Carla Kelly, The Wedding Journey

[oyceter]

So, it looks as though I'm starting to glom Regencies as well.

I fell for Jesse Randall in about the first page, because I am a complete sucker for heroes who fall for the heroine first. I get kind of sick of the pining heroine. And he's just so earnestly good and kind and nice, even though he doesn't quite think he is.

The plot centers around his marrying Elinore Mason to get her out of marrying a scumbag because her father's in debt, and the horrible army retreat that follows when the scumbag takes offense. I had some problems with Kelly's prose... it felt a little clunky to me, especially in some of the dialogue, but that could be because I am not used to real Regency style dialogue, or just... I don't know.

I really loved the characters and how Elinore managed to be one of the saintly type heroines without ever seeming twee or precious or unbearably holy somehow. It probably helped that the hero wasn't a rake who was see the light and reform his wicked ways once he touched the innocent. And it was just interesting watching the two be good while trying to not hurt the other.

I also appreciated a non-romantic look at the Napoleonic War that didn't involve glamorous things like spies or traumatized war heroes. Jesse's a surgeon, and Kelly isn't afraid to show the poor conditions of the time. Plus, he was just so nice -- it's hard to say it without making him sound boring, except I adored the fact that he worried about things like Elinore's burdens, his own ability to save the patients, his ability to lead the retreat, etc.

Links:
- gwyneira's review

Comments

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

It probably helped that the hero wasn't a rake who was see the light and reform his wicked ways once he touched the innocent. And it was just interesting watching the two be good while trying to not hurt the other.

Ooh, this sounds good! So often we get the bad boy who reforms because of the good girl, and it's just so overdone. And it's nice to get a "nice guy" who doesn't finish last. And nice doesn't have to mean boring! I'm starting to learn that good guys are way more complex than we give them credit for.

[oyceter]

It was ^_^. I adore nice guys in romances because the jerks are so prevalent.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Carla Kelly has a lot of characters similar to Jesse--it's one of the reasons I adore her books so much. I mean, sometimes they're nobility, but still realistic, if that makes sense. And if she does a character with a rakish-type problem, like the drunkard in ONE GOOD TURN, his problem doesn't just vanish instantly when it becomes inconvenient.

SUMMER CAMPAIGN is my favorite of hers.

[oyceter]

That's good to know. She somehow makes the issues that so many romance writers turn into the cardboard Boy meet Girl plots feel like real life.

Argh. Except I can't find anything but that one book in the library and only a few have been reissued =(.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I keep an eye out for her stuff on half.com and ebay--sometimes one can get them cheaply.