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A review by sonny
Marrying Christopher by Michele Paige Holmes
3.0
ooo, somehow I kind of already knew this one would be an all-out great read 4.5/5-stars or just maybe miss the mark completely and not give me what I needed. You see it became the latter, especially after such a nice duet of Grace & Helen's books.
And it had everything to do with Christopher's involvement, or what we come to see him do and hear him say in Bk2. I didn't appreciate him and his "non-helpful" pursuit of shoving Helen & Samuel into a faked relationship all to make Nicholas take back Grace when he sends her away.
It isn't clear until halfway through Bk2 that he has had this undefinable, hardcore deathbed commitment to "seeing his sisters happily married off", so he gets a type of--hmm, I want to say he thinks he knows better than his sisters which men they love and will make them happy, so finagles certain scenarios to make these relationships forced into happening instead of allowing them to flourish organically.
I truly judged him harshly for what he did to Helen, who seemed to have a severely traumatic past she never confessed to anyone about and Christopher blindly shoves her toward Samuel who was struggling with remorse of a dead wife, his own child's upbringing and his wavering emotions between Grace and Helen. I still had a little faith that Samuel would've seen Helene eventually, on his own merit, but making Helene "fake" a liaison with Samuel merely to "help out" Grace and Nicholas, so Nicholas could SEE Grace loved none but him was way-too far for me to comprehend.
Well, hmm, maybe I shouldn't say it was an undefinable deathbed wish said from his grandfather's lips to Christopher's ears that his main concern in his young 21-22yr old life was to seek out good and decent husbands for his two sisters and make sure they were loved and loved in return before he did anything toward pursuing his own future prospects...but my gawd was it drilled home to readers in every conversation Christopher was involved with, which turned out to be mainly Samuel. I mean, Samuel even confessed love of Helen to Christopher, forgetting to tell Helen to her face.
And well, you only have to see my aggravations in my review of Bk2 of Samuel's penchant for having the emotional conversations he needs to have with Helen with her very own brother instead. Christopher butted in way-too often in Grace and Helen's feelings and relationships, thinking HE knew better and wished they'd get their silly female minds out of lock and pursue the men they KNOW they loved.
Christopher went from thinking his shit didn't stink to often, uhm, maybe poking fun at how the men his sisters loved were curtailed and tamed, who when they got around their wives become these lovesick fools. And he made so many remarks how THAT would never be him or that he would never become THAT lovesick for a woman. So, yeah, these were serious "red flags" to me that in Christopher's book he was going to fall hard and fast, possibly be in love first and only for awhile. And, yeah, when it happened I was quite shocked and a little underwhelmed, if that's even possible.
Plus, Christopher spent much of his time in his dialogue by dueling his words, "I am trying to find my sisters' LOVE & HAPPINESS" vs. "I AM GOING TO BOARD A SHIP AND SAIL TO AMERICA! Nanny-nanny-boo-boo!". He never denied to Samuel or Nicholas his desperate need to leave England to pursue land prospects in America, but he almost allowed it to swallow up the time he had left with his own family, squandering it away by thinking aiding and abetting for his sisters' marriages was him handing out quality time. Because he never told his sisters he was, literally, jumping ship to sail to America, until it was mere days before his departure.
Like, oh, okay...can't wait to get YOUR LIFE started and ease into pursuits, but let's spend serious amounts of crunch time before you sail away to force feed two couples into love and marriage? It's a little hardhearted for a young man we were never truly able to know...and I don't truly feel we even got to know or understand him much more in his own book, sadly. We nearly forget in Grace's book, Christopher is mentioned as being only 21...and since Helen's book takes place in the same time period, not many years have passed before he sees both sisters into love and a wedding each before he leaves, so he can't have aged immensely. Maybe only a single year-ish to a few months, so possibly 22yrs old?? when he finally sails off?
In Bk1 [Grace's book], we never get a POV/perspective of what Christopher does except we are very aware he and Helen moved into Samuel's home, and then Christopher is off to London, speaking with a lawyer's office to investigate the "new heir" who will replace their dead-beat Father and he is also attempting to suss out what Grace & Helen's other intendeds are doing, if they will keep pursuing his sisters for marriage. This is all leaning on the fact they believe their cruel and evil father is still alive and folks are seeking some kind of retribution or debt-owed, since their father coldly put up his daughters on auction to skeevy aristocrats who seemed intent on wedded bliss with disagreeable young woman. Grace was a bit more headstrong and willful, but Helen came across as a little fragile and PTSD-oriented because of her past sexual assaults/abuse.
I think I would have appreciated it more if we had simply started with Christopher boarding the steam-ship for America, and then had him reflect upon the days leading up to his departure. It was cruel to start us off right when Christopher is gung-ho excited about leaving and doesn't seem to be disturbed or saddened that he is leaving his sisters--sisters he has been through Hell and back with, mind you. And there is no time given to Grace or Helen being able to react since they are stunned and dumbfounded by the fact their little brother is wishing to escape their clutches so easily.
I couldn't even get a vibe if Christopher was emotionally or mentally prepared for what kind of isolation he was forcing himself into. He isn't meeting distant family. He is not taking over property he already owns through family prospects. He doesn't even ask his BILs to give him money as they are both rich aristocracy. He is sailing blindly to nowhere with nothing but the money he earned or inherited. No prospects just goals and a stupid-ton of "Plans In The Making", no surefire business to helm. He is flying blindly into empty space, but he appears ready for anything.
And I understand we also need a brief extended time to meet Marsali Abbot, Christopher's love interest, but man...I felt for this heroine. It didn't take long for me to pity this poor soul right from the first moment we meet her, which is not a great outlook on what are HER future prospects.
Everyone she comes into contact with, even complete strangers, are downright evil and cruel to her--could she never catch a break in this story? Used and abused until the very end. She is escaping a suffering Aunt/Uncle scenario by taking passage set up by her older sister who lives in America, and it isn't even a decent intent. From one form of slavery into another. She is about to head to America to take up an indentured servant position inside a well-know slave owner's Virginian plantation, I think?
And even in the first few minutes of her joining the people on the dock who are passengers, too, on the steam-ship...she is treated like shit by the man who was supposed to drive her; he does take her into town but she is so far from the docks and the ship...it takes her hours to walk...and makes the Captain, Christopher and the other passengers wait until mere hours prior to their departure the next day for her to reach them. So, yeah, everyone looks upon her as a consummate "party-pooper" ruiner...jesus, and that is simply the tip of the iceberg.
Probably the only thing I enjoyed was the time they spent sailing towards America, while at sea, and how it felt like early days of a long-ass cruise ship. Of course, the Author does mention she fibbed the timeline of history, giving steam-ships a 10yr time jump forward...but I could allow that murkiness to run down my back as long as it gave good "forced proximity" and then allowed for forced interactions between every major and minor character. This is where Marsali and Christopher become a little more closer in feeling affections or falling in love but my gawd did it border on oh-so-boring for a majority of their sailing adventure.
We even get to know the Captain, who has let readers in on the fact he is slightly in competition with another ship-line, so there are some dastardly mysteries that plague this venture at sea. And then there is an English Mother and her young daughter--same age as Marsali. The daughter has pretty much been auctioned off as a "wife" to an American rich businessman [New York, I think] in his pursuit of a young wife. And this will come into play in the later parts of the book...
There is nothing deeply exciting or passionate about Marsali and Christopher except...when Marsali confesses what she is about to face in America... Christopher immediately steps into Hero-mode, just like he had done for his sisters. And it is so freakin' obvious that he is doing this because he truly does miss them, Grace & Helen. Christopher tried to stay back and never get involved, but, hmm...well before The English mother & daughter boarded the ship they bought a "cure-all" drinking potion that would help with sea-sickness...and well, at first it makes the mother deathly ill, close to death and then it hits the young daughter. It is soon discovered that before this Captain's ship left dock some "spies" were spotted, investigating his ship's departure, making some attempts to do certain tiny tragedies to muck the First Sail...and so this concoction the mother and daughter drank to help with sea sickness was actually laced with poison...arsenic to be exact...and it is learned of this from Marsali's own life experience. Her mother, apparently, had used arsenic directly to commit suicide and Marsali smelled that same smell on the two ladies in their shared cabin.
That was all fine and good, but man...did Marsali get the shit-end of this "stick", too. She becomes the nursemaid to not just the mother but then the daughter, who had become a very good friend...and then, mergh, The Mother, when she is all better from Marsali's nursing...she treats Marsali no better than a servant/low-grade shaming her for nothing and no reason.
Christopher is eventually so worried and concerned for Marsali that he asks the Captain if he knows or knows of this plantation owner that she is about to be made an indentured servant to...and wow, The Captain does know and this is when we all find out he is a slave owner and will often abuse and assault his slaves, beating them to death. She is supposed to be a Lady's Maid to the plantation owner's daughter, but in the last few years, the daughter has "lost" several Lady's maids to her father's cruelty/abuse, so, yeah... Christopher is close to livid and he becomes dogged that he wants to find another way to help Marsali because as he gets to know and like her...he cannot bear to watch her walk off the dock into the clutches of a cruel slave owner.
When Christopher and the Captain put their heads together, they come up with the simple plan of "marriage" and then Christopher can waylay his future plans, since they weren't set in stone. But he will BE with Marsali at the plantation and he can guard & protect her as he -as her husband- can get a job on the man's plantation, too. Christopher assumes he can start gathering money, the better his job and pay, the sooner they can leave the plantation and they don't have to stay married.
I assume at this point, Marsali and Christopher have battled mentally and emotionally, seeing as their marriage is no other means of escape--certainly since Marsali is basically on her way to certain death if she takes this Lady's maid job. They do get married, by the Captain...but it isn't long before the steam-ship attempts to sail through a bad storm...but doesn't make it. Recall that the Captain already warned us there were some dastardly nefarious men and spies trying to sabotage his first sail on this vessel...and they helped out a lot in causing serious harm to many passengers.
Oddly, this is what occurs...Christopher is lost at sea, possibly dead...and the English mother and daughter get split apart, but I think we are certain the daughter is dead, drowned at sea...but when the Mother and Marsali are saved...the Mother falsely claims Marsali is actually her dead daughter...so now...we have to null and void Christopher and Marsali's marriage to give over to Marsali now becoming the prospective wife of that New York business man...who isn't a bad, god-awful man, but he...god, once he knows Marsali isn't his intended, he still wants to pursue her--for 3months before wedding her??? and he expects to be so super-duper special that Marsali will fall for him instantly. She doesn't and never will...because she realizes she still loves Christopher and believes he is alive.
Now, it is true, Christopher is alive, but he is not well. He may have gotten the brunt of one of those nefarious crew spies onboard as he was beaten over the head and had concussed for...many, many months. He now knows he loves and wants to be with Marsali...and he begs that she be alive and well.
Except in each of Marsali & Christopher's pursuits of attempting to find each other...the people they most trust in their lives lie, keeping them apart.
We even get to meet Marsali's older sister-now widowed and has a young son. She even becomes the one who forces Marsali to keep this false identity and marry the New York business man. Christopher is sent back and forth through New York to Virginia, looking for proof of Marsali's death. He even takes a job on the slave-owned plantation...so, ugh, we have a bit of an Overseer moment, because that is the job Christopher is given...where he has to whip a young black girl...but he can't and won't. Instead, he whips the plantation owner, possibly killing him.
Oh, man, the last few parts of this story were just bonkers crazy-pants. I simply wanted folks to STOP THE LIES. Let Marsali & Christopher find one another...ugh...
Eventually they do find one another, and then this weird..."exchange" happens where the New York business man simply switches sisters, in order to release Marsali to be with Christopher??? I mean, talk about a guy not truly caring who is next to him at his own wedding. He never cared for the English daughter-never genuinely cared if it was Marsali or not and then Marsali's own sister just...coldly offers to take her place, as if SHE didn't care either.
And this is the book right after this one, so, yay...looking forward to that lovely tale unfolding. Not! Maybe it is a blessing it is a short one.
And it had everything to do with Christopher's involvement, or what we come to see him do and hear him say in Bk2. I didn't appreciate him and his "non-helpful" pursuit of shoving Helen & Samuel into a faked relationship all to make Nicholas take back Grace when he sends her away.
It isn't clear until halfway through Bk2 that he has had this undefinable, hardcore deathbed commitment to "seeing his sisters happily married off", so he gets a type of--hmm, I want to say he thinks he knows better than his sisters which men they love and will make them happy, so finagles certain scenarios to make these relationships forced into happening instead of allowing them to flourish organically.
I truly judged him harshly for what he did to Helen, who seemed to have a severely traumatic past she never confessed to anyone about and Christopher blindly shoves her toward Samuel who was struggling with remorse of a dead wife, his own child's upbringing and his wavering emotions between Grace and Helen. I still had a little faith that Samuel would've seen Helene eventually, on his own merit, but making Helene "fake" a liaison with Samuel merely to "help out" Grace and Nicholas, so Nicholas could SEE Grace loved none but him was way-too far for me to comprehend.
Well, hmm, maybe I shouldn't say it was an undefinable deathbed wish said from his grandfather's lips to Christopher's ears that his main concern in his young 21-22yr old life was to seek out good and decent husbands for his two sisters and make sure they were loved and loved in return before he did anything toward pursuing his own future prospects...but my gawd was it drilled home to readers in every conversation Christopher was involved with, which turned out to be mainly Samuel. I mean, Samuel even confessed love of Helen to Christopher, forgetting to tell Helen to her face.
And well, you only have to see my aggravations in my review of Bk2 of Samuel's penchant for having the emotional conversations he needs to have with Helen with her very own brother instead. Christopher butted in way-too often in Grace and Helen's feelings and relationships, thinking HE knew better and wished they'd get their silly female minds out of lock and pursue the men they KNOW they loved.
Christopher went from thinking his shit didn't stink to often, uhm, maybe poking fun at how the men his sisters loved were curtailed and tamed, who when they got around their wives become these lovesick fools. And he made so many remarks how THAT would never be him or that he would never become THAT lovesick for a woman. So, yeah, these were serious "red flags" to me that in Christopher's book he was going to fall hard and fast, possibly be in love first and only for awhile. And, yeah, when it happened I was quite shocked and a little underwhelmed, if that's even possible.
Plus, Christopher spent much of his time in his dialogue by dueling his words, "I am trying to find my sisters' LOVE & HAPPINESS" vs. "I AM GOING TO BOARD A SHIP AND SAIL TO AMERICA! Nanny-nanny-boo-boo!". He never denied to Samuel or Nicholas his desperate need to leave England to pursue land prospects in America, but he almost allowed it to swallow up the time he had left with his own family, squandering it away by thinking aiding and abetting for his sisters' marriages was him handing out quality time. Because he never told his sisters he was, literally, jumping ship to sail to America, until it was mere days before his departure.
Like, oh, okay...can't wait to get YOUR LIFE started and ease into pursuits, but let's spend serious amounts of crunch time before you sail away to force feed two couples into love and marriage? It's a little hardhearted for a young man we were never truly able to know...and I don't truly feel we even got to know or understand him much more in his own book, sadly. We nearly forget in Grace's book, Christopher is mentioned as being only 21...and since Helen's book takes place in the same time period, not many years have passed before he sees both sisters into love and a wedding each before he leaves, so he can't have aged immensely. Maybe only a single year-ish to a few months, so possibly 22yrs old?? when he finally sails off?
In Bk1 [Grace's book], we never get a POV/perspective of what Christopher does except we are very aware he and Helen moved into Samuel's home, and then Christopher is off to London, speaking with a lawyer's office to investigate the "new heir" who will replace their dead-beat Father and he is also attempting to suss out what Grace & Helen's other intendeds are doing, if they will keep pursuing his sisters for marriage. This is all leaning on the fact they believe their cruel and evil father is still alive and folks are seeking some kind of retribution or debt-owed, since their father coldly put up his daughters on auction to skeevy aristocrats who seemed intent on wedded bliss with disagreeable young woman. Grace was a bit more headstrong and willful, but Helen came across as a little fragile and PTSD-oriented because of her past sexual assaults/abuse.
I think I would have appreciated it more if we had simply started with Christopher boarding the steam-ship for America, and then had him reflect upon the days leading up to his departure. It was cruel to start us off right when Christopher is gung-ho excited about leaving and doesn't seem to be disturbed or saddened that he is leaving his sisters--sisters he has been through Hell and back with, mind you. And there is no time given to Grace or Helen being able to react since they are stunned and dumbfounded by the fact their little brother is wishing to escape their clutches so easily.
I couldn't even get a vibe if Christopher was emotionally or mentally prepared for what kind of isolation he was forcing himself into. He isn't meeting distant family. He is not taking over property he already owns through family prospects. He doesn't even ask his BILs to give him money as they are both rich aristocracy. He is sailing blindly to nowhere with nothing but the money he earned or inherited. No prospects just goals and a stupid-ton of "Plans In The Making", no surefire business to helm. He is flying blindly into empty space, but he appears ready for anything.
And I understand we also need a brief extended time to meet Marsali Abbot, Christopher's love interest, but man...I felt for this heroine. It didn't take long for me to pity this poor soul right from the first moment we meet her, which is not a great outlook on what are HER future prospects.
Everyone she comes into contact with, even complete strangers, are downright evil and cruel to her--could she never catch a break in this story? Used and abused until the very end. She is escaping a suffering Aunt/Uncle scenario by taking passage set up by her older sister who lives in America, and it isn't even a decent intent. From one form of slavery into another. She is about to head to America to take up an indentured servant position inside a well-know slave owner's Virginian plantation, I think?
And even in the first few minutes of her joining the people on the dock who are passengers, too, on the steam-ship...she is treated like shit by the man who was supposed to drive her; he does take her into town but she is so far from the docks and the ship...it takes her hours to walk...and makes the Captain, Christopher and the other passengers wait until mere hours prior to their departure the next day for her to reach them. So, yeah, everyone looks upon her as a consummate "party-pooper" ruiner...jesus, and that is simply the tip of the iceberg.
Probably the only thing I enjoyed was the time they spent sailing towards America, while at sea, and how it felt like early days of a long-ass cruise ship. Of course, the Author does mention she fibbed the timeline of history, giving steam-ships a 10yr time jump forward...but I could allow that murkiness to run down my back as long as it gave good "forced proximity" and then allowed for forced interactions between every major and minor character. This is where Marsali and Christopher become a little more closer in feeling affections or falling in love but my gawd did it border on oh-so-boring for a majority of their sailing adventure.
We even get to know the Captain, who has let readers in on the fact he is slightly in competition with another ship-line, so there are some dastardly mysteries that plague this venture at sea. And then there is an English Mother and her young daughter--same age as Marsali. The daughter has pretty much been auctioned off as a "wife" to an American rich businessman [New York, I think] in his pursuit of a young wife. And this will come into play in the later parts of the book...
There is nothing deeply exciting or passionate about Marsali and Christopher except...when Marsali confesses what she is about to face in America... Christopher immediately steps into Hero-mode, just like he had done for his sisters. And it is so freakin' obvious that he is doing this because he truly does miss them, Grace & Helen. Christopher tried to stay back and never get involved, but, hmm...well before The English mother & daughter boarded the ship they bought a "cure-all" drinking potion that would help with sea-sickness...and well, at first it makes the mother deathly ill, close to death and then it hits the young daughter. It is soon discovered that before this Captain's ship left dock some "spies" were spotted, investigating his ship's departure, making some attempts to do certain tiny tragedies to muck the First Sail...and so this concoction the mother and daughter drank to help with sea sickness was actually laced with poison...arsenic to be exact...and it is learned of this from Marsali's own life experience. Her mother, apparently, had used arsenic directly to commit suicide and Marsali smelled that same smell on the two ladies in their shared cabin.
That was all fine and good, but man...did Marsali get the shit-end of this "stick", too. She becomes the nursemaid to not just the mother but then the daughter, who had become a very good friend...and then, mergh, The Mother, when she is all better from Marsali's nursing...she treats Marsali no better than a servant/low-grade shaming her for nothing and no reason.
Christopher is eventually so worried and concerned for Marsali that he asks the Captain if he knows or knows of this plantation owner that she is about to be made an indentured servant to...and wow, The Captain does know and this is when we all find out he is a slave owner and will often abuse and assault his slaves, beating them to death. She is supposed to be a Lady's Maid to the plantation owner's daughter, but in the last few years, the daughter has "lost" several Lady's maids to her father's cruelty/abuse, so, yeah... Christopher is close to livid and he becomes dogged that he wants to find another way to help Marsali because as he gets to know and like her...he cannot bear to watch her walk off the dock into the clutches of a cruel slave owner.
When Christopher and the Captain put their heads together, they come up with the simple plan of "marriage" and then Christopher can waylay his future plans, since they weren't set in stone. But he will BE with Marsali at the plantation and he can guard & protect her as he -as her husband- can get a job on the man's plantation, too. Christopher assumes he can start gathering money, the better his job and pay, the sooner they can leave the plantation and they don't have to stay married.
I assume at this point, Marsali and Christopher have battled mentally and emotionally, seeing as their marriage is no other means of escape--certainly since Marsali is basically on her way to certain death if she takes this Lady's maid job. They do get married, by the Captain...but it isn't long before the steam-ship attempts to sail through a bad storm...but doesn't make it. Recall that the Captain already warned us there were some dastardly nefarious men and spies trying to sabotage his first sail on this vessel...and they helped out a lot in causing serious harm to many passengers.
Oddly, this is what occurs...Christopher is lost at sea, possibly dead...and the English mother and daughter get split apart, but I think we are certain the daughter is dead, drowned at sea...but when the Mother and Marsali are saved...the Mother falsely claims Marsali is actually her dead daughter...so now...we have to null and void Christopher and Marsali's marriage to give over to Marsali now becoming the prospective wife of that New York business man...who isn't a bad, god-awful man, but he...god, once he knows Marsali isn't his intended, he still wants to pursue her--for 3months before wedding her??? and he expects to be so super-duper special that Marsali will fall for him instantly. She doesn't and never will...because she realizes she still loves Christopher and believes he is alive.
Now, it is true, Christopher is alive, but he is not well. He may have gotten the brunt of one of those nefarious crew spies onboard as he was beaten over the head and had concussed for...many, many months. He now knows he loves and wants to be with Marsali...and he begs that she be alive and well.
Except in each of Marsali & Christopher's pursuits of attempting to find each other...the people they most trust in their lives lie, keeping them apart.
We even get to meet Marsali's older sister-now widowed and has a young son. She even becomes the one who forces Marsali to keep this false identity and marry the New York business man. Christopher is sent back and forth through New York to Virginia, looking for proof of Marsali's death. He even takes a job on the slave-owned plantation...so, ugh, we have a bit of an Overseer moment, because that is the job Christopher is given...where he has to whip a young black girl...but he can't and won't. Instead, he whips the plantation owner, possibly killing him.
Oh, man, the last few parts of this story were just bonkers crazy-pants. I simply wanted folks to STOP THE LIES. Let Marsali & Christopher find one another...ugh...
Eventually they do find one another, and then this weird..."exchange" happens where the New York business man simply switches sisters, in order to release Marsali to be with Christopher??? I mean, talk about a guy not truly caring who is next to him at his own wedding. He never cared for the English daughter-never genuinely cared if it was Marsali or not and then Marsali's own sister just...coldly offers to take her place, as if SHE didn't care either.
And this is the book right after this one, so, yay...looking forward to that lovely tale unfolding. Not! Maybe it is a blessing it is a short one.