank attitude towards her life. The story emphasizes how goal oriented her sisters are – one towards her career and the other towards motherhood – but Jane’s goals remain nebulous throughout the entire book, never more specific than “to see the world” and “helping others”, the latter of which seems to consist of providing funding to soup kitchens.
The family element is leaned on so heavily in this book, and resolved so perfectly, that the HEA for the sibling and parent-child relationships overshadow the romantic HEA. Jane’s parents and their strict parenting style, in particular, are advertised as the main antagonists of the series, but they are revealed at the end to be great people. ‘Surprise!’ Robinson goes, ‘it was all a perception problem!’ They were actually super loving parents, everyone just got confused by how they expressed it. This quick change is both irritatingly saccharine and makes the entire series feel somewhat pointless – why did the girls need to embark on this great adventure if there actually was no villain in their story motivating them to find better lives?
The writing style is a little too on the nose at times; Robinson’s style of having David point out when Jane has just said something clever or sarcastic or gutsy did not amuse me. Also, the author’s passion for linguistic historical accuracy results in regular character exclamations of “horsefeathers”, “bee’s knees”, and “elephant’s eyebrows”.
This is a subtle-level romance for most of the book – there’s a warm-ish exception at the end in the form of a marriage consummating scene – but it didn’t ever lift any hairs on my arms. And it’s the only romance I can think of that includes the Single Bed Trope and then makes no effort to actually use it. If you want dynamite subtle-level romance set in the 1920s, I refer you to Simone St. James’ historical romance suspense.
What keeps this book from a D is its overriding aftertaste is one of holiday cheer, and that its weaknesses don’t especially hamper its readability – it’s a fairly quick story to get through.
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Grade: C-
Book Type: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 22/10/20
Publication Date: 09/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Part-time cowgirl, part-time city girl. Always working on converting all my friends into romance readers ("Charlotte, that was the raunchiest thing I have ever read!").
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Hmmm I’m glad they spelled out she was a flapper. From the cover it looks like she’s in a historically inaccurate Halloween costume made of a sparkly dress and a feather headband. Like it’s from one of those Glamour articles that tell you how to pull a last minute costume together out of things you already own. There is not one detail about the guy on the cover either in his dress or his hair that would make me place him in any particular time period.
You’re right about the guy – and yet HH is usually pretty good with its cover images. Maybe because it’s not Tudor or Victorian they thought they could get away with any old suit?
Yes, there have been some HH covers that almost made me buy the book because the covers were so good. (I’m still a sucker for a great cover and have to fight the instinct as I’ve been burned so many times over the years).
They didn’t even try to give the hero a slicked back hairdo or any kind of a nod to him not just being a modern guy in a black suit.
“I’m still a sucker for a great cover and have to fight the instinct as I’ve been burned so many times over the years.”
Outside of professional reference books, I don’t make purchases. But I know exactly what you mean about book cover seduction. Not too long ago, I ran across a self-published erotica short with a cover model who was practically the spitting image of one of my heroes I created, just with slightly longer hair, somewhat smaller eyes, and bigger pecs. But holy cow! I’m still stunned by the coincidence. The writing in the free sample looked atrocious, but dang was I tempted to buy it just to have the fellow sitting on my Kindle shelf. And once it was on a free promotion, I snapped it up faster than you could say, “shallow cheapskate.” :)
I was going to say with the internet you can always grab a screen shot of the cover until you grab a copy of the book.
I read the middle volume and I’m disappointed and honestly pretty shocked that Robinson chose to make the parents just nice, overprotective types in the end. They tried to marry off the heroine’s oldest sister in a loveless marriage in the middle volume of the story, and I haven’t read the first but I imagine they weren’t nice in it either. Their behavior reminded me of the smothering attitudes of the Lisbon parents in the Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Euginides.
I also remain disappointed that the publishing house that taught me what cunnilingus is has decided to bowdlerize its historical line-ups. Who are they trying to appeal to?
“I also remain disappointed that the publishing house that taught me what cunnilingus is has decided to bowdlerize its historical line-ups. Who are they trying to appeal to?”
That’s a good question, Lisa. I think part of it has to do with the fact that their HR submission criteria allows one of the broadest ranges for heat levels out of all their categories. To quote their submission guidelines directly, “All levels of sensuality are considered.” So maybe they’re just letting their authors take the lead here, especially after discontinuing their sex-free Love Inspired Historical line?
But I also think this is another example of Harlequin trying to play it safe. Currently, they don’t have a submission category for super hot lines under the Harlequin name. Dare, as we’ve discussed before, is soon to be discontinued. Of the twelve categories currently open, four of them are for sex-free romances and Harlequin Intrigue does not allow “graphic sexual detail.”
My guess is that since there’s way too much competition from high-heat self-published works, that Harlequin wants to re-invent itself as a more wholesome publisher with just a bit of naughtiness and spicier imprints like Avon and Carina Press for the more adventurous reader.
Anybody think I’m onto something here?
I think there’s a definite possibility that M&B/Harlequin realises it can’t compete with those lines, but as you say, it’s leaving it up to its authors. Some – like Marguerite Kaye and Virginia Heath – are comfortable writing sexier stories, some of their longer-serving authors (Louise Allen, Sarah Mallory) seem more comfortable with the less detailed stuff. I would, however, be really sad if they changed their actual guidelines, as the really good M&B/HH authors are some of the best HR authors out there, and if they have to tone it down those of us who like a steamy historical that takes account of actual history will have fewer options.
When looking through the monthly new releases in HR I don’t have the impression that there is a shortage in steamy HRs but a very big one in less steamy readable HRs. As I didn’t like the Love Inspired historical line I for myself am happy when I find a book where the sex scenes don’t fill half of the story. I like a well written sex scene as any other reader but I don’t read romance because of the sex but because of the story line. I think there should be an offer for all readers, for every taste.
“I think there should be an offer for all readers, for every taste.”
Oh, I agree. The more variety, the better, whether that’s at Harlequin or elsewhere. But I think it would be helpful if Harlequin had some sort of heat meter on product descriptions to give readers an idea in advance what they’re getting into. With certain lines, that already exists. I.e. Intrigue doesn’t allow “graphic sexual details” (although I’ve seen some variation on implementation) as the line focuses more on solving the mystery. But since their HR line allows a much larger range, there’s really no way to tell how hot it is in advance except for reading third party reviews, which may not address the subject. Thank goodness, AAR does!
Sure, I like an emphasis on characters, interesting story, and somewhat realistic worldbuilding in an HR. But I’m unlikely to read a romance AAR rates below “warm” unless the premise really grabs me. Because, otherwise, the tension between the leads feels like build-up with no payoff. And I’m sure other readers are on the other end of the spectrum who would rather do without the sex scenes. It’s all a matter of taste.
I don’t think there’s a shortage of steamy HRs; the shortage is of HRs that are steamy AND pay more than a cursory nod to the “H”. I read all heat levels and am happy when an author can write great sexual tension regardless of whether the characters make it to the bedroom or not. M&B/ Harlequin Historicals are one of the few places you won’t find wall-to-wall sex scenes AND you’ll find period appropriate characters and stories. I agree there should be something for everyone – my point was that if HH authors are told to lower the heat level, those of us who appreciate period appropriate stories with a bit of steam (and HH steam isn’t the same as writers like Eva Leigh and Joanna Shupe) are going to be out in the cold!
Well said, Caz.
I just looked at Harlequin’s submission guidelines again and found this update under the Harlequin Romance line:
“NEW Level of Sensuality: High sensual tension, matched with high emotional connection. While these stories do not have graphic sexual detail, we welcome scenes that go beyond the bedroom door to explore the emotional fulfillment that comes with sexual intimacy.”
Does this mean they’re increasing the heat level across this line, or that they’re moving away from explicit sexual detail in favor of the emotional aspects, thereby decreasing the actual steam? I haven’t read any Harlequin Romance stories, so I don’t have any comparison to go by.
Any thoughts on how this fits into the concern of Harlequin lowering heat levels?
No idea. It sounds like maybe they’re giving authors the opportunity to go there if they want to?
Thanks for the review, Charlotte. What a disappointment! Considering how gargantuan my TBR list already is, it sounds like this is going to be a skip for me. Too bad. I often look for HR that takes place in “unusual” time periods and settings (i.e. not Regency). Guess I’ll have to look elsewhere…
We liked the first book in this series which is also a flapper tale.
Thanks for the tip. :)