Have you ever wondered what a marriage of convenience in the Regency period was like? Are you looking for a very honest and frank book about what it means to marry for money and the difficulties in navigating the aristocracy when you come from the merchant class? Then read this book. But if you want a hero that will make you swoon and a romance that will sweep you off your feet - this is not the book you are looking for. It was everything but a true love story, at least not a romantic love story. And our snarky sisters found it to be disappointing and sad. Join us as we delve deep into the plot and characters of Georgette Heyer's novel A Civil Contract.
The heroine was an amazing woman - a dedicated wife, daughter, sister, and friend. She does anything and everything to make our hero happy and content, knowing that he has settled for her but does not love her. She claims to not need his love, she just wants to make him happy. And thus begins a marriage of convenience that is definitely one sided. The hero gets a lot out of the relationship, while our heroine only receives a mediocre husband who is repulsed and revolted by the very sight of her. We know this because he thinks it to himself constantly throughout the book. She appears to him to be a constant reminder of all he had to give up in order to keep his family from ruin. He couldn't seem to find the beauty in her that we could see from the very beginning and instead he spends most of the book lamenting that he can't be with his flighty, oh so beautiful, but crazy love Julia. Barf. Mega eye rolls abound.
What saves this book from being a horrible read is a cast of side characters that really add flavor and humor to the story. This book was ultimately interesting to read and a really good honest representation of what it means to marry for convenience instead of love. It is an excellent example of literary fiction at its best with amazing character development - except for our hero who remains a one-dimensional, egotistical and narcissistic human being. It is definitely worth reading because it is so well written and a great look into life in the Regency period. But be warned - if you are looking for a fulfilling and heart felt romance novel - this is not it. We LOVE Georgette Heyer, she is one of our favorite authors, but we hated this hero so much that the ending just fell flat and we feel like it wasn't really a love story. It was a story about settling.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
We have some exciting news! The format for our weekly episode is changing. We have decided for our next book we are going to do a deep dive into the story . . .deeper than we have ever gone before. Instead of us recapping an entire book in one episode we are going to bring it to you chapter by chapter, giving our thoughts and impressions as we read the book. If you have ever wondered our thought process or what goes through our heads while we read these silly stories . . . now is your chance to find out! We will be releasing two new episodes each week that will cover one chapter in a book. Think old timey serial radio show or podcast reviews of a TV series that is broken down by season and episode. You will get our impressions and our snark live as we recap each chapter and make our hilarious predictions of what will happen next. The book is new, the author is new, and we are going in blind having not read the synopsis before hand. We encourage audience participation so grab the book and read along with us! Our experiment begins with the book How to Wake a Sleeping Lady by Bree Wolf, available through Amazon Kindle Unlimited. Pick up your copy and come along for the ride!
