What's a little historical catfishing?

This book is lovely. I enjoyed the letters, and though the hero did some objectively creepy things, it worked for him ( )

Colonel Montcrief is a Colonel stationed in Canada against the French. One of his men, Harry Dunnan, is thoroughly unlikeable, but when letters from his wife go unanswered, Montcrief steps in to answer them. Harry dies, and Montcrief inherits the title of Duke of Lymond, so when he returns to Scotland, he visits the widow he's fallen in love with from her letters. He finds her in a terrible state and promptly marries her. She took too much laudanum, but the suspicion is that someone is trying to murder her. Catherine mourns Harry, not realizing that he was a scoundrel. Montcrief and Catherine spend the rest of the book solving these mysteries and learning to love each other (well, Montcrief is already in love).
It's a good story and a quick read. Montcrief is a sweetheart and Catherine finally gets out of her widow whining to realize his good qualities. There are some interesting secondary characters, and Ms. Ranney is a good writer. ( )

I was hooked on HR for a very long time - this is my top book
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When my friend Moss puts an HR book on her "clutched-to-my-bosom" shelf, attention must be paid. And so, I enthusiastically turned to this inspired-by-Cyrano book, even though I had not before heard of the author.

Catherine Dunnan pines away at her Scots estate for her husband of one month Harry, who is fighting the wars in North America (the French and Indian War as it's called in the U.S.). Harry is a bounder in every way, and he cruelly ignores the heartfelt letters she constantly sends. Harry's commander Moncrief takes up Harry's offhand suggestion that he should respond to them, and thus begins a correspondence between the lonely bride and the even lonelier colonel, posing as Harry.

Fortunately for everyone, Harry is killed. Moncrief unexpectedly inherits a dukedom from his elder brother, and upon his return to Scotland pays a visit to the widow. He finds her near death from laudanum and saves her life. When the obsequious vicar suggests that Moncrief has compromised the lady, Moncrief impulsively marries her on the spot and carries her away to his fabulous castle, Balidonough. Will Catherine, still overwhelmed with grief for Harry, ever accept Moncrief as her husband? What will happen when she discovers -- and we know she will -- that Moncrief wrote all of the beautiful letters that she clings to?

What I Liked
•Moncrief! Not a tortured hero, but certainly a sad one. As a third son, he never expected to inherit a dukedom, so he made the army his career. Although never close to his father or elder brother, he nevertheless regrets not having reconciled with them. He takes his new duties seriously and wants to improve the lives of his servants and tenants. He loves the Catherine he discovered in her letters, and he burns with desire for the Catherine he has married. (And, of course, like all the best HR heroes, he's tall, muscular, handsome, and blessed with a big beautiful wang. Prim, proper Catherine can't take her eyes off of him, and we begin to wish that this book came with full-color illustrations.)

•Catherine and Moncrief together. It takes a long time for the two of them to come together, but when they do -- wow! Have patience, because it's worth it. (And as Moss said, "I think if there's a nut to crack in HR, it's that you want to keep the squirrels apart and looking for it for as long as you can.")

•Surprise! About two-thirds into the book, we learn that there's a villain, and I was totally blindsided. Very well done, Ms. Ranney.

What I Didn't Like
•There's nothing not to like, with one possible exception. Balidonough sounds like a fantastic place, but there was way more description of the rooms, hallways, keeps and secret passages than we need.

•The shrewish Juliana and the retiring Hortensia practically disappear, which was really too bad, as they added a touch of variety to the story.

•The ending was a bit abrupt, and I would have enjoyed learning a bit more about the fates of the secondary characters.

What Bugged Me
The writing is excellent, but here's where I vent about those little things that good editors should catch:

•The author refers to Catherine's ever-present ache for Harry as a "succubus," which is a female demon believed to have sex with sleeping men. Huh? Perhaps she meant incubus?

•Moncrief is colonel of the Lowland Scots Fusiliers, yet Catherine recalls first seeing him in his Highlands Regimental uniform. Now I don't care about the difference, but those touchy Scots would run their claymores through anyone who confused the Highlands with the Lowlands.

Overall
A totally five-star read.





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Catherine marries Harry who's a complete ass; a gambler, womanizer, and fortune hunter. After one month of marriage he can't wait to get away from her and he buys a commission in the army. He writes beautiful letters home to Catherine and she falls in love with him through the letters. He dies. Here's the Big Secret (not a spoiler). Moncrief, Harry's commanding officer has been answering her letters not Harry. Harry could care less about his wife (or is that couldn't care less, I never know which is correct). She goes into a major depression, becomes addicted to laudanum, and takes an overdose.

Moncrief arrives in the nick of time. Saves her by dunking her is a bath of cold water, sees her naked which compromises her, and marries her while she is still in a drugged stupor. The whole plot is implausible as hell. She wakes up with him in her bed. No reaction, nada... OK, maybe if she is still under the effects of a powerful drug like laudanum I can maybe see this. But he carts her off almost immediately to his family home (a castle - he's a duke). She won't consummate the marriage. He agrees to wait a month but insists they still sleep together in the same bed (*rolls eyes*).

Amazingly, I thought it was very well written and the story never dragged. At first I thought Catherine was the real problem with this book but her story is fairly believable. Harry could have made himself very charming to fool unsuspecting women. Moncrief is the problem here. Why doesn't he reveal himself as the author of the letters soon after he marries her? After all, if you find someone who blandly accepts waking up in bed with a complete stranger, being forceably married, and hauled off to a strange home without a squeak of protest then why not reveal a little thing like writing a few letters in her husband's name? In the meantime more secrets are revealed when Catherine discovers what a bounder Harry is from people who knew him before he died. Murder plot inserted here. (Grade: C-) ( )