TEST
If you’re looking for an historical romance with a complex plot, serious characters and a bucket-load of angst, then move right along, because Alexis Hall’s Something Fabulous isn’t it. If, however, you’re up for a frivolous romp through Regency England bubbling with wit and brilliant comic timing that, for all its ridiculous trope-y-ness, contains an achingly tender story of self-discovery, then dive right in.
The book opens with a delightfully – although somewhat more barbed – Heyer-esque proposal-gone-wrong in which Valentine Layton, Duke of Malvern, has decided it’s time to honour his late father’s wishes and become formally betrothed to Miss Arabella Tarleton, who has been intended for him since birth. Miss Tarleton, however, has no intention of accepting Valentine’s proposal and makes that clear in no uncertain terms:
“There is no fashion, Your Grace, in which you could propose that would render it anything other than profoundly repugnant to me.”
Valentine is both astonished and affronted. A refusal is something he had never remotely considered – after all, what impoverished young woman wouldn’t want to secure her future and that of her family by marrying a wealthy, young and handsome duke?
Later that night – or rather, in the early hours of the morning – Valentine (having made liberal use of the brandy bottle) is awoken by Arabella’s twin brother, Bonaventure – Bonny for short – who informs him that Arabella has run away and that they should go after her so Valentine can save her from ruin and propose again. And that he’d better make a good job of it this time. Valentine is not keen; it’s not that he doesn’t want to retrieve his wayward intended, he just doesn’t want to go without due thought or preparation. Or his valet. Bonny, however, is something of a force of nature, and won’t take no for an answer, so before long, Valentine is being hurried along and into a curricle wearing a coat borrowed from the assistant gardener and a hastily tied – courtesy of Bonny – cravat.
That’s the set up for the fluffiest, silliest and most outrageously charming road-trip / grumpy-sunshine romance I’ve read in quite some time. (Or ever.) It doesn’t take itself seriously – even though it does have some serious points to make – and focuses entirely on the relationship between Valentine and Bonny, and on Valentine’s journey towards reaching a deeper self-awareness, understanding how attraction works for him and that being seen and loved for who he is as a person is not impossible.
The writing is deft and insightful with plenty of clever nods to the genre, the dialogue sparkles and the two leads are superbly characterised. Valentine, the repressed, dutiful duke has no idea of his own privilege but is somehow endearing in his cluelessness; he’s deeply lonely but doesn’t realise it, and he has very little experience of sexual attraction until Bonny, and the sudden wealth of feelings that assail him when Bonny is around completely blindside him. Watching Valentine slowly learn that he is allowed to have feelings, that he can feel attraction and affection – and the way Bonny accepts him exactly as he is and without question – is simply lovely. As for Bonny, well, he’s just adorable; free-spirited, vibrant, charming and kind, he’s not ashamed of who he is and what he wants, and isn’t willing to settle for anything less than to be loved in the way he loves – with his whole heart and soul.
There’s a small, but well-drawn secondary cast. I particularly liked Peggy, Arabella’s best friend and some-time lover who is a welcome voice of reason in contrast to Arabella’s frequent and overblown histrionics, and Sir Horley, the rakish older gentleman with an eye on Bonny and a heart of gold. As one would expect from an Alexis Hall book, the queer rep is varied and excellent; Peggy is genderfluid, Sir Horley is gay, I got the impression Arabella is aromantic, and there are two delightful ladies who are married in all but name.
Sadly, the book’s biggest flaw is Arabella. I understood her frustration and where she was coming from – no legal rights, no right to an opinion, no rights over her own body, even – but rather than making the attempt to explain herself or just talk to Valentine, she screams and throws tantrums and melodramatic fits, she makes ridiculous and unfounded accusations and generally behaves like a spoilt brat. If she’d been the heroine of a book, it would have hit the wall before the end of the first chapter! It’s rare for me to have such a visceral reaction to a character in a book, but I honestly couldn’t stand her and felt sorry for Bonny having to put up with her all his life. And this leads to my other issue with the story, which is that the catch-up-with-her/she’s-run-away-again is a bit repetitive – although I fully accept this may be because I so disliked Arabella that I just wanted her to run away and stay gone!
Other than that, however, Something Fabulous certainly lives up to its name. It’s funny, sexy, daft and just a bit over the top, but it’s all done with obvious love and affection and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Grade: B+
Book Type: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 25/01/22
Publication Date: 01/2022
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.
Related Reviews
I couldn’t agree more with this review. I enjoyed everything about the book except Arabella. Her character was meant to be over-the-top but Hall overshot and she ended up so dislikable that she detracted significantly from my enjoyment of the book. Otherwise the book was genius – it played with so many tropes seen in Regency era novels, it was hilarious!
I loved this and found it absolutely joyous.
I listened to the audiobook and Nicholas Boulton’s narration is brilliant. He captures the characters perfectly and sounds like he’s having so much fun!
I read it as an homage to Romance by an author who loves the genre as much as his readers do. We know these people, the events, the tropes…. and sometimes they matched our expectations, and sometimes they surprised us!
The whole thing is completely over-the-top and ridiculous whilst also being immensely moving. So clever! I laughed such a lot whilst I was listening to it.
I wasn’t bothered by Arabella as I felt she was a recognisable character-type, just amped up to 11.
The two Heyer books that immediately came to my mind were The Corinthian and, to a lesser extent, Cotillion.
This is on my TBR pile; I’m excited for it, it sounds sweet and fun!
It’s to be taken with a large pinch of salt, but it’s a LOT of fun!
I was really looking forward to this, and properly enjoyed it, because it is funny, and hopeful, and life-affirming and just the ticket for the last week of a January that has lasted for at least three months.
However, I was looking for a review because I was wondering other people were bothered by Arabella.
I wouldn’t say I had a visceral reaction to her: I could live with madcap heroine precipitates screwball comedy – in that kind of story I don’t need her actions to make a great deal of sense – but the only part of the book that didn’t work for me was (mild spoiler) the Duke’s apology. If I read it as the patriarchy apologising, it was fine, but I did feel she was more sinning than sinned against by that point in the story, and I’d have liked her to reciprocate. (Perhaps I missed something: I did inhale the book.)
To start with Arabella was fun – I liked all the nods and in-jokes to gothic heroines and the intensity with which she approached life – which Bonny does also – was a nice counterpoint to Val’s straightlaced-ness. But she became way over the top, especially
As I said in the review, I understood where she was coming from – but what she did wasn’t the way to stick it to the patriarchy.
What a fun review! Thanks for the heads up about Arabella. It will help me be prepared to ignore her as much as possible. :-) I think the visceral reaction you had to Arabella is similar to the problems I have with manipulative characters in books, so I know how it feels. Unless a book has lots redeeming qualities, my dislike of certain characters can tank it for me. Sometimes, though, I power through even if I have to take an occasional breather. I’m reading Pinot and Pineapple Lumps by Jay Hogan right now and I really hate the Penn’s dad, but the story and the writing are so good that it’s worth it!
I loved KJ Charles’ nod to Heyer in The Band Sinister and I have been looking forward to this for the same reasons. I’m glad to know it’s well done.
I was immediately put in mind of Friday’s Child, which also opens with a rejected proposal – and in which there’s a secondary character named Tarleton. No idea if either of those was intentional, but chords were definitely struck!
As for Arabella… her tendency to behave like a gothic heroine was amusing to start with and facilitated lots of little in jokes I really liked, but when she started accusing Valentine of things that were patently untrue and really nasty – and which had the potential to do a great deal of harm – I lost all sympathy for her. I hope that helps you to tune her out! I’m waiting for my review copy of the audio, although I doubt even Nick Boulton will be able to make me like her!!