June Calvin: The Jilting of Baron Pelham

Though new to the London marriage mart, Miss Davida Gresham had three marvelous men in her young life. One was the devastatingly attractive Baron Montgomery Pelham, newly jilted by the most beautiful belle of the ton, and seeking to use Davida as an instrument of vengeance. One was the dazzingly handsome, fabulously wealthy Harrison Curzon, bored with experienced mistresses and lusting for an innocent bride. And the third was the gentle and kindly Duke of Harwood, the father of Davida’s best friend, looking for a wife to replace the one he had tragically lost. One match assured lasting safety. One match offered unleashed sensuality. And one match promised only certain shame. But the question was, which match would light the fire of love in the heart that had to choose for better or worse…?

Davida is at hand to save the handsome Baron Pelham from a royal embarrassment when his former fiancé is flouting her new beau in the Park. But what starts as a momentary alliance results in the development of a friendship that quickly has the heroine of the day falling for the Baron.

She gets lots of benefits, too, from the relationship…tickets to Almacks, suddenly a bevy of beaus, and some lessons in love. As heroines go, she is sensible, sentimental (determined to marry for love or nothing), and kind. I was confused as to whether or not she was beautiful, but I am going with she was considering how many other men were hot for her.

The Baron Monty, on the other hand, is wealthy, handsome, kind, loves his family (and probably animals). He also is an almost virgin. This was one of the most interesting things about the book to me, honestly. In a briefly touched on back story, there is discussion of his celibacy as a result of a mistresses death.

Honestly, there was a lot of male sex dysfunction in this book. Davida’s second choice is pretty much a rapist. Although he is constantly telling Davida his intentions to her are “honorable”, he comes on pretty strong, even injuring her with his advances at one point. There is also some intimation that he regularly skeezes around, and maybe even ruins innocents.

I think because she has the backbone to shut him down, this doesn’t completely ruin the book for me, but I want to be upfront about it as I know it will influence some people’s decision whether or not to read the book. While for me it had me thinking a lot about the era as this kind of attack was likely as common as today, its definitely not what you expect from escapist leaning books.

The novel is also a mash up of lots of different tropes: fake engagement, misunderstandings, marriage of convenience, runaway bride. I thought it handled most well, although the middle misunderstanding bit sagged.

I really enjoyed many of the secondary characters, including Pelham’s friends and his object of desire. She is a nasty, priggish sort of girl who I loved to hate (and you probably will, too). Reminds me a lot of the fiancé in The Grand Sophy.

Overall, this was a solid traditional Reg Rom offering that, with a few deviations from the norm, delivers the HEA. I probably won’t reread again, but it was an enjoyable and quick read, nonetheless.

5 Stars 4 out of 6 A solid mostly traditional Reg Rom with an almost fake engagement and marriage of convenience