TEST
I’m a big fan of Courtney Milan’s – her Brothers Sinister series is comprised of six of the finest historical romances written in the last decade or so, and hers are books I always recommend to people who want to read entertaining, character-driven historical romances that are well-grounded in actual history and which don’t blithely ignore the inherent inequalities and prejudices of the eras in which they are set.
We’ve waited a couple of years for a new full-length novel from Ms. Milan. After the Wedding is the second book in her Worth Saga which is currently projected to be eight books and which will largely take place outside British shores. This is great news for those of us who have frequently wished for more historicals that take place away from the rarefied atmosphere of Georgian or Victorian London, and with that, comes the promise of more diverse characters and stories, both of which are welcome prospects.
I will admit, however, that I wasn’t wild about the first two books in the series, Once Upon a Marquess and the novella, Her Every Wish. I felt the romances were rather underdeveloped in both; and in the novel in particular, as though the author had rather lost sight of the fact that it was supposed to be a romance amid the sheer ‘busy-ness’ of the book as a whole. I didn’t connect with the protagonists and, more importantly didn’t feel they had much of a connection to each other, which isn’t a good place for any romance to find itself in. Still, the premise of After the Wedding – a (literal) shotgun wedding – reeled me in (arranged/forced marriage stories are my catnip) so I pounced on it, hoping that perhaps those earlier novels had been anomalies and that this one would once again provide the richly developed, engaging characters and stories I have found in the author’s previous work.
Sadly, that didn’t happen.
Our hero, Adrian Hunter, is the son of a widowed duke’s daughter and a black abolitionist; he is one of five brothers, three of whom perished fighting in the American Civil War. He’s good-looking, clever, compassionate and well-to-do; his one source of discontent is that his mother’s brother, Bishop Denmore, has never publicly acknowledged their familial relationship. The bishop took Adrian into his household when he was a boy, where he acted as his uncle’s page, and then, once grown, as his secretary, but nobody knew he was anything other than a servant. Still, the man’s frequent expressions of affection for his ‘favourite sister’ give Adrian hope that one day, the bishop will own him as his nephew, and it seems that day is imminent when Denmore asks Adrian for a favour. He wants Adrian to pose as a valet in order to enter the household of his rival, Bishop Lassiter, whom Denmore suspects of something underhand. Adrian will gather evidence which the bishop will use to expose Lassiter and then Denmore will acknowledge Adrian. It’s clear from the outset that’s never going to happen – and it’s hard to credit that Adrian, whom we’re supposed to believe is intelligent and a good businessman, could be so credulous.
Anyway. Adrian takes the job as valet and accompanies Lassiter on a visit to one of his cronies, Rector Miles, which is where he encounters Camilla Winters, one of the housemaids. She’s pretty and inclined to flirtation, which Adrian thinks might work to his advantage if she knows anything useful – but before he can find out, they are set up to be discovered alone together and forced to marry. Clearly the intention has been to discredit one or both of them – but why?
We know that Camilla Winters is in fact Camilla Worth, younger sister of Judith, heroine of Once Upon a Marquess. Their father, the Earl of Linney, had been executed for treason and their eldest brother, Anthony, has disappeared; Judith and her younger siblings, Theresa and Benedict, lived, until recently, in very straitened circumstances, and it was this life on the edge of poverty that Camilla wanted to escape when, aged, twelve, she decided to go to live with their uncle. She might not have her family, but she would have plenty of new dresses and lemon tarts. Judith, for whom family is incredibly important, was angry and upset and said some very nasty things, Camilla left, and they haven’t seen each other since. Unfortunately for Camilla, things didn’t work out with her uncle and over the past nine years she has been passed from pillar to post, working as a companion to an elderly lady, then descending lower in the pecking order to become a domestic servant. Humbled and cowed, she now works for Rector Miles for half-wages, which is all she’s worth on account of her sins, but through it all, she’s been sustained by one thing – hope. Hope that one day, she will be loved, one day someone will choose her for her own sake.
Adrian is lovely – a thoroughly decent, kind man who takes his responsibilities seriously and wants to do his best for everyone around him. The trouble is that at times he’s perhaps a little bit too good to be true – so much so, in fact, that he’s at risk of crossing the line between ‘understanding and forgiving’ and ‘gullible’. Camilla, however, proved to be a major stumbling block, with her repetitive, ‘woe-is-me-I-just-want-to-be-loved’ introspective navel gazing – and her contradictory self-flagellation and ruthless optimism. And I just couldn’t buy the situation she’s in when we first meet her. She decided to leave her family home when she was twelve and then, when her life started to fall apart, never attempted to contact her siblings. It made no sense to me, regardless of the fact we’re told Judith told her never to come back; if you literally have nowhere else to go, you would at least make the attempt, wouldn’t you?
The romance, while it does have moments of tenderness and humour, is ultimately lacklustre. Adrian and Camilla spend a decent amount of time together on the page, but not much of that time is spent actually building their relationship and there isn’t a great deal of chemistry between them. When one of them realised they were in love, it came so much out of the blue that I was actually startled, and although their mutual honesty is refreshing, Camilla is such a one-note character that it was impossible to become invested in her. She thinks she doesn’t deserve love because she abandoned her family in favour of a regular supply of lemon tarts – and if I never again read the words “long, slow falling-in-love”, it’ll be too soon.
There’s a lot going on in After the Wedding. We’ve got a mixed-race hero, a heroine who has had romantic feelings for another woman, the rich, powerful men of the church being exposed as the petty hypocrites they are (and the casual racism of Adrian’s uncle is truly disgusting), the eternal struggle of women not to be oppressed, a woman of the upper classes having fallen on hard times to become a maid, and probably other things I either missed or can’t recall. And as with the earlier books, the romance feels as though it’s been squashed to make room.
The novel is well-written, and the author’s way with words continues to impress. But while it’s technically accomplished, the story lacks heart (for want of a better term) and ultimately falls flat. I am sure there are many readers out there who will find more to enjoy in After the Wedding than I did, but much as it pains me to say it, I was sorely disappointed.
Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Apple Books/Kobo
Grade: B-
Book Type: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 07/05/18
Publication Date: 04/2018
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.
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Okay, Caz, another question: what are you reading by “another favourite author”? I sure could use a good romance!
It’s more of an adventure romp than a romance (although there is one) – K.J Charles’ The Henchmen of Zenda which comes out next week :)
Have to agree with Caz and the others who are disappointed in this book. I’ve been a Courtney Milan fan since the Turner (Unveiled, etc.) series, but this was more than disappointing. It was boring. So much (internal) carrying on by the heroine about hope and being chosen, but not very much actually HAPPENED, either romantically or otherwise . I agree with Caz’ description of the romance as “lackluster” and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of tension in the rest of the plot, either.
Caz seems to think the next book will be about Grayson, but I got the impression it would be about Theresa, although if there are 8 books projected, perhaps Theresa will come later, after she’s grown up a bit.
According to the synopsis on GoodReads, the next book is Grayson’s, but I suppose that could change…
And I’m nodding at your observation that nothing happened. After I finished this, I started another review title by another favourite author – and it was like I’d woken up from a doze! The writing was just so sharp and snappy that it made realise how sluggish this was by contrast.
Caz, what book has Silan (and later, Justin Lazarus)?
Silas appears in A Seditious Affair, and Justin in An Unnatural Vice. Both are middle books in trilogies and are, IMO the strongest in each set.
I totally agree with you. Both novels got a 5-stars review from me and are my KJ Charles’ favourites, with THINK OF ENGLAND.
It would be fun to write a blog about books that are strongly social justice oriented and are wonderful romances. What would you put on that list?
I think CM managed to get the balance right in the Brothers Sinister books, especially The Countess Conspiracy and The Suffragette Scandal. There are quite a few HRs that touch on certain issues – social inequality, child labour etc. but it’s often little more than “window dressing”… K.J. Charles does it well – one of the principals in Wanted, A Gentleman is a former slave, and given she writes about gay men at a time being gay was illegal, there’s always a degree of social awareness in her books. But she doesn’t go over the top or tip the balance, which is what I think has happened with CM.
I agree. Many books, and I’m speaking only of historicals here, have social justice issues, but they’re mostly there to make their characters seem “with it”, compassionate, forward-thinking, etc. i.e., only to do with character-development as opposed to a deeply-felt issue that they feel passionately about. This is obvious because once the romance gets into motion, the social justice goes by the wayside.
Earlier Milan. The balance between the romance and social issues was better IMO, and both made a stronger impact.
I agree with Caz about KJ Charles, especially her Society of Gentlemen books. A Seditious Affair is a fantastic romance with a diverse supporting cast and a strong emphasis on justice – political, legal and social. Silas is the best.
I’d also add Meredith Duran, though she’s more subtle with it, as well as Rose Lerner. And while her books are (sadly) not my personal cup of tea, Alyssa Cole has to be mentioned.
Silas remains probably my favourite of all KJC’s characters – closely followed by that self-proclaimed shifty bastard, Justin Lazarus :) And the balance between issues, history and romance in that book is just about perfect – hence my A+ grade (the only one I’ve given out so far!)
While this isn’t entirely the same, people interested in this might enjoy our blog on activist heroines: https://allaboutromance.com/activist-heroines/
I’m beginning to think that Milan has jumped the shark. There is no romance writer who is her equal (at the top of her game) in exploring complex themes of deception and betrayal with compassion. Her heroes, especially, are good men who realize that they should be better–and they become so, with the realization of their love for the heroine. However, I felt as if Milan was bored with this book (as her postponement for nearly a year seems to indicate). Her lack of excitement showed itself in her flat repetition, especially of her portrayal of the heroine. I suspect that at their best, romance writers (and probably other genres, as well) just kind of take down the movie that goes on in their heads. I am struck by how often authors say something like, “The hero took me where I had not anticipated,” etc. I think that voice was mute to Milan and that lately, she has tried to substitute socially conscious themes, but there has been little magic in her last few books–at least, for me. I will buy her next book and maybe one or two afterwards, in hope, but little expectation.
Lynda, if we had a “like” button, I’d be pushing it. I have thought, ever since the last two books, that Ms. Milan has lost her mojo as a romance writer, and this bears that out. If I read the next book it will be because I liked the small glimpses we got of Grayson (Adrian’s brother) in this one, but I’m not sure he’ll be enough of a draw – we’ll see.
I was also really surprised at the amount of repetition in the story – with my editor’s hat on, I couldn’t help wondering how on earth whoever is CM’s editor didn’t at least mention it. Camilla drones on and on and on and ON about wanting to be “chosen”; and I get that, I really do – it’s what we all want, isn’t it? But she was saying it or thinking it on almost every bloody page and I just didn’t care about her for pretty much the entire book.
Perfectly stated, Lynda! I do share Milan’s politics and follow her on Twitter, but for at least a year now I have had a sense that writing fiction is not her passion. I’ve become spoiled too by authors who work to keep their audience with them and draw new ones — newsletters, pre-release chapters and scenes, updates, interviews, etc. There is none of that from Milan. Quite the opposite actually – she goes silent on her fiction for more than a year at a time and is constantly changing release dates without any notice to readers. I feel that her fictional audience does not really matter to her. Her very active Twitter account is entirely focused on social issues, which is great and I love reading her posts, but I cannot remember a time when she expressed any excitement about her fictional writing.
Milan is clearly passionate about social issues, but that hardly means that she doesn’t care about her readers. Since she switched to self-publishing, she’s been clear that it’s hard for her to say when a book will be done, and that her estimates will usually be off. Personally I could do with fewer cover reveals/newsletters/teasers/ whatever promo is popular these days, so I don’t really care what she does in that respect. I care about authors writing the best books they can and engaging with readers respectfully. Milan does that, even if her more recent efforts haven’t really worked for me.
Since you follow Milan, you’re probably aware of her #metoo experience, and she’s written about how this has affected her writing and held her back at times. Authors have things going on in their own lives that can do that; they don’t exist just to provide us with reading material. Criticizing Milan’s books is fine – I’ve done that myself – but accusing her of not caring about her readers is unfair.
@Mary – I have no idea whether Milan cares or not about her readers, but what I have noticed is that her fiction in more recent years is not producing strong romances. As a romance reader, that is why I read Milan’s fiction. However, I do read her writings outside of romance and have been following her thoughts on her experiences with sexual harassment and racism. Her Twitter posts are well worth reading and I appreciate her voice in these ongoing debates. Her romances not so much anymore, for me anyway, sadly.
I agree with Bona that I really, really want the next book in the Cyclone series – but I liked this book a lot more than you did, Caz. It’s one of those where I can understand your review – Adrian is almost too good to be true, and Camilla does over-focus on her choice at 12, but neither of those things bothered me while I was reading the book.
I think, for one thing, that romance heroes are always too good to be true, but mostly in ways that I find un-endearing (incredibly rich, very good-looking, skilled in bed) and I love the rare books where the hero is just kind, funny, intelligent and considerate. And I just believed that Camilla might not have tried to find her siblings after they didn’t answer her letters – she’s still very young, and the quarrel happened at a formative moment in her life,, and she has been rejected repeatedly since then. I thought that all made sense – and that it also made sense that those two people would fall for each other. (Genuinely my only quibble – and this isn’t a spoiler if you’ve read the previous book – is where she runs off barefoot.)
Anything Milan writes is worth reading, because she writes so well, but I’ve liked her contemporary books much better than her historicals recently. But, for me, this book was an exception to that.
I do take your point about heroes and agree with you to quite a large extent. I did like Adrian and it was great to have a hero who was, as you say a geniunely nice guy. But there were still moments when I found myself impatient with his naivéte – I really couldn’t believe a grown man with a successful business was so desperate for validation that he would believe such obviously false promises.
And yes, I did do a double-take at the barefoot thing.
This book was a disappointment for me. I found it quite boring. My main issue was the heroine, She was whining all the time inside her head about how alone she was and how much she wanted somebody to appreciate her. I liked the hero, though. Milan is an auto-buy for me, so I will keep on reading her books. But I’d rather be reading more books in the Cyclone series than this half-hearted Worth Saga.
I’m not big on contemporaries, so I haven’t read any in that series. I’m also not sure I’m going to continue with this one. CM was always a “must read” author for me, but she’s three for three disappointments in this series, so I’ll be thinking carefully before reading any more.
Disappointed to read this review, but it seems in line with many others I’ve been reading. It’s been unfortunately quite a while since I’ve been captivated by a Milan book, and as you state, the romance itself needs to be central if she is to continue writing in the romance genre. I think I’m passing on this one, which is shocking for me as she has in the past been one of my very favorites. I don’t think she’s an auto-buy for me now.
I feel exactly the same, Blackjack. I’ve always counted CM as one of my absolute favourite authors – along with people like Meredith Duran and Sherry Thomas – but this series has been such a disappointment so far, that I’m tempted to forget them and think she stopped writing historicals after The Suffragette Scandal!