LauraD’s review of Compromised by Kate Noble
Historical Romance released by Berkley Trade 4 Mar 08
Historical Romance gains a new author in Kate Noble and Compromised is her first novel. In an unusual move, Penguin has released it in trade paperback format. The cover is lovely, the story sounded fun, and I was totally in the mood for a good historical.
Gail Alton and her sister Evangeline are newly returned to London after spending years traveling with their father. Their new stepmother considers bookish Gail to be the perfect foil for older sister Evangeline’s beauty, and insists that they make their come-out together. Maximilian, Viscount Fontaine, attends their debut ball and encounters both girls. While he finds a tipsy Gail to be a brat, he is smitten with Evangeline when he encounters her alone in the conservatory and that is a good thing because he has compromised her and they become “secretly” engaged. Gail becomes the couple’s chaperone, and she and Max find that while they might bicker quite a bit they also have a lot more in common than Max and Evangeline.
I’m a sucker for stories where the heroine is in love with her sister’s/friend’s fiancé, and this is a good one. There is a nice dynamic between all three characters. Gail and Evangeline are friends as well as sisters, and both feel protective of the other. The whole Alton family is portrayed as loving, including stepmother Romilla; their time away from England has made them a close unit. Ms. Noble gives plenty of time to establishing all four characters, so none of the family is a cardboard cutout.
Max is a good man; he wants to do the right thing by marrying Evangeline, even as he begins to see it’s Gail he truly loves. He’s definitely a beta; I grew frustrated with his unwillingness to just take action regarding his engagement after he made his decision about Gail. I appreciated his character’s more intellectual pursuits — while Max is attractive and sought after he’s not portrayed as the typical drinking and carousing romance leading man. When he takes the girls on an outing they go to the British Museum, and we readers get a view of the museum in its infancy. [Ed: I adore the British Museum – you have to see its basement – chockablock full of ancient sculptures, row after row after row…]
Compromised might not work for readers who need their historicals to ring true 100%. Speech and personalities are more 21st century than 19th. At one point, Gail and Max have a discussion about whether or not the Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece; that sentiment seems so contemporary that it jarred me out of the story.
Ultimately, I found Compromised to be a very enjoyable romance featuring both a truly likeable hero and heroine. Their path to a HEA is interesting and a pleasure to read. I really appreciated the author’s decision to make Romilla a loving and well-intentioned stepmother, avoiding the Cinderella cliché. I recommend this book, and happily give it a solid…
Grade: B
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Summary:
Miss Gail Alton was not having a good day. Or a good year. First, her new stepmother strong-arms her into attending the Season as a foil to her beautiful sister Evangeline. Then while riding her mare in the park, she gets toppled by a stuffy, self-important, too handsome-by-half ‘gentleman’ who has the audacity to blame her for their fall into the chilly lake! Little did she know that the same man would soon be found in a compromising position with Gail’s sister…Forced into asking for Evangeline’s hand in marriage, Maximillian, Viscount Fontaine, can’t take his mind off the irksome girl who threw him from his horse and insists on matching wits with him at every turn. He’s determined to follow through with his best intentions, yet he can’t deny that every encounter with Gail makes him want to cast propriety aside – and whisk away the sister of his soon-to-be bride…
Read an excerpt.
