Cathy Maxwell "Temptation of a Proper Governess"

Uninspiring. The first half of this book was just completely un-engaging. The governess heroine agreeing to undo a stranger's pants when he finds her in his bedroom because of an inexplicable attraction after protecting her virtue against all odds and knowing what it's like to be a young woman on her own with shaky prospects. The hero refuses to marry her to save her reputation but will marry her after he finds out she is the illegitimate daughter of his nemesis. And it takes his best friend to point out that this might be a difficulty in their future wedded bliss once she finds out. Yawn.

After the expected break in trust scene, the characters began to act more like humans and a book I was really struggling to read became less painful. Not riveting or exciting, but not horrible either.

Historical Romance 2004: 2 of 5 murdered slutty dancers.

Painting: The Governess by Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin

Cathy Maxwell "In the Highlander's Bed"

Constance is unhappily enrolled in a girl's school in Scotland after she and her three sisters leave America to find a better life in London (who sold them that fantasy in 1808?). After her two sisters manage to become happily married, they farm Constance off to school where she gets picked on endlessly for her brash American ways. She determines to run away back to the Ohio Valley where life was good (other than the massacre that killed her parents of course.)

This heroine does not fall into the too stupid too live category, she actually includes money in her running away pack. And she doesn't fall into the angry category, she's mad about the hero interrupting her plans for an appropriate length of time but is rather reasonable about it. She actually falls into the too perfect to live category. I haven't seen one of these in a while. She gets kidnapped so this highlander guy can ransom her for a sword that will inspire the other highlanders to revolt against the nasty English. She's upset at her plans being disrupted for a while, then she decides their cause is noble, gets the women to clean up the camp, organize the cooking, take better care of the kids and generally whips this group into a useful army support organization.

The hero is slightly underdeveloped as a character, who has time when Constance is so damn busy, but I liked him overall. And the author just barely manages to navigate the difficulty of the Sure-To-Fail Scottish cause in the plot. Really the book isn't terrible but I found the characters , particularly the heroine, uninspiring.

Historical Romance 2008: 2 of 5 swords of inspiration.