Sandy M’s review of Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale
Historical Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 26 Jan 10

When I heard Ms. Kinsale had another release coming out, I’m sure I was just excited as the rest of her fans. I’ve read only a few of her previous works, with Flowers from the Storm being my favorite. It’s an all-time favorite for me, in fact. I’m wondering if that’s why I’m just a tad disappointed in this book. Now, that’s not to say that LiF is not a good book. It’s just not what I expected, perhaps.

And maybe that’s not fair of me. After I finished this story, I read somewhere that Ms. Kinsale wanted to write another light-hearted book. Maybe that’s what I needed to know before I started reading this one. I didn’t expect that aspect of it. which kind of threw me for a bit, though I did get used to it as the story went on.

But another thing that nearly didn’t work for me is Trev, the hero. He’s such a dichotomy I’m not sure which way to go with him. One minute I like him just fine, the next I’m irritated with him, the next I don’t like him much. And our heroine, Callista, is sometimes in the same boat. But she had the good fortune of loving him since she was a little girl. I’m not so lucky.

Trev has finally gotten word his mother is gravely ill, so he’s come home at last. He’s the one Callie has always loved and he’s a sight for sore eyes after the stigma of her three broken betrothals. The attraction is still there, though Trev left her years before after her father caught them in a very compromising position. Trev is haughty and arrogant to a fault. For me, a little too much so, considering his background during the years he’s been gone. It’s not sterling. And he admits it, is a little ashamed of it. But it is what it is, according to him. Dichotomy No. 1.

He also brings good news when he returns home. He’s been able to purchase the estate and properties lost to his family years before and bring good recognition to his family name once again, something that puts his mother’s mind at ease. But his reassurances aren’t all they’re supposed to be. He talks a good game a majority of the time and everyone, even the reader, believes him wholeheartedly. Dichotomy No. 2.

Another example, Trev has a temper. At first with everyone but Callie. With her, he’s gentle, calm, and loving. However, at one point he’s jealous and angry and starts in motion circumstances that endanger a lot of people, including Callie. When she learns it’s all his doing, he is repentant, of course. He’d never hurt her. But he also doesn’t think when anger gets the best of him. Dichotomy No. 3.

Callie is as independent as can be for a young woman of her time. She’s witty and doesn’t take much bull from anyone, thanks to her previous near-marital mishaps. Of course, the one person who trips her up every time is Trev. But she eventually conquers her anxiety when around him and their relationship grows, despite knowing they can never have more than a friendship.

Things get a little silly when it comes to Callie’s prize bull, but since it’s all for the lightheartedness of the story, in the end it works out. Trev does anything and everything for Callie and comes clean when needed, and he was still growing on me at the end of the book. He’s not one of those heroes who takes an early lead in a read and never looks back. But when he does all the right things at the right time, you know you’re headed at least in the right direction with him.

This is a fairly solid read, even though it’s not quite what I expected.

Grade: B-

Summary:

She is, after all, Lady Callista Taillefaire, jilted three times in spite of her fortune and her father’s best efforts to find her a husband. Now her greatest desire is to win the silver cup at the agricultural fair with her gigantic prize bull, Hubert. But when Callie’s only old flame returns from his long and mysterious absence in France, her quiet spinster life turns upside down. Dark-eyed, elegant and a magnet for trouble, Trevelyan d’Augustin has given Callie lessons in more than his language in the past. Her father put a harsh and humiliating end to any dreams of romance with a French émigré scoundrel, however, and Callie never thought to see him again. Swallowing his pride, Trev has finally come home to care for his failing mother, but his secrets and misdeeds follow him. Callie soon remembers that nothing is ever peaceful with Trev around. The enormous Hubert vanishes into thin air, one of her former jilts comes back to woo her in a most determined manner—and her bull takes the town by storm! In the midst of these misadventures, Callie finds herself falling in love again with the worst possible man for her…

Read an excerpt.