TEST
I’m a sucker for a good Beauty and the Beast story and with that in mind, I picked up When She Said I Do. This does in fact fit the fairytale archetype to an extent, but I can’t call it the great read I was hoping for. 
Following a carriage accident, Calliope (Callie) Worthington and her family take refuge from the elements in a nearby manor that appears deserted. While exploring the home alone, Callie stumbles across jewelry in a room and starts trying it on. It is at this point that she learns her mistake – she and her family are not alone in the house. Confronted by the Ren Porter, the home’s owner, Callie ends up in a bit of a sinister bargain: She will marry Ren and earn back a pearl from the necklace she broke with each favor he asks of her. Even though their host hides his face with a hood and is not acquainted with the Worthington family, they are apparently more than happy to unload Callie on him. Granted, the Worthingtons are presented as true eccentrics living in genteel poverty, but this seemed a bit much.
Ren is truly a tortured hero. Seriously injured and expecting to die of his disfiguring wounds, he has exiled himself in his home and he considers his marriage to Callie temporary at best. In fact, he has been so long alone that one gets the sense he doesn’t entirely know how to deal with other people sometimes. In true Disney Princess fashion, Callie is the determinedly cheerful voice of reason who starts scrubbing windows and bringing light and order in Ren’s home. Sometimes these scenes work well to show the contrast between the two and in the window washing scene in particular, we see Ren starting to fall for Callie and starting to change as he begins to really see the person that she is. However, the story never completely rises above the contrivance.
And then there’s the romantic side of things. I have to admit that the plot point of having Callie earn back pearls from the broken strand just seemed ridiculous. In the beginning, the pearl scenes really don’t feel all that titallating or sexy. Given that Callie has pretty much been rushing into marriage with a man whose face she’s barely seen and in whose home she is now obliged to live, the “favors” seem a little creepy even if they don’t progress all the way to the point of actual intercourse. As the relationship progresses, the reliance on the pearls fades a bit (though never entirely disappears) and this helps one focus more on the relationship and less on the artificial game that started it.
On the positive side, I did find Ren’s mysterious past intriguing and even though I didn’t care for the game of the pearls, I did enjoy trying to figure out the puzzle that was our hero. By the end of the book, I rather liked him even though I found many other parts of the story problematic. Callie, on the other hand, couldn’t be a more frustrating character. At times, one has sympathy for her because it’s plain that she’s the closest thing to sanity in her entire family and it’s obvious that they have somewhat taken advantage of her comparative levelheadedness. I say “comparative” because one of the major plot points in the second half of the story involves Callie getting nervous down in the village and, on the spur of the moment, making all kinds of wild promises that take the plot in truly eye roll-inducing directions. Added into this was a rather unnecessary suspense plot. Callie and Ren’s relationship as well as Callie’s adjustment to her new life created more than enough conflict to keep a story going, so the mystery just felt as if it had been tacked on haphazardly.
Lastly, while it wasn’t terrible, the mood of the story just felt muddled. The romance has a certain high drama, fairytale feel to it, but then the author introduces Callie’s family at various points for what I presumed to be comic relief. Except that they really aren’t funny. Most of the Worthington family seems annoying and dysfunctional, and if I weren’t reading this for review, I would have skimmed right past their scenes. There are just enough good scenes in this book to keep the reading of it from being painful, but it’s still way too flawed to be more than an average read. If you’re looking for a good fairytale romance, you might want to keep hunting.
Grade: C
Book Type: European Historical Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 14/03/13
Publication Date: 2013/02
I enjoy spending as much time as I can between the covers of a book, traveling through time and around the world. When I'm not having adventures with fictional characters, I'm an attorney in Virginia and I love just hanging out with my husband, little man, and the cat who rules our house.
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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.