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Have you ever finished a book, closed the cover, and wondered to yourself whether you liked it or not? This is the dilemma I’m facing at the moment. In a word, I guess I’d have to say that Spellbound Summer is an unusual read (and doesn’t the title sound more like a series romance than a Scottish historical?). The heroine is certainly not cookie-cutter, the hero is a confusing mix of alpha and beta (but there’s a reason for that). While the basic premise is interesting, it is, however, not one I was able to fully embrace throughout.
Angelica Cavendish is a young Englishwoman from a wealthy and powerful Dorset family. If any heroine ever had a mind of her own, it’s Angel Cavendish. Since she was a child, she has loved to make pots and has become a master potter in her own right. In her search for a source of excellent clay, she has been invited to Argyll by Angus Kilmartin, Master of Fincharn. There is a stream on the Kilmartin’s land that is reputed to have a wealth of high-quality clay, but Angel finds the warlike Kilmartin an objectionable host.
As Angel digs in the stream, she is met by Geddes McCallum, fifth Laird of MacCallum, and Kilmartin’s sworn enemy. Kilmartin murdered Geddes’ father in retaliation for a grievous sin Geddes committed as a youth – an act Geddes’ father defended. But Geddes and his look-alike younger brother Lachlan have been gone from home a long time, and Geddes has only just returned alone to lead his people against Kilmartin and restore the stolen lands to the MacCallum clan. Part of the disputed area is the stream in which Angel now stands. To protect her from Kilmartin, Geddes insists she stay at his castle until he can arrange safe passage for her home to Dorset.
But Angel refuses to go back to Dorset. Not only has she found a wealth of excellent clay, she is attracted to Geddes and wants to see where it leads. The first time they are alone together, she kisses him. Before leaving home seven years earlier, Geddes was known far and wide as a rakehell, having fathered many bastards in his youth. Though he hasn’t seduced one single maidservant since his return, his reputation is still in tact, and his people immediately assume Angel is his leman. They refuse to believe her denials, so she decides that, as long as everybody thinks she’s Geddes’ doxy, she might as well go for it. She’s been curious about sex for a long time, and this seems a perfect opportunity, so Angel asks Geddes to make love to her. He refuses. She seduces. He capitulates, then decides they must marry. She refuses. He seduces . . . .
Angel sets up a pottery (potter’s shed) and promises to make Geddes’ clan wealthy with the high-quality pots she intends to create and sell. She also plans to apprentice many of the clan – the more people making pots, the more money. In tandem with this plan, she is to watch Geddes’ headstrong sister, Lilias, to keep the 17 year-old out of trouble and teach her some manners.
One of the problems I had with this book is that, for a romance, it wasn’t very romantic. Geddes lusts after Angel, and does grow to like and respect her very much, but the reader isn’t shown this to a large degree. Angel is extremely attracted to Geddes, and indeed, makes all the moves on him. He makes not one move on her until she initiates it. That’s fine, but it gave Angel a sensibility far in advance of a woman of her time. Angel has a very modern approach to life, which was okay right up until the time she and Geddes have sex. What woman – in 2002 or four hundred years ago – does not give even the slightest thought to pregnancy when she has unprotected sex? Whenever I see this in historicals, I just cringe. Fantasy is one thing, but when an author has gone to the trouble of researching her book for accuracy, then has a heroine who doesn’t fear the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy, and even initiates sex, I’m bothered. For a thousand years, women have been condemned for conceiving out of wedlock, yet so many heroines just shrug it off when in reality, it would have been the first thing on their minds.
Geddes has a Big Secret (and if you can’t figure it out instantly, you’re not picking up the clues that drop like bricks on your head throughout the story). Angel, who is smart and clever, does a couple of hugely dumb things that have the potential to cause great harm. Lilias is dutifully stubborn, irritating, self-involved, and emotional (as befitting teenagers both then and now). After moving along at a measured pace, the books wraps up rather quickly. All questions are answered, but answered well, I thought.
Since I used to throw pots myself, I was pleased to find this craft detailed accurately. Though some anachronistic language is present in the book, the author has done her homework and that’s something I always appreciate. So why didn’t I just love this book? Well, it’s just that, overall, Angel is so independent and aggressive, I can see her really running roughshod over Geddes and ultimately alienating him over the years. Yes, there was lust, and yes, there was intimacy, but none of it played out as being particularly romantic to me. While I thought it was okay, if you read Spellbound Summer, I honestly hope you enjoy it better than I did.
Grade: C+
Book Type: Renaissance Romance
Sensuality: Subtle
Review Date: 04/09/02
Publication Date: 2002
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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.