Felicity Niven: Convergence of Desire

An insatiable rake falls for an eccentric genius. Too bad she’s his innocent bride, and he has vowed never to touch her.
Harriet “Harry” Lovelock lives a life of the mind, and she knows she can prove a theorem that has baffled male mathematicians for two centuries. But her stepmother wants her married and the swirl of the Season saps Harry’s energy and distracts her from her work. She has to put an end to the tedium of balls. Now. Full stop.

Thomas Drake, the Earl Drake, devotes himself to the pleasures of the flesh, even as he wrestles with his own demons and intractable problems. He needs to marry wealth, but could he ever be satisfied by just one woman?

She can spend all her time on her proof. He can have any woman he wants, except her.

Their marriage of convenience could prove to be the perfect partnership—as long as love never enters the equation.

CW: sexual assault, grooming, assault and violence, eating disorder

This was a recommendation for a Regency featuring a neurodivergent MC, and I am so grateful for that recommendation.  I devoured this book in a day and found much to love about this romance between a rake and a mathematician.

The main trope is marriage of convenience between a rake desperate to hold on to his family estate and a young woman who loathes the Ton and wants to be left alone to work on solving a mathematical problem.  Harry (Harriet) has some sensory and social issues but has learned, through the care of her loving stepmother, how to mask enough to get by, but she is wasting away as a result.  Thomas sets his sights on the stepmother, a very rich widow, to make a marriage of convenience but through a series of events finds himself agreeing to a marriage of convenience with her stepdaughter, Harry.

What follows surprised me.  Its the very definition of a slow burn.  We first see how, contrary to her offer (leave me alone to work on my problem until I inevitably die prematurely), Thomas cannot help but immediately try and take care of Harry (but not in a patronizing way).  He enlists the help of the local doctor, who ends up perfectly understanding Harry enough to convince her that feeding the body with exercise and nourishment will, in turn, feed her mind.  Slowly, as she regains her health a true connection begins to form between the unlikely husband and wife.

I don’t want to spoil what I found to be an engrossing journey of self-discovery, surprise, and true love.  Niven displays an excellent understanding of the era, and deals with the topic of neurodivergence with such realism and sensitivity that its a fine representation.  There is a saying that “when you meet one autistic (or person with autism), you have made one autistic (or person with autism).”  I think that is important to understand when reading or thinking about neurodivergence, especially one that is Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) coded, so that as a reader we don’t try to extrapolate that this representation stands for every neurodivergent person’s experience.  There was something nevertheless poignant and very three dimensional about Niven’s touch that makes this such a high rated read.  I also love Regency romances that surprise me, that take a new spin.

The new spin is also an exploration of the trauma that results in Thomas’ raking and self-perception of himself as devilish.  This was very well drawn and thoughtful and in a way that challenges the trope of the rake and the virgin. It was thought provoking, even as someone who has been skeptical of the alpha male rake as a continuing archaetype.

There is a fair amount of on the page intimacy, violence, and language that will not be enjoyed by readers who prefer kisses only, light content.  Honestly, I don’t know that some of the sexual assault subplots did exactly what the author intended, and I would have preferred the time on the page be spent on another thread that becomes central to the conclusion.  I do also want to mention that Harry’s physical condition and rehabilitation, while in part due to her neurotype, could be triggering to those with EDs or in recovery from an ED.  Several men also utilize sex workers a lot, which may be problematic for some readers.

I also want to say that I think Harry’s sexuality aligns best with demi-sexual/demi-romantic, although my reading is that Niven is really making that a function of her neurodivergence.  For instance, she is clear she has an aversion to mouth kissing, and explains it as a discomfort with the sensations which lean toward sensory issues.  I actually like that more authors are thinking about a spectrum of sexual/romantic orientation but I recognize this may not be comfortable to all readers.

There is a delightful HEA, and the characters became so dear to me that I was honestly sorry to say goodbye.   I  would recommend this to Regency Readers interested in engaging with some of these concepts, who like mature content, and are looking for a new take on tropes like the rake and the virgin.

I grappled a bit with the final rating, and think ultimately it rests somewhere between 4.5 and 5.  Not a perfect book, but pretty darn close, if only for adding something new to common themes, tropes, and archaetypes.

I will be looking for the next in the series for sure.