Review of a rarity: genuinely interesting post-Regency romance Unclaimed by Courtney Milan, and bonus review of Unveiled

 

Spoilers in this review.

When I say that Unclaimed by Courtney Milan is genuinely interesting, I am in no way maligning more conventional Regency and other historical romances.  Many of them are engaging and well-written.  But they generally have mix and match plots: take a hero with a predicament (he has some physical ailment that threatens his hold on his noble title, or he thought he was a commoner but just found out he is a duke), and match him with a heroine with a predicament (she wants to continue her work in medicine which she can't do if she gets married, or she has a secret love child), add some personality (he is an introvert, or a rogue; she is clumsy, or outspoken), and voila, you have your book. But I have never read a historical romance with a plot similar to Unclaimed.

The premise of the book is that in the mid-1800's hero Mark accidentally created a movement similar to the purity movement of the 1990s, except that what he had in mind was neither slut-shaming nor encouraging fathers to spend way too much time thinking about the sex lives of their teenage daughters.  When Mark wrote a book promoting chastity, he was encouraging men to have self-control in light of the devastating effect that accidental pregnancies had on woman and their children.  (Is mostly reliable birth control the greatest thing humanity has ever invented?  I say yes, although I am also very fond of penicillin.)  

Mark wrote the book because -- well, if you're a writer you know why.  He just couldn't help himself.  He never believed it would become popular.  But it did become very, very popular, as well as very, very misunderstood by the masses who never really read it and let others explain it to them.  Mark became famous, is mobbed whenever he goes out in public, and is hounded by the 19th century equivalent of the paparazzi. He is also chased by women who either want to marry him or seduce him.  (He is famously a virgin.)

Enter heroine Jessica, a courtesan (meaning, a serial paid mistress), who is hired by a bad guy to seduce Mark.  Mark is by no means a dummy, and he sees through her.  And, he sees her.  And he likes her.  Then he loves her.  Sparks ensue.

There are so many great things about this book.  Mark has an incredible back story which makes his devotion to chastity completely understandable, and the pacing of how it is revealed is excellent.  (No spoilers on that.)  Jessica is not quite as well done as a character, but she is admirable in her will to survive a tough world.  

As I was reading the book I had no idea how it would resolve.  Would Mark insist on marriage before he had sex with Jessica?  Or would he, finally, give in to his passions?  (As a  side note, when they do have sex, and no spoilers as to when that occurred, he was much too skilled for a virgin.  Good sex takes practice, y'all.)   

There's a minor character, a paparazzo, who I loved.  Like, I wanted to hug him.  He had a heart purer than Mark's (or Jessica's), he was fair, and he always came through in a pinch.  

If I have a quibble with the book, it's that it needed one last rewrite.  Towards the end, it appears that Mark is leading a somewhat unwilling Jessica to the alter.  I would love to see this slowed down.  Jessica figures out how to get herself out of a bind, and comes to understand that she can trust Mark, but he is almost a father figure to her.  I would prefer for their relationship to be developed in such a way that it is clear that her passion for Mark matches his for her. 

Bonus review of Unveiled (spoilers)

Unclaimed is the second book in Milan's Turner series.  After I finished Unclaimed I read the first book in the series, Unveiled.  This was well-written but had a much more conventional plot. Hero Ash (Mark's brother) has taken revenge on a family whose patriarch wronged him when he was an impoverished boy, by plotting to steal the dukedom from them.  The daughter of the family, heroine Margaret, pretends to be her father's nurse so she can discover Ash's weaknesses.  Sparks ensue.  Ash's love for Margaret leads him to act heroically.  Margaret learns to value herself.  HEA.  

 

Note from Jasmine Gold: As the name of this blog indicates, I write erotica. Check out my dark, dystopian novel about naked sex slaves, Mindgames. Your darkest fantasies, with a phenomenal plot and characters you will come to think of as beloved friends. Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited  and in paperback.  Or read my book of short stories about hot, consensual sex, The Mature Woman's Guide to Desire, available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.