TBR Challenge: Judith Hale Everett - Two in the Bush

Sir Joshua Stiles wants nothing more than to fill the hole in his heart left by his wife's death, but it seems that women are more interested in his fortune than in himself. Cynical and ready to renounce all females, he is none too pleased when his sister invites her dear friend to visit for the Season.
Having survived a joyless marriage, Genevieve Breckinridge has no romantic expectations. In coming to London, she hopes only to cure her daughter's Gothic fantasies. But Sir Joshua seems always to be at hand, either to witness Genevieve's most mortifying moments, or to make himself so agreeable that she wishes she had not given up romance.
When her daughter develops a decided tendre for Sir Joshua, however, Genevieve suddenly realizes where her own heart lies, and must make a painful choice. For what loving mother could—or would—play rival to her own daughter?

Comment: It's time for another TBR Challenge post. In May the theme is "freebie", which immediately brings to mind a book that was free. I got the one I chose for free after seeing it mentioned in a deals' page of a website I subscribed. At the time, this was free in several retailers and there I went to grab it, since it caught my attention.

This is an historical romance, set in the Regency period. Sir Joshua Stiles is a widowed man, who mourned the death of his wife but is aware he might still find someone to spend the rest of his days with, but all the young debutantes always seem very immature to him. Due to certain circumstances, he finally meets mrs Breckinridge, a friend of his sister and a widow as well. Although the woman seems a bit silly at times, always getting herself into weird situations, he can't help but liking her and her daughter Lenore, about to have her come out, as well as Tom, her son. When someone from the lady's past, linked to her unlikable husband, comes to cause trouble, can sir Joshua ignore it or his awareness of the woman and of what being a gentleman means can influence him to help her once more?

I had not heard of this author before this title (and simple but tasteful) cover caught my eye. The blurb also made this seem like a quiet but romantic story and I was ready to see how the author would deal with the interesting key element in said blurb: "When her daughter develops a decided tendre for Sir Joshua, however, Genevieve suddenly realizes where her own heart lies, and must make a painful choice." This is not something very often seen in romance novels and I was curious.

The story starts rather simply. One day, at the request of his sister, sir Joshua is on the way to deliver a letter to one of her friends when, after some obstacles that tired him already, he has to stop to aid a woman who had trouble with her horse. They don't get along but he does recognize she isn't one of those woman who seem to depend on man for everything. He thinks nothing more of it, delivers the letter although no one except a servant is home. Of course, this being a romance novel, the letter was precisely destined to that woman he helped.

The lady is mrs Breckinridge, who we are told has had a loveless marriage and she regrets the fact she was more infatuated than in love but now she is a widow, she has her children already grown up and she never assumed she would find someone else. She is, I'd say, a conscious and intelligent woman, but with some vulnerability and I was eager to see how the romance with someone who seemed way more practical and serious would pan out. Added the young daughter in her first season who is still immature abut the ways of the world, and perhaps this could be an interestingly dramatic but romantic tale.

The plot is quite unassuming, and the characters focused on proper behaviors and being good people even when faced with complicated situations or past disappointments/tragedies. I think the author has not invented exaggerated issues, delivered a simple story with appealing characters (except young Lenore which was just too immature and a bit annoying at times) but probably the detail that one cannot ignore is the writing style. Unlike many novels, the writing here is done to resemble the way people spoke back then, using expressions and speech patters that we would see as "old fashioned". I suppose the author wanted to convey more authenticity to the characters' behavior and interactions.

On one hand, this was well done but on the other, it did made for a bit more awkward reading. I've read the idea was based on the author's love for Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen and how she attempted to recreate those types of books. I think it might depend on one's mood and preferences because it can make for a certain duller read here and there. I also felt it highlighted the ridiculousness of some issues, such as the villain's actions - he felt like a caricature at the end, when he does one last action - or Lenore's behavior. I believe the choices were close to accurate to actual behaviors people back then might have done, but Lenore was so immature...which made the possibility of her thinking herself in love with an older, mature man such as sir Joshua something we know could happen, but very unlikely here to be believable.

This could be labeled "clean romance" (or whatever is the identification of no intimacy scenes in books) and I wasn't bothered by it, for I've felt the important and key emotions were expressed well enough just by actions the characters had. At the same time, I also felt the author could have gone steps further in enhancing the romance scenes, the romantic developments between the main characters... it isn't necessary to be explicit for a romance to feel intense and while I could see how sir Joshua and mrs Breckinridge might be falling in love, everything was just a bit too subtle and the author could have added more things without changing the "label" or her style. It also made some revelations in the end to feel a bit superficial, as I feel we didn't have enough scenes with longing/chemistry to highlight those feelings before they declare themselves.

In the end, I can say I liked the story as a whole, not so much certain details, I think it was definitely an immersive type of story. I also would have liked of more focus had been on the main romance and not so much on secondary characters and/or situations, but it turned out balanced enough at the end. I'm still debating if I feel like reading more books by the author.

Grade: 7/10