Tina's Reading Books

Everytime I pick up a Joan Wolf old skool trad regency I am reminded all over again what a gifted writer she is.  She manages to pack a wealth of romance, story and character in a little over 200 pages.  Not a word is wasted.  And she doesn't do pure fluff.  Her books have a lot of depth to them.

I am reminded of how she took the marriage of convenience trope in Margarita (Signet Regency Romance) - Joan Wolf and gave it some layers so that it wasn't merely a vehicle for the hero and heroine to have guilt free sex while falling in love.

Or how in  American Duchess (Signet Regency Romance) - Joan Wolf  she used the opposing social and political philosophies of the  hero and heroine to explore their differences as they navigate their marriage.

In this one she takes a stab at class differences.  Truthfully, this book isn't as issue oriented as the two I mention above because the class differential is resolved in a rather neat, convenient bow.  But still even if the neat resolution has not presented itself the hero and heroine were more than ready to do whatever they needed to do in order to be together.

Jane and David meet when they are young.  They are both under ten years old when Jane comes to her uncle's house to live after her parents die.  Her uncle, a titled peer, has a magnificent stable and he breeds horses often hosting lavish parties during racing season.

There is nothing Jane loves more than horses.  When she first meets David a stable boy (who himself is an orphan living with his French emigree aunt after his parents were killed during the Terror) they discover they are kindred spirits.

The first part of the book details the growing years of Jane and David who are attached at the hip.  They ride, swim and generally run wild together as they grow up.

But adulthood changes things  Jane is a lady and David is now the head groom.  She is expected to marry well and they can no longer have the sort of unfettered access to each other they have always enjoyed.

But Jane and David realize they are in love with each other and refuse to let something so insignificant as society standards stand in their way.

That is a much too simple synopsis of a book that actually includes a quite a bit more story and some memorable supporting characters.

There are two main things that stand out for me in this book and made it a really great read:

1) the relationship between Jane and David.  The author just draws you in emotionally to these two.  You get the simple innocence and enjoyment of the two as they are children but you actually feel the connection begin to change as they grow older.  David is the first to realize both his real feelings for Jane and what they portend.  And he grapples with the reality of their class difference a little more than she does.  And this brings me to Jane.

2) Jane is a wonderful character.  While David is a quiet, steady rock, Jane is something else altogether.  She has a will of steel.  She is implacable.  She is difficult.  She is proud.  She is honest.  She is a little scary (and not in a bad way, but in a rather awesome way).  She is not however bratty or --God forbid -- feisty.  Mind you she is seventeen years old and yet the author does this thing where she very effectively shows what an old soul Jane is.  I loved that although she was reared gently as a lady she simply was unable to navigate polite society superficially.  Frankly, she had no fucks to give.  I really, really dug Jane.  i loved how the author crafted her because she could have been an awful Mary Sue and yet she wasn't.  There was too much purpose and resolve about her to be something so lame as a Mary Sue.

There are some additional plot points that include an actual life or death menace to the young lovers and some family drama, but this is all Jane and David's story.

I had the sads when I finished because I really enjoyed them.  I was glad to find out they appear as supporting characters in another book so I am looking forward to seeing them again.