Review: Not Proper Enough by Carolyn Jewel

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Fox loved Ginny from the first moment, but she fell in love with his best friend and married him. Hurt pride and a broken heart caused Fox to say things he never really meant to say -- and he ended up hurting Ginny ... and himself.

Now Ginny is a widow, out of mourning, and back in London for the Season as companion to Hester Rendell -- and Fox has another chance to make things right between them, but Ginny has not forgotten or forgiven Fox yet she cannot ignore her own body's response to his ardent attentions.

Ginny isn't in London for herself but for Hester, and when a fixture of the London Ton decides to target Hester (and Ginny) with his insults, and goes too far by making scandalous insinuations about Fox and Ginny, Fox risks his reputation (and his life) to defend her honor.

There are always two sides to the same story: for Fox, it was always about love, but the love that Fox felt was too intense, too big for him to put to words and, when he did try, the wrong words came out. He watched the love of his life marry his best friend and he tried to move on and forget her but he never did.

Years later, Fox is no longer the prideful scoundrel he once was and he has been given a second chance and he tries to prove to Ginny that he is worthy of her love: He becomes Hester's and Ginny's champion against Dinwitty Lane, who is, perhaps, the most annoying character in all of historical romancedom. (Who does nothing but provoke the characters, like an obnoxious fly.)

What is the complication to the story? Ginny. Whose side of the story shows her hurt, her embarrassment over Fox's dismissal of her years ago -- and now her bewilderment at his sudden change of heart. She's determined to protect her heart this time around -- she surrenders her body to Fox but keeps her heart closed to his declarations.

I can't help but compare Not Proper Enough to When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn and to Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas because they have similar premises -- but that is where the similarity ends. What I love about the historical romance genre is how each author takes on the challenge of making classic plot lines fresh and new. Julia Quinn focused on moving forward by letting go of the past (Francesca was still in the mourning stages), Sherry Thomas focused on the revenge aspect and Carolyn Jewel's Ginny had already finished mourning her husband and is really just trying to protect herself from further heartache.

"My dear man, I don't have dreams about you. I have nightmares."

"You wound me."

She laughed.

"What sort of man could win your heart?" She hesitated, and he cursed his clumsiness because he knew the answer. She had found the man she loced. "Someone like Robert," he said softly. "Honorable. Amiable. Intelligent. A man everyone likes. Never out of sorts. Never cross."

"Not never." She smiled -- sadly, he fancied. "But yes, rarely."

"I am sorry for your loss. You know that, I hope."

...

She sighed. "For a very long time after he died, I thought I'd never love another man."

"And now?" His heart gave a hard thump. Had Aigen pressed his suit with her while he was away?

"I know I'll never love anyone the way I loved Robert."She packed away her sewing kit, and his eyes followed the line of her cheek, the sweep of her throat. With a sideways glance at him, a careless one, she said, "I'd love another man a different way." She dropped her etui in her reticule before she looked up. "Because he would be a different man, you understand. Not Robert. Someone else, and he would be worthy of me and I worthy of him in an entirely different way."
- pp. 130 - 132

Ginny is no longer a shy, country bumpkin (remember that she is Mountjoy's sister) but is now an empowered woman. She knows what love is and she knows that what she feels for Fox isn't the same kind of love she felt for Robert -- and she isn't afraid to tell Fox so. Throughout her journey, I appreciated the conversations she had with Fox, how she tried to sound out her confusion and anger and how Fox accepted the burden of her pain.

...When he looked at her, her defiance was back.

She said, "You're not Robert." Her eyes flashed. "It doesn't matter how good you are with your cock, you'll never be Robert."

Fox released her thigh and turned her around. "No. I am not. Nor do I intend to even attempt to be him."
- p. 174

There is also a secondary plot line between Hester and the Duke of Camber. I felt the chemistry from their first meeting -- but Jewel drops their story in the middle and left me to wonder if I imagined the attraction -- more so when other men were thrown Hester's way but the author picked up their story again in the end.

That small niggle aside, this was another gratifying book from one of my favorite authors and I look forward to the next installment. ^_^

Not Proper Enough is the second book in Carolyn Jewel's Reforming the Scoundrels series. To find out more about the author and her books, click below:

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Not Wicked Enough by Carolyn Jewel

March Reading Challenge:

TOPICS:
- read a book whose author either has a three-word name or carries an official middle initial.
- read a book that you have previously started and meant to continue, but keep failing to do so.

THEMES:
- read a book that is set in Scotland or has a Highlander as a character.
- read a book with a medical theme, plot, cover, or setting.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
International Womens’ Month: – read a book that has a single female figure on the cover.
Reading Romance’s Blogiversary: – read a book that has been reviewed or featured at the blog!

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There is a beautiful strangeness to Carolyn Jewel's writing. Her characters are jagged and raw around the edges -- flawed and imperfect -- and their conversations reflect this sort of roughness. And yet these conversations make her characters very real. Their speech is not planned or practiced or elegant or eloquent – but borne of spontaneity and personality.

Lily Wellstone is in Bitterward to visit her grieving friend, Ginny, the Duke of Mountjoy's younger sister. When she first meets him, despite his awkward appearance and ill-fitting clothes, she is instantly drawn to him. Even when given a choice between the shiny and polished Nigel and the Duke, Lily's whole being gravitates toward Mountjoy.

I wasn't certain I would like Lily Wellstone. My first impression of her was that she was vain. She's too aware of the colors she wears – and which seat/setting would best show her off.

Lily … strolled to a love seat upholstered in dark green velvet. The green would make a striking contrast with her primrose gown. She was never going to marry, for her heart was no longer available for such emotion. But that was no reason not to show herself to advantage when the opportunity arose.
p. 19

The predominant color of the Prussian salon was blue. There was, in fact, a sofa in a gorgeous shade of the blue after that name. “You're right about the rose frock. I'll wear that.” … The ash pink bodice would look delectable when she sat on that Prussian blue sofa.
p. 246

And her vanity extends to having everything conform to her tastes -- in the story, she asks Mountjoy's permission to improve his wardrobe.

But Carolyn Jewel also shows us the other aspects of Lily. Lily, the caring friend who left her own estate to be with her grieving friend. Lily, who wants Ginny to be healthy and happy. Lily who longs for family and connections. Lily, who seems to be the very embodiment of life --

When we are first shown Bitterward, it is raining and gloomy. Everything seems gray and bleak -- there is an almost gothic element to her first meeting with the Duke of Mountjoy. But Lily seems to bring sunshine with her -- and it does not rain once, during the months that she stays in Mountjoy's estate.

She thinks of silly games and activities for herself and Ginny and Nigel -- and her joie de vivre is infectious. At the end of the novel, it seems that everything is better and brighter, including the Duke of Mountjoy.

The Duke hadn't always lived the privileged life. He and siblings grew up as farmer's children and he has never forgotten his roots. Being with Lily makes the Duke realize that he should leave his past behind and step into the present. As he gradually transforms his wardrobe, his whole self also transforms and he realizes the importance of his role in his community … and realizes the importance of having Lily in his life for more than just a holiday.

Carolyn Jewel's Not Wicked Enough has some hints of My Fair Lady (or George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion) -- but Jewel has cleverly turned the tables -- it is the Duke that needs polishing but this does not mean Lily comes away unaffected. Every encounter with the duke chips away at her frozen heart, a heart that she has long thought incapable of any more emotion.

There is also a strangeness to Jewel's writing -- it is unsentimental and her prose is dense with detail and innuendo. Readers might be a bit jarred by the lack of drama and sweetness.

I also did not like the treasure hunting scene -- it was out of lark and would have been more plausible if they ended up spending the day digging. But to actually find a cache of treasure?

Moreover, aside from Lily, the rest of the characters bordered on flatness. Was this the author's intent? (Even Lily was in danger of being two-dimensional.) Jane Kirk, Mountjoy's original “intended” suffered from unequal treatment -- her scenes in the novel involved her walking, or being cold and aloof to Mountjoy or standing spectator to Lily's games and activities. (No wonder Mountjoy preferred Lily.) The one other character that stood out was Lord Fenris and I'm glad that he's getting his story told next. ^_^

I have enjoyed Carolyn Jewel's historicals. I've read Scandal, Indiscreet, The Spare and Lord Ruin and I am glad that Stolen Love is out on Kindle. I am still looking for Passion's Song.

I've waited patiently for her to publish Not Wicked Enough (she wrote paranormal romance for a while after Indiscreet) and I look forward to the next installment in her Seducing the Scoundrels series, Not Proper Enough, which features Ginny and Lord Fenris.


Final note: I love how Carolyn Jewel describes Mountjoy's attraction to Lily as “bewildering” – ^_^