Chance, Megan - A Heart Divided

[oyceter]

This is, I think, a more standard romance novel, in terms of gender roles and the like, which was rather disappointing. The story still oozes angst out of every pore (Betrayal! Betrayal again! And... wait for it... more betrayal!), seeing as how the hero was an undercover Pinkerton agent who ended up giving the evidence for the heroine's husband's death sentence while seducing her. Unfortunately, Chance doesn't get around to subverting the genre tropes as much as she normally does. I like her generally because it's her women who are emotionally withdrawn, as opposed to the rake who is unable to love, blah blah, transformed by the love of an innocent woman. I like that her women are very seldom innocent and never cute or cuddly. Sari is a little more within the standard heroine template -- she has been betrayed, which means she is granted that aura of martyrdom, and for some strange reason, Conor (the hero) does one of those weird things in which he somehow thinks she managed to betray him. I feel if one is a Pinkerton agent out to seduce a woman to get closer to her husband and brother so he can turn them over to the police, who subsequently give them death sentences, one does not really get to feel betrayed when said woman *gasp* warns her brother away.

I could insert a rant about how the hero always manages to somehow suspect the innocent and martyred heroine of some stupid betrayal, the worst, of course, being sleeping with someone else. I think some heroes would rather have their loved one murder someone than sleep with someone else.

Anyhow. It doesn't get to the very badly melodramatic levels, but the presence of the cliche sort of irked me throughout the entire story. Another standard cliche that irked me was the matchmaking uncle who somehow knew the double-crossing Conor was the perfect match for Sari, despite said betrayal, and that he immediately turned against Sari's brother, set up as the villain of the piece. Too good to be true yenta character.

But, like her other books, I liked very much how Chance never shied away from the non-romantic nature of being a homesteader. I like how her books are about real people who aren't society darlings and who live in sod houses and wash their own clothes and in general have to struggle for their own survival. It's gritty and it makes the romance somehow feel more real. Good romance novel in general, but not up to her own standard, imho.

Comments

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

>I feel if one is a Pinkerton agent out to seduce a woman to get closer to her husband and brother so he can turn them over to the police, who subsequently give them death sentences, one does not really get to feel betrayed when said woman *gasp* warns her brother away.<

HEE! I like this general rule, yes.

[oyceter]

I feel like there should be a general rulebook for romance heroes and heroines, to prevent the majority of them from being too stupid to live ;).