Surrender
Grade : B

Surrender is the tale of Victoria Huntington, a 24-year-old spinster determined to fend off fortune hunters. Lucas Colebrook, Earl of Stonevale, is one such fortune hunter, and he wastes no time in doing everything he can to ensure that Victoria and her fortune become his so that the crumbling estate of Stonevale in Yorkshire can be restored. What neither counted on was that they would fall in love and that both would be forced to overcome certain assumptions about married life before settling down to everlasting happiness.

Lucas tempts Victoria with promises of nightly adventures to provide the excitement she craves. She has been having nightmares and to escape them goes out at night to find some excitement in her life. Lucas is sure that he can temper Victoria's wild streak by providing her with tame nightly amusements and therefore win her hand, but as he quickly learns, she is not so easily placated and leads him on a merry chase via brothels and gaming hells, rescuing innocent virgins and drunken lords. When they are discovered together at an inn in a compromising position, a hasty marriage is arranged and Victoria suddenly finds herself in a position she spent her life trying to avoid: married to a man she thinks wants only her fortune.

Victoria is furious that her efforts to avoid a fortune hunter have come to nothing. Once ensconced at Stonevale, Lucas finds it difficult not to be a high-handed 19th century husband in his efforts to tame his high-spirited bride. But Victoria must overcome her suspicions that Lucas only wanted her for her fortune and doesn't trust her to manage her own funds, all the while fighting her strong feelings for him.

Lucas is a delightful hero and surprisingly insightful. He sees through Victoria's rebellions as just an effort to prove to herself that she is not at his mercy. And I particularly enjoyed that he held out his "virtue" as a prize to tempt Victoria.

The subplot relates to Victoria's nightmares; her mother was killed by an alcoholic fortune hunter and Victoria's efforts to force his confession result in his death. When his trinkets begin to show up she believes he has come back from the dead to avenge himself. Little does she know that both her and Lucas' past are going to revisit them.

One of several books by Amanda Quick, Surrender is not necessarily novel in terms of storyline, nor is it an action-packed read; in fact, many scenes are clichéd. But what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in one of the most accurate and sensitively rendered depictions of 19th century social values that I have come across in recent times. The restrictions in women's behavior, the dramatization of a woman's lot in life and the idea of duty and domestic harmony before all else are all featured, and even the dialogue reads accurately.

Although older than many historical romance heroines, and slightly anti-men at that, Victoria is a likable heroine with a charming mix of worldly wisdom and naivete. Quick's descriptions and characterizations work well, and the scene in which Victoria's aunt reveals Lucas' enamored state to her rather than allowing an overblown Big Misunderstanding to develop delighted me. And although they do eventually get married, like most real newlyweds, they are insecure of each other's feelings and many cold silences and heated arguments ensue.

Quick's tongue-in-cheek look at 19th century attitudes towards women is something I also enjoyed. A wealthy widow named Isabella Rycott (you know the one, lurking in the shadows ready to whack the heroine with a candlestick, with a "feverish look" in her eyes) is the only example we are shown of a woman who is completely free of male influence. Yet she is clearly cast as a baddie and her morals are called to question. In true Gothic style, she quickly comes to a bad end. The author deftly dramatizes the period's social mores, which put wives on an impossibly high pedestal, frail, pure creatures whose husbands, fathers and all male relatives condescended to and patronized them as indeed does Lucas on several occasions during the story. (E.g., "After all, I am your husband, and God knows that role is not going to be an easy one.")

No chronological setting is provided in the book, which read to me as a Victorian setting. But published reviews refer to the setting as Regency, and I don't believe any of Quick's other historicals are set as late as the Victorian era. Those who are bothered by a lack of specific setting should bear that in mind.

Though in keeping with the times, reading the book eventually requires a bit of an iron-clad stomach to bear the many scenes in which Lucas attempts to control his wife for her own good. Yet Victoria certainly doesn't allow Lucas his own way all the time and one of the lectures she delivers him on female superiority in the latter half of the book is superb. Read Surrender for being intelligently and thoughtfully written rather than holding any thrilling plot surprises.

Buy it at Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes and Noble/Kobo

Reviewed by Dee Sains
Grade : B

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : February 3, 2004

Publication Date: 1990

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