TEST
There’s nothing quite like reading those first few pages of a book and knowing immediately that you’re in good hands. That’s what my experience reading Connie Brockway’s latest was like. With a few pages I knew My Pleasure was going to be an exceptionally good read. It was precisely that.
Helena Nash is a great beauty. Never quite comfortable with the attention her looks bring her, she hides that discomfort behind a cool and self-effacing facade. After her parents died, she and her sisters were left without resources, forcing Helena to take a job as companion for the monstrous Lady Tilpot. Helena’s humble behavior keeps her in the overbearing old woman’s favor, even as she keeps her own thoughts to herself.
The one time Helena doesn’t mind her own business lands her in trouble. Lady Tilpot is determined to find a suitable husband for her young niece, Flora. When Helena sees that Flora has a crush on a young poet, she encourages it, figuring the harmless infatuation might help the girl’s self-esteem. Instead, the young lovers elope while Helena and Lady Tilpot are away from London. Now, with Flora back in the old woman’s house and her groom struggling to make enough money to win over her aunt, Helena is enlisted to act as a courier between the two lovers, even as she tries to keep the marriage a secret from Lady Tilpot, for both Flora’s sake and her own.
It is on one of these late-night delivery missions that she encounters Ramsey Munro. Years ago Helena’s father died in the place of three men who were being held in a French prison. When they returned to England, these men swore allegiance to Helena and her sisters, vowing to help them whenever they needed it in gratitude for their father’s sacrifice. Ramsey Munro was one of those men. He immediately recognizes Helena despite her disguise. When she makes it clear she doesn’t want her identity known, he plays along, even as he’s intrigued about her true purpose for being in a disreputable part of the city.
Munro is a master swordsman, a skill he learned as a boy and then honed in that French prison. His prowess with the blade made him an acclaimed figure in London, as the aristocracy ignores his lower status due to their fascination with his abilities. As the illegitimate son of a nobleman and a Scottish woman who weren’t wed in the eyes of the church, he doesn’t believe he is worthy of Helena. That doesn’t stop him from wanting her, or vowing to protect her when she becomes threatened by a crazed suitor. Helena is just as drawn to him, even though she doesn’t believe the notorious rake knows who the disguised woman he’s kissing really is.
There’s much more happening in this story, and I couldn’t begin to describe it all. This is the second book in a trilogy, and while there are clear indications that another book preceded it (My Seduction) and one will follow (My Surrender), it stands on its own. I never felt confused because I haven’t read the first book yet. All the unfolding storylines are ably handled, and I loved the way they all came together in the end, including one surprise revelation that I didn’t see coming at all.
Ramsey and Helena are two well-rounded and complex characters. They have that extra dimension so many romance characters lack. Helena is a strong woman who has survived the only way she knows how, by suppressing her true self, even though she wishes she didn’t have to. Ramsey is outwardly proud and rakish, but he’s also a tortured character because of his childhood and his experiences in prison. They have an excellent rapport, and the dialogue throughout the book crackles with choice lines. The use of the fencing motif is also nicely unique and adds to the story.
For most of the book, I had it pegged at a B+: I enjoyed how uncommonly rich it was, but I didn’t quite love it. I understood Helena’s loyalty toward the young lovers, even as I couldn’t stand the two insufferable twits themselves. Helena’s reaction when she learns Ramsey knew who she was all along also seemed extreme, and the misunderstanding that followed certainly didn’t make the moment any less annoying. There are some slower sections, and while the flashbacks to Ramsey’s past were well-used, their placement occasionally seemed jarring.
But as the romance kicked into high gear and the characters’ light banter evolved into deeper feelings, it won me over. The love story is romantic in a way too few romance novels are anymore. Even though nothing hit me quite as hard as the wonderful moment at the end of As You Desire, there are parts that come close, tender scenes and quiet moments that are really sweet and effective. When Helena tells him “I want to be known. To be valued. To have value,” and Ramsey thinks to himself, “I know you. I value you”, well how can you beat that? There are some turning points and moments in the final third of this book that made me think, “This is why people read romance novels.” And Helena’s final declarations of love? Good stuff.
My Pleasure is not a perfect book, but Brockway gets it right in the ways that matter. In a genre that often forgets it’s supposed to be romantic, this is one story that is.
Grade: A-
Book Type: European Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 26/09/04
Publication Date: 2004
Related Reviews
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.