Roses for Harriet

The Corinthians Series #5

by Patricia Oliver

An Immodest Proposal

Lady Harriet Egerton had reason to be shocked when the devastatingly handsome Earl of Kimbalton, Giles Montague asked her to wed. He frankly admitted that love played no part in his proposal. All he wanted of her was the good sense to leave him free to pursue pleasure beyond the marriage bed.

On the other hand, Harriet had good reason to say yes. The wealthy lord promised her the means to cultivate her passion for peace, quiet and horticultural perfection. Even better, he assured her that she need not fear his amorous attentions. But could Harriet trust the pledge of a man who thought nothing of breaking a marriage vow? And even worse, once she was on the garden path of temptation, could she trust herself?

Genres: Regency, Traditional Regency, Historical Romance, Historical

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

Patricia Oliver is a pen name of Patricia De La Fuente. Between 1993 and 2002 she wrote for the Signet Regency Romance imprint and for Jove under her other pseudonym Olivia Fontayne.

Reviews

[boogenhagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is interesting, a very Traditional Regency complete with prerequisite MOC, the h knows going into it that her new hubby has a mistress and plans to dump her in the country. Since she is a manic rosarian and has been promised unlimited rose garden space, the h is quite prepared to accept the situation.

Until she finds out her hubby's mistress is ill and his worries prevent him from consummating the marriage. She sends him back to his mistress so he can reassure himself that the most beautiful mistress of that season and the two before is getting better and he can continue to be envied for his astonishingly good taste in exquisite beauty.

Things get even more strange when the h goes to London herself and winds up meeting an old, dear school friend who was married to a soldier and left the country several years ago. Turns out the old dear friend is a widow now and is also, you guessed it, the H's mistress.

She is ill with a lung inflammation too, so the h invites the poor, sick woman to stay with her at the H's country Estate until she is fully recovered, -- that brisk country air will see the dear friend straight in no time and the h and her old dear friend can have a comfortable coze or twenty.

Eventually the lady recovers, the h swears BFF's forever and the lady departs - having given the H his conge- for her sister's in Bath.

The H returns to his country home, his time around the h has reordered his thinking and made him more concerned about managing his estates and he has fallen in love with the h for the big HEA.

NOT your typical Regency fare by any means. Yet it does work as long you don't lift the brocade bed tapestries to peer underneath. I did manage to suspend disbelief and buy into the HEA long enough to read the book multiple times and not really think about the implications until at least ten minutes after closing it.

It is those implications that kinda disturb me tho. The first is that the h's brother introduces the H and h, he knows the H is going to make an offer of marriage, he even suggests his sister as the best prospect and the h isn't really forced into accepting. The h has another suitor and she has a family home, she has a dowry and presumably those funds could be used for her own support if she failed to marry. She was 25 after all and life had been going rosily for some time.

That isn't the problem in my POV, what actually IS the problem is that this same brother introduced the h's childhood BFF to the H as a potential mistress when she was a new widow and in rather desperate straights financially and stuck on the European Continent.

He KNEW the woman was the h's best friend, and he KNEW she was of the gentry and yet he KNOWINGLY puts her into a position to be taken advantage of. He KNEW his sister would have happily added her to her home, she has an elderly aunt who had her own home and would have helped as well. But he doesn't, he sets the BFF up to be a mistress instead, cause that beauty is too pretty to waste, and then he appears shocked to meet the mistress and the h together at the H's main seat. WHO DOES THAT?

That was utterly disgusting behavior in my book and yet the h thinks her Viscount brother is wonderful and she KNOWS he introduced them. I feel a bit sick now that I think of it. The h has the right of it when she berates the H for taking advantage of the BFF because she was beautiful and an object he wanted to possess, purely for his own edification. However, the h should have applied that to her ass of a brother as well, cause his behavior wasn't any better in any way shape or form.

In fact the only decent man in this book is literally a bastard, he is the illegitimate brother of the H. And he gallantly defends the h from the temper tantrums the little ranty nematode parasite of an H habitually spews at the h. The illegitimate brother does get his own estate at he end, via the H's conscience finally kicking in, and to be fair the H only sleeps with one woman at a time and after he sleeps with the h, the mistress is ill so he doesn't sleep with her again and then she removes herself from the equation by going to Bath.

The H did have enough change in character that I could see him trying to make the marriage work, we do get his POV and his thoughts gradually come around to stop being the self-absorbed asshat slime swiller that he is for most of the book. And no, he did not love the mistress -she really was an object to him and the h makes him see her as a person - tho I do hope he sent a large bank draft in compensation - that poor woman more than earned it.

Like I said, read this lightly, as an amusing little category Regency that is good for a fling. Have a shot or two of Captain Morgan's to help yourself along and it won't be a bad book.

Just don't start thinking about it like I did and then have to down the whole bottle in lieu of brain bleach when you realize just how horrible these Regency Gents really are and why it would be advisable for the h to bear the heir rather quickly and then dispatch the H and the h's brother with a providential flying meteor or two to the head, ensuring a quick demise. The h could then hook up with the hunky and kind illegitimate brother, raise the next Earl to be a decent person and grow lots and lots of roses to her heart's content.

[Carol Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with a lot of the negative comments here. There is too much Regency slang, the hero is a jerk, the heroine is a real wimp most of the time.

On the other hand, there is a really steamy dream sequence on page 155. It's where Kimbalton is too ashamed to get it up, then falls asleep and imagines his wife and mistress dancing around him naked! If the entire book had been like that, it would have been a classic.

Instead it's about 100 pages of Harriet steaming and Kimbalton smirking.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am going against the grain here when I give this suppose-to-be-a-romance one star. The beginning of this book started out strong. At twenty five years old, Lady Harriet Egerton is on the shelf and that is fine with her. So when her brother comes for a visit with his friend Giles, the Earl of Kimbalton, she is not prepared for an invitation of marriage.

Giles has a mistress and he is happy with his life but his mother is not. He decides on a marriage of convenience and Harriet finally agrees. "He frankly admitted that love played no part in his proposal." She is aware of the circumstances with his request and goes into this relationship with eyes wide open. "The wealthy lord promised her the means to cultivate her passion for peace, quiet and horticultural perfection. Even better, he assured her that she need not fear his amorous intentions."

I love a good regency romance and it is my fault for not paying attention to the contents on the back cover. I usually avoid romances where there is a mistress. That said, why did I rate it one star? Simply put I thought the earl was a jerk. I will grant you that during this era it was not unusual for a man to have a mistress along with a wife. Except this man is rude, obnoxious, mean-spirited and wants his wife to be nothing more than a doormat. Oh, and he decides he wants a wife after all, but he still wants to keep the mistress.

I soon lost respect for Harriet. I couldn't relate to any chemistry between the two and I felt the ending was unbelievable. Giles finally fell in love? I don't think so. Monogamy for the next fifty years? OK, in what universe?

[Hopefulpuffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy cow. This book was freakin' awesome. It did NOT go where I thought it would and for the life of me I wasn't sure how Harriet was going to get her happy ending. It's not every day a Regency romance plot can surprise me but this one did.

At first I thought it was going to go the way of Ravishing the Heiress. It didn't. Then I thought Giles would never get back to his mistress at all. Not so. Giles isn't a rake or a rogue. He's just an Earl with a mistress who also needs a wife. He has every intention of keeping his wife in the country and his mistress in London. As you do. Circumstances thwart his plans and then things get... interesting.

Some have bemoaned the Regency slang. It wasn't a problem for me. Certainly NOTHING like Sheila Simonson which I took some getting used to.

Harriet was pretty awesome and Giles turned out to be not a bad guy but a guy who had his ordered world just completely and utterly turned on its head.

[Ilze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly interesting premise but poorly written - too much Regency slang, really weird changes of POV, inconsistent characterization of the main characters, poor characterization of the secondary characters. After reading a book like this I'm not surprised that "Traditional Regency" lost much of its readership to historical romance.

[EuroHackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The April 2021 #TBRChallenge theme is “old school.” This is right in my wheelhouse as a vintage romance reader, and I plucked this book from my collection because I was intrigued by the idea of a gardening heroine.

Giles Montague has a problem. His older brother has died, leaving him (the spare) to inherit the family title. As the new Earl of Kimbalton, it’s on him to do his duty and find a wife so he can sire his own heir and spare to continue to familial line. His mother would be only too happy to “assist” in this process, especially now that he’s returned home from his diplomatic post in Paris. Knowing that Lady Kimbalton’s idea of a future countess is some simpering miss straight out of the schoolroom, Giles is determined to cut his mother off at the pass. If he can somehow find himself married before he returns to London, that will put an end to his matchmaking mama’s ambitions. He knows what he wants, too: a not-too-young, not-too-stupid, not-too-pretty woman who is content to live at his country seat in Hampshire and leave him be to continue his bachelor existence (that is, to continue seeing his current mistress of four years that he’s housed in London for this express purpose). He doesn’t want to have to see her or deal with her in close proximity, beyond the machinations to produce an heir.

His BFF, Peter Egerton, Viscount Bridgeport, has the perfect candidate: his twenty-six-year-old spinster sister, Harriet. She had one disappointing Season in London at 18 but has otherwise remained in the country, having lately inherited her own small property, Lark Manor, from a grandmother. She spends her days quite happily tending her roses and serving as a companion to her elderly aunt. Who better to keep tucked away on a country estate that such a creature?

What makes a marriage of convenience story work is when both characters walk into it knowing the truth of their situation, and when they each consider themselves to be getting something out of the bargain, besides the protection of marriage/title/wealth. It’s obvious how this arrangement would suit Giles, but what of Harriet? She is not exactly jumping for joy at the idea of getting married, even if it is to her older brother’s BFF, and she continually asks Giles what’s in it for her? After all, she’s an independent woman with her own property, income, and suitors. Why should she give all that up to become his countess?

Unfortunately, Harriet capitulates when Giles tells her he needs her. Really? A woman with all of those advantages is willing to chuck it all because some man she barely knows tells her he ‘needs’ her? I hate that. I’m not a reader who enjoys a heroine (or hero, for that matter) who likes taking in strays and ‘fixing’ them. Come into a partnership as equals, as much as is possible, or else have gross power dynamics from the very start 🙁

So Harriet (and her aunt) move into Kimbalton Abbey, and Giles toddles off to London to resume his previous life. Harriet sets about transforming the cold, unwelcoming building, starting with planting tons of her rose bushes in the 400-year-old property. They are effectively leading separate lives, and all is well and good. Matters first come to a head at Christmas. Harriet has no idea if Giles is returning to his estate or not, so she decides to return to Lark Manor for a Christmas with her family and friends. Giles is None Too Pleased when he does indeed return to the Abbey to find his wife is gone, and has to traipse around to her property to find her. He’s terribly jealous of one of her former suitors, intimidated by his masculine beauty, and basically acts like an ass at her big Christmas ball. She lashes out at him and makes a scene, then quails at the idea that he’ll beat her for it. At this point I’m just sort of rolling my eyes, because it seems the author can’t decide if Harriet is going to be an outspoken independent woman or the wife of a stuffed-shirt earl. I understand Harriet’s wishy-washiness about being a good wife and countess, but I don’t understand her sudden desire for this stranger who insults her regularly and spends most of his time ignoring her. She takes his harsh words to heart, and experiences the whole ‘body betraying her’ business 🙄 🙄 🙄 that old school romances are so fond of having their virginal heroines experience. (They are virgins, therefore they are completely ignorant, and of course only desire men who reject them.)

There is some odd stuff here about Giles experiencing impotence when Harriet accuses him of treating her like a whore, thanks to some truly cringeworthy attempts at seduction on Christmas Eve, which carries on through the story, even after he rushes back to London to be at the side of his sick mistress (of whom Harriet is of course ragingly jealous, because this worldly and experienced woman satisfies her husband sexually, which she herself has no idea how to do). Its just as magically cured later on, with no apparent consequences.

Matters are further complicated when Giles’s bastard brother Richard shows up at the Abbey after being invalided out of the army. He hates Richard for being his father’s by-blow AND because Richard hero-worshipped him as a child (after all, cuckoos aren’t supposed to be introduced into the familial nest and treated as equals to the legitimate sons). He becomes ragingly jealous over the idea of Richard being at his ancestral home with Harriet, too, thinking the worst of all of them because once he receives word, he rushes back to the Abbey to confront them about possibly having an affair.

The book takes a strangely light-hearted turn here, as Richard turns out to be good-natured (albeit bitter about the way Giles treats him), and happily squires Harriet about in Giles’s absence. Harriet and her aunt go to London to tend to a sick relative, and runs into an old friend at a bookshop – the woman who just happens to be Giles’s mistress! Harriet is determined to take up their old friendship as if nothing has changed in the ensuing years, and as if they aren’t basically sharing a man. Her jealousy over Giles’s mysterious lady love somehow softens when she learns that it’s a dear old schoolmate, and she even brings her back to the Abbey to nurse her to better health…and then wonders why Giles doesn’t return with them. 🙄

Perhaps the most disturbing undercurrent of all of this is the position of Peter, Harriet’s brother and Giles’s BFF. He not only introduced the two of them, but also introduced Giles to his mistress, who was Harriet’s school chum. If Peter and Harriet as are close as we’re meant to believe, how did Peter not know who Harriet’s friends where?? How could he in good conscience offer up his sister to marry a man who’s bedding her BFF on the regular?? And its all just swept away as if it’s nothing, part of the same light-hearted romp where a wife and a mistress can be BFFs without issues just because they were BFFs as children. It definitely struck a strange note.

Giles makes all of these concessions in life, stumbling out of his lifelong straitjacket of tradition, but continues to take out his frustration on Harriet, who basically just whimpers and runs to her aunt for comfort. These two never really communicate or seem to develop anything other than jealous, lustful possessiveness of each other. It was tiresome to read about. I pretty much had to read this book in one sitting, because I knew if I put it down, I’d never pick it back up again.

Harriet’s titular roses are basically a D-story to all the melodrama, and she spends very little of her time cultivating them, when its supposed to be her major hobby and source of happiness. I don’t understand how or why she falls in love with Giles, or vice versa. I found her rejected suitor to be a far more interesting character. He’s disparaged as “a mere boy” and held in contempt for actually showing his warm regard towards her. Personally, I find it incredibly juvenile when people snipe and fight constantly, and this behavior is then held up as the ultimate expression of love. Give me a break!

This story had promise, but the execution was uneven at best, and a total disappointment at worst. I don’t think I’ll read more of this author’s work.

Find more vintage romance reviews at The Vintage Romance Reader

[Tricia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this although the hero needed more of a commupence. For the time period however he behaved appropriately in regards to his mistress who turns out to be an old school friend of the h's, fallen on hard times. In Lord Gresham's Lady the grovelling is more believable.

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

All these Corinthians are arrogant, hidebound, powerful arseholes, it's what they were bred to be, but the love of the right woman soon sorts them out, at least in these tales.

Giles Montague, Earl of Kimbalton, is the usual egoist, self-interested with little regard for others, & Harriet Egerton is a delightful, naive woman of her time who agrees to a marriage of convenience with him. I really like this practical, determined heroine, & her Aunt Sophronia; even Ophelia Brooks is sympathetically drawn. Women had so little power in these times so it's nice to see them supporting each other.

I love the Regency language & hate when authors "modernise" so us poor ignorant readers can "understand".

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Regency

[Seema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious

[Bat713 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third read of this. Good for this rainy day.