Untouched

- Anna Campbell -

Decidedly mixed feelings on this one - there were plot elements I really did not like, but the writing itself was very strong and vivid, and makes me want to read more from this author.

The plot revolves around Matthew, Marquesse of Sheene, imprisoned by his power hungry uncle since he was teenager and deprived of freedrom, friends and female companionship. His uncle provides him with a whore, in the form of Grace Paget, a widowed and impoverished gentlewoman whom his servants have mistaken for a whore and kidnapped.

Grace and Matthew are inevitably attracted to each other and ultimately fall in love. Part of what draws them together is their situations, both now being imprisoned and both, to varying degrees, having experienced deprived and unhappy lives. Where I felt the plotting fell down was in the description of Grace as, despite having been married for many years, equally as inexperienced sexually as Matthew.

Particularly in historical romances, there is quite often a huge imbalance in the sexual experiences of the hero and heroine due to the societal norms and conventions of the time. Having Grace a widow provided an opportunity for the woman in this situation to be the experienced one and consequently to take the lead in the sexual relationship, which would have been a) sexy and b) a refreshing yet believable difference from other historicals.

Instead, Matthew is very much the dominant one, almost unbelievably in the end since he demonstrates an awful lot of confindence and social skill for someone who has been completely isolated from the world at large since the age of 12. The result is a character almost too good to be true, and he ends up seeming a little bit self righteous.

Ultimately the writing was strong enough that I wanted to follow the story through to the end, and definitely want to read something else from the author where hopefully these plotting and characterisation niggles won't be there.