LynneC’s review of Kathryn the Kitten by Lavinia Kent
Historical Romance eBook novella published by Avon 28 Jun 11
With the blurb and a title like that, how could I resist? It was like a challenge. But it’s one that quickly dissipated.
It took me a while to get what the tagline was about. I’d thought it meant that the author had taken care over the details, researched the period. Silly me. It’s a reference to reality shows, I think, though it took me a while to get the point.
The book, short though it is, starts very slowly. There’s a scene with Kathryn, and a scene with her husband, Robert. They aren’t very good in bed together, although they are in love. Kathryn lost their baby and they hadn’t really got together since. But I read it. The research is enough to give the story some authenticity, but not enough to interest me. Clubs and society, a brief mention of current affairs. I read on.
Kathryn asks a friend about jazzing up her sex life. Friend obliges, showing her how to behave like a slut, because we all know how much men love that, especially upright and slightly stuffy dukes. Kathryn and huz do a bit better.
That’s about it, really. There is a confusing plot about a print in an apothecary’s shop. I’m not quite sure why it’s not in a print shop but instead the apothecary’s shop, full of the bottles and pills it contains, but there you go. Maids discuss the ladies in the print, who will, of course, have their own stories. Ladies of the day could expect to be immortalized in prints, and common folk could buy them and put them up in their living rooms. Livens the place up a bit. Of course, there are also scurrilous cartoons, scandalous in their subject matter, lampooning politicians in ways nobody could get away with today.
Kathryn seems obsessed with the print, and nobody could understand why, least of all me. Honestly, I didn’t get the point. I felt a bit thick, to tell you the truth, but I couldn’t understand what it’s about. I don’t watch many reality shows, only the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, so I’m probably missing an allusion to something else. I have no idea what.
There are a lot of Americanisms in the book, and when there aren’t any, the characters are speaking in Regency-ese, where words are sometimes contracted, sometimes not. It makes for a stilted read. And why call the heroine “Kathryn”? A twentieth century version of the name Katharine. In the Regency they might have thought that her parents couldn’t spell. Misspellings and alternative spellings weren’t too popular then. So we had King George instead of King Jorj. Shame, really. There are a fair few Americanisms, and the style is, well, flat and very simple. I’m afraid it didn’t engage my interest.
This is really a novella, at 33,000 words, but it seems much longer. Much, much longer. In a story where very little happens, and what does happen is predictable and devoid of interest, the best thing about it is the blurb and the way the story is sold. There are more to come, but they’ll have to get along without me.
By the way, I went to her website to check on this one and maybe get a nice cover pic. The only mention of this novella is a brief one on the news page.
Grade: D
Summary:
Regency England just got real(ity)
Episode 1: How Kathryn Got Her Passion Back
Kathryn, Duchess of Harrington, has the perfect life: a handsome duke for a husband, riches to spare, a house in Mayfair, and the right group of friends. The only thing she doesn’t have is her husband in her bed. But she’s about to change that. Enlisting the aid of her best friend, Linnette, who knows about these things even though she’s a duchess herself, Kathryn begins her seduction plan.
But Linnette knows a secret and it involves Kathryn’s husband. And, when that comes out, Kathryn’s marriage isn’t the only thing at stake. Can you say Afternoon Tea Catfight?
No excerpt available.
