Title: Provocative in Pearls
Author: Madeline Hunter
Series: Rarest Blooms #2
read for the interesting plot, “hero” is no hero
This book was bittersweet. On one hand, the plot that Verity (aka quiet Lizzie) was, lo and behold, Hawkeswell’s runaway bride presumed dead was exciting to me. Perhaps it’s somewhat of a cliché, but I didn’t mind. When Hawkeswell discovered her, I was like, Ohhhhhh….snap. While running away as a solution to a problem smacks of cowardice, it’s dramatic and creates intrigue—and sometimes it’s just what ya gotta do—which is probably why it’s used so often. That was the sweet part.
Other the other hand, Hawkeswell put a bitter taste in my mouth, because, though he had some redeeming moments, he seemed like a selfish *sshole—he took her virginity under a bush, for pete’s sake, because he simply could not resist her anymore. Gee, what a considerate, self-sacrificing gentleman. I kind of wished he was more like Sebastian (from the first book). While Hawkeswell’s big “sacrifice” at the end seems like a selfless act of love, I call baloney. I saw it as a self-indulgent quick fix for his suddenly guilty conscience (absent through the first three quarters of the book) that proved he hadn’t learned much about his wife at all. He gave her what HE thought she wanted, he high-handedly decided what she must be feeling, instead of making the effort to pay attention to her—or heck, let’s be direct—instead of taking five minutes to just ask her if she still wanted to be with Michael. Ugh. I really didn’t like him.
The subplot of Verity’s homesickness and tied hands regarding her former home and father’s business dragged on a bit, but remained interesting and poignant.
There’s one thing that just plain baffles me with its uselessness—introducing the character Catherine. Maybe I just didn’t think hard enough about it, but I saw absolutely no point or purpose for her. I thought Verity would take her under her wing and more or less unofficially adopt her, but no, she just sends her to Daphne (oh, sweet child, I know just what you’re going through, doesn’t life just suck—well, off you go, have fun!). She’ll probably end up being a plot device in the fourth book, Daphne’s story. Unfortunate, but at least then she wouldn’t just be left floating in the abyss of loose ends.
Overall, it made the time pass doing yard work.
