Rakes Retreat [Paperback]

Jemima Vale - mature, intelligent and strong is missing something in her life - love, true companionship and (unbeknownst to her) sexual fulfilment. She meets, through the subplot of intrique and espionage, Mr Beecham Bryce - rake, reprobate, fallen angel with a hardened heart. Of course, in this sort of scenario, the H/H are never quite what they seem. Jemima is wise and caring but eager to love a man who, superficially at any rate, appears to be totally inappropriate. Bryce is a man who has willfully brought on his own downfall yet retains strong family ties and yearns to find love and completion with Jemima, a woman who proves to be his true "other half".

This is a tightly plotted story with wholly believable characters (and some brilliant secondary characters) and the story is enlivened by some of the wittiest dialague I have read in a regency novel for a very long time. Just one tiny example:

Jemima looked up at the sky, assessing the position of the sun. "I see that it is past noon. And that your innuendoes have returned, right on schedule."

Bryce's mouth drew up into a crooked grin. "I don't flatter before lunchtime; innuendo I can furnish round the clock."

Butler handles her mature heroine and flawed hero with great skill and gusto in this novel. Both are characters who come bursting to life for the reader. It's definitely a keeper and it's made me realise it is time to re-read Heyer's "Venetia" again. Very highly recommended for its plot, characters, dialogue and high levels of emotion and sexual tension.

Some spoilers follow but first a general warning: the story is not about the young actress who discovers the murder, but about her rescuer Mr Beecham Bryce and a Lady Jemima Vale who is an amateurish artist, in all senses of that word. And no - Lady Jemima's art skills play no part in the story, except to permit her to appreciate the greater aristic skills of others.

The story is not about murder and intrigue, although those do play some part in the story, in forcing Lady Jemima to remove to the house of a well-known rake, and the intrigue elements become crucial at one point very late in the story. However, the love story itself is not dependent on the murder nor on the intrigue, except in permitting the author to bring the couple together at the beginning. So, if you are looking for a book full of a hero and heroine (and villains) dashing about the countryside, you will be disappointed. And yes, there is a villain (more than one, actually) but the real villain's identity comes as a surprise.

I won't tell you too much about the rest of the story, for fear of spoiling other discoveries for you. Once I got past the first four or five pages, I found myself engrossed in the book - rooting for the hero and heroine alike, and hoping sincerely that the hero, in particular, would be able to actually read the heroine's mind. [The misunderstanding that temporarily separates them is entirely believable - in that it is a problem of miscommunication, rather than of unnecessary pride or some external agent]. The real surprise is the ending. Once the murder and the intrigue have been resolved, the hero and heroine do not fall into each other's arms. They must still learn to communicate better, and for once, the heroine is the one taking steps to end the misunderstanding by swallowing her own pride at being rejected.

It has a good plot, a hero who is not a nobleman (and is rather unconventional), a far-from-missish but not waspish heroine, and some interesting and finely drawn secondary characters. This is not a book to read for wit and humor (although there is a good-natured tone in the story), nor one for pathos and tears.

Read this for a good story about a relationship that builds around, and even despite, a mystery. More precisely, there are several mysteries - Who is the murderer? What was the murderer doing in the area? Is Jemima right in her suspicions about Beecham?. And there is lots of other suspense created by such small things as a cart going the wrong way, but I will leave it to you to find out what happens.

Despite some improbabilities, this is still one of the best Regencies I have read this year.