Milan, Courtney - Turner family trilogy + novella

[oyceter]

I've been reading and rereading a lot of Courtney Milan's books lately, and I think she is a new favorite romance author. Most of her romances focus heavily on the heroine's journey and growth, and although not all her heroes are to my taste, she so far has had a relatively small amount of annoying alpha males. I also like that several of her books have featured non-neurotypicalness, particularly since she does so in a way that doesn't make me want to throw things.

Also, she has shown a willingness to write about non-lords, which is extremely welcome in duke-heavy Romanceland. Now that she is self publishing, I'm very much hoping that there will be more of class politics and gender dynamics, especially since what I've read so far of her seems to be feminist and looks at class in ways that also don't make me want to throw things.

Sometimes I find her resolutions overly optimistic, but I like her characters (esp. the heroines) so much that I don't mind. Also, it helps that people tend to behave like adults and use their words. I find the most interesting parts of her books to be the second half, after people have circumvented the Big Secret or Big Misunderstanding by talking to each other; the characters actually have to work together and communicate and own up to their own weaknesses to make things work out. Since I enjoy reading about functional romantic relationships, this is particularly nice.

Unveiled - Ash Turner ruined Margaret Dalrymple's life by exposing her father's bigamy, thereby bastardizing her and her brothers. Now that Ash is heir to her father's duchy, Margaret is posing as a servant on the estate to try and learn about his weaknesses. Normally I hate hidden identities and revenge, as it leads to all sorts of consent and trust issues, but I liked this a lot more than I was expecting. Ash is a pushier hero than I usually like, but I was glad to see it addressed as a personality thing for him, and particularly as a personality thing that frequently irritated people other than the heroine. I also love the way Milan resolves the heir plot (it's All About Margaret!), along with the realization that bio-family is not the only family you have.

Unlocked - Lady Elaine Warren has been made fun of throughout Society largely due to Evan Carlton's cruel teasing. He now regrets it. This is the novella, so there's not as much development, but I like it because of how Evan tries to right the power imbalance by actually backing off at "no." Dear romance heroes: pushing the heroines to give you the answer you want is usually unconducive to her self-esteem building, even if what you want is for her to respect herself. I don't quite buy the characterization differences between Elaine in this novella and Elaine in Unveiled though.

Unclaimed - Jessica is a courtesan trying to get out of the business by seducing Sir Mark Turner, who was recently knighted for writing a popular book on male chastity, for a bet. This is my favorite of hers, largely because Jessica gives me ALL THE FEELS. She is prickly and flinches from male contact and has made her own way for herself, and she often resents Mark for how easily his life seems to have gone. I love that Milan knows Mark can't fix things for Jessica unless and until Jessica deals with her own personal demons first. Also, in a publishing landscape where I frequently get awesome heroines only if the heroes still outpower them in some way (see: current urban fantasy and paranormal romances), I love that Mark not only does not care but also loves that Jessica is more awesome than he is. (Okay, that might be my interpretation. But my favorite quote is: "You've always been your own knight, riding to your rescue. I'm just the man who came along and saw how brightly your armor shone.") The ending piles on a few too many good turns of luck for believability, but I heart Jessica so much that I don't care.

Unraveled - Smite Turner is a very good magistrate. Miranda Darling is sometimes complicit with organized crime. This is a rare Milan book that focuses more on the hero than the heroine; Smite is the most damaged of all the Turner brothers. I like how Smite emphasizes that he's not broken and he doesn't need fixing, despite his damage, and I particularly like watching Smite and Miranda negotiate various relationship things that come up due to his buttons. That said, my favorite parts of the book are the bits about morality and ethics, on how to wield power well, on what tradeoffs are worth or not worth making, and on righteousness and rigidity. Bonus points for having (more than one!) sympathetic gay characters.

Comments

[vom_marlowe]

I read that phrase as 'dyke-heavy Romance-land' and then was sad when I realized my mistake.

*pouts for girl Romances*

[oyceter]

Ahahaha, I WISH we had dyke-heavy Romanceland!

[rachelmanija]

If only!

[jinian]

Upon her conversion into an awesome butch dyke, Smite felt much more suitably named.

[lnhammer]

Well, there's always the yuri anthologies.

---L.

[sqbr]

Hmmmm. Unveiled didn't quite work for me but I may have to check out the others anyway.

[oyceter]

Will be interested to know what you think! Btw, what did you think about Unveiled? I haven't seen a lot of people in my dwircle talking about Milan, and it's always nice to get a range of opinions.

[sqbr]

Hmmm...I think I didn't have any major Issues with it, and there were parts I liked, the romance just didn't quite grab me.

[thistleingrey]

Trying Unveiled now because it's the only Milan title I can borrow from a library and read on my phone (and visiting them in person is still a bit errand-arrange-y)....

[oyceter]

I can lend you her self-pubbed ones if you want; she's explicitly noted that they are drm-free and she wants people to be able to borrow them.

[thistleingrey]

Oh, that's very kind. I have other library books to clear before their deadlines, so perhaps later? Thank you!