I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get when I pick up a Lynsay Sands romance. Her books tend to be either quirky and fun, or quirky and painful. However, I tend to like her Medievals - especially The Deed and The Key - and I looked forward her new one, though the title, The Brat, gave me pause. Thankfully, the heroine turned out to be one of those Ersatz Brats.
In 1351, England is slowly recovering from the years of the Black Death. Bolan, Lord Gaynor, arrives home from France, where he has been fighting for King Edward III, to find his father dead and the country under-populated and in chaos. With few workers to bring in the harvest and no money to hire any, Bolan's estate is in near-ruin. He is at court to find himself a wealthy wife to help repair his lands and save his people.
Lady Murie, aka The Brat, is Edward's beloved and spoiled-rotten goddaughter. He has finally declared it time for her to marry, but few men are willing to take on someone with her reputation for throwing temper tantrums, complete with ear-piercing screams and crying. Eligible men leave the court in droves, afraid of being "rewarded" with her.
However, Bolan overhears Murie talking to a friend and learns that The Brat is a skilled actress, that she has devised this behavior as a way to protect herself from the machinations and spitefulness of the other ladies at court. She really wants to marry, but because of her reputation, willing men are now thin on the ground. In fact, only Bolan and Malculinus, a nasty piece of work who also overheard Murie's conversation, remain.
Bolan and Murie are attracted to each other, and due to one of those "who will your future husband be?" superstitious tests, Murie believes that she and Bolan are destined to be together. However, their courtship is a bit rocky, as Bolan is very shy around women, and when he does open his mouth, he invariably sticks his foot in it. But they are pretty quickly married and set off to Gaynor to bring the estate back to life.
Bolan and Murie are both appealing characters who have a good chemistry together, but there seems to be very little conflict. Or rather, there are lots of little conflicts, little misunderstanding, that are resolved very quickly and to everyone's satisfaction. Of course, the nasty Malculinus has some more tricks up his sleeve, and the last quarter of the book gets pretty busy, but for the most part, there's not much going on here. There are scenes of life at Gaynor, Murie winning over Bolan's people and young sister, Bolan working on the estate, Bolan and Murie becoming closer, but I found myself wanting … more. More meat, more conflict, just … more.
The Brat is a pretty quiet book with attractive leads. While there's nothing to wildly excite the reader, and there is very little of the slapstick situations I've come to expect from Sands, it nonetheless earns my qualified recommendation.
Sensuality: Warm
Publication Date: 2007
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