I meant to post a review of a Susan May Warren novel, but I feel a bit of a writer's block over writing it.
In the meantime, I finished reading Betty Neels' A Winter Love Story. Neels' category romances are usually about nine chapters long, and are quick to finish. A Winter Love Story, originally released in 1998, was republished in 2019 as a Special Release, along with A Christmas Wish, for which I posted a review on June 3, 2021.
Shall I use a template again, as I did for the last Betty Neels' novel I reviewed?
Protagonists:
Heroine: Claudia Ramsay, a "nearly 27" year old, "shapely girl with a lovely face and shining copper hair." Along with her mother, they are dependents of her great-uncle, Colonel Ramsay. She is untrained for any profession.
Hero: Dr. Thomas Tait-Bullen. He's an English (not Dutch) "surgeon of some fame" who has been called upon to form a second opinion about the health of Colonel Ramsay. He's determined that he will never fall in love again because of a failed romance in his youth. He's 39, and true to form as with other BN heroes, he could learn to become a better communicator of his thoughts and feelings.
Plot:
Claudia and her mother face eviction from their home when Colonel Ramsay passes away, as his estate comes into the possession of an unpleasant distant cousin. Although her mother remarries, Claudia must make her own way, and finds a job as a general assistant at a geriatric hospital. However, it is a difficult life to what Claudia had previously known while the Colonel was alive. Claudia lives on site at the hospital, wishing to give her mother and new step-father privacy for their fledgling marriage.
Dr. Tait-Bullen, who has been attracted to Claudia from page 1 (page 201 in my edition), proposes a marriage of convenience. He's her knight in shining armour, swooping in to rescue her from a life of drudgery, and likely, a dead-end job with little hope of advancement, unless she is able to save enough to train for something else.
And she no longer needs to worry about this, as the good doctor marries her, convincing her that they would do nicely together, as they appear to like each other. However, he is quite clear that he does not love her, but is looking for a life companion. He believes that she would be able to fill this role well.
Claudia is ushered into a lifestyle that is characterized by shopping, mulitple homes, and a busy social life (hospital balls, tea times with other doctors' wives, etc.). She also gets welcomed into the warmth of Thomas' large family. In a few short weeks, Claudia realizes that she wants more than friendship with Thomas; she wants his heart. Will she get what she is hoping for?
Antagonists:
Mr. Ramsay, the unpleasant and uncaring distant cousin who casts Claudia and her mother out of their home. He sounds like he has taken lessons from Mrs. John Dashwood, from Sense and Sensibility, as he doesn't care to make any provision for his poor relations, even though it is within his means to do so. However, he and his wife are quickly forgotten, as they serve plotwise to put Claudia and her mom in the situation of needing to find a better living situation.
Honor Thompson is the woman who had hoped to marry Dr. Tait-Bullen, and sticks a spoke to damage the trust between Claudia and Thomas.
Stuff that this novel also has:
A husband who is happy to wait patiently while his wife goes shopping for a brand new and expensive wardrobe...and he tells her to buy more after previewing what she has already selected.
Adopting a woe-be-gone puppy that becomes the beloved family pet.
A marriage by a special license in relatively modern times. This was interesting to me. I thought that this happened historically (as in the Regency Era) and was no longer used.
So...did I like this novel?
Thomas gets brownie points for not talking silkily to Claudia.
I liked Thomas, and he seemed to be warmer and more pleasant than most BN heroes. The interesting thing about Thomas is that he seemed to be quite perceptive of what Claudia was thinking when it came to her insecurities. He always seemed to recognize when to reassure her when she felt self conscious about her looks and abilities. An additional plus was that he liked Claudia from the start, and recognized that she would make a good wife for him. However, they got married rather quickly. They definitely didn't know each other well enough to communicate effectively. In my opinion, in real life, those would present "proceed with caution" signs. Taking the time to get to know each other would have taken care of this, especially if Thomas' assessment about Claudia's suitability as a wife is true.
I was also mildly horrified by Claudia's rationalization on getting married quickly. On page 276 (in my edition), she says, "Yes, Thomas. It's a bit unusual, isn't it? Getting married like this. But if we're sure, and it's what we want, there's no point in mulling it over for months, is there? And I don't suppose that if we were engaged for a long time we'd see much of each other-I mean, get to know each other better-for you would be working and I'd be bogged down in plans for the wedding."
His answer: "What a sensible girl you are, Claudia."
My response: !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not a marriage counselor, and I know of some people who have gotten married quickly and have had successful marriages. However, from my perspective, I can't believe that he said that, because I don't think that it's sensible at all. I think that getting to know each other is more important than planning the wedding, because we're talking about a relationship that is supposed to last for a very long time. In my opinion, it would be better to invest time and energy in things that would help in the success of the marriage. If it's important to you, you'll make the time for it. C'mon...priorities, Thomas and Claudia! I'm of the opinion that it's wiser to find out important, possibly deal-breaking facts before marriage.
This particular novel also reminded me a lot of the regencies in which the plot involves a marriage of convenience where the couple eventually get their love match. As I mentioned before, there was the special license, and the separate bedrooms, even after the marriage which took place in Chapter 4. Thomas says on page 293, "Let us give ourselves time to get to know and understand each other." In other words, for the first little while of their marriage (and for the rest of the time readers spend with these two), they will live as flatmates. As this is a BN novel, there is no mention of any hanky panky, except for allusions to becoming a father, and having a handful of sons and daughters, which by the way, I repeat, would have been good things to discuss before they got married.
Personality-wise, I liked the hero better than most BN heroes. I didn't care for the protagonists' rationalizations for their quick marriage. Maybe Thomas' decision was driven by lust to some degree, and not sense. However, that is conjecture, and even so, he didn't press for marital relations at the start. I can understand Claudia's desperation rushing her decision making processes, but...wow. This novel required some suspension of belief for me.
