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A review by katyanaish
Secret Desires of a Gentleman by Laura Lee Guhrke
2.0
This one was really disappointing.
I mean, come on. The hero was a complete dickbag. Let's run down the series of events.
Phillip has never had respect for Maria. From his appalled reaction at their first meeting (she was freaking SEVEN YEARS OLD and he was vaguely appalled that a servant child was daring to speak to him... and the fact that he had that level of arrogance as a 9 year old speaks volumes), to the way he casually discarded their friendship without a word when she was 15, he made it clear that he had less than zero consideration for her.
That brings us to the key problem: I do not believe Phillip has ever cared for any human being but himself. I don't know that I've ever seen a more self-centered character. And not only does that never change, he's never even called on it. From just deciding to be cruel to Maria in their childhood, snubbing someone who was supposedly a friend... to breaking up her relationship with his own brother because he was jealous? Stealing a hair ribbon - the ONLY token this poor girl has from her dead mother - and not even caring that she cried about its loss for days. This bit was from his own POV, mind you. He says that he never once even thought about returning it, even when she cried.
What the fuck is wrong with him? I don't believe he loves her. He's like a damn sociopath.
This amazing bit of dickery is followed up by ... her father dying. The only person she has left in the world. He can't be bothered to comfort someone who was once a friend (and someone we're supposed to believe he secretly loves) through this horrible experience that is not only emotional for her, but also terrifying, because now not only does she have no family, she has no money, and no idea what to do. And he gets jealous that she and his brother get close because her brother is actually a decent human being and tries to care for his sobbing friend. So, despite the fact that nearly everything that means anything to her in the world has died, he decides to take the last little bit of anything she has, and cast her out into the world to do... whatever. He doesn't care what, as long as she doesn't do it near him or his brother.
He is the Marquess of Assholery.
Then, when he trips over her as she's finally accomplishing her dream and opening her shop, he casually evicts her from the building, while casting aspersions on her character. That was so fucking out of line I don't even know where to begin. Being a woman in that era was hard enough. Assaulting her character? That could DESTROY her. (The irony here is that later he claims that they must marry to protect her reputation. Since when does this fuckbag care about her reputation?)
The shit cherry on top of this diaper sundae is his first proposal. I am hard-pressed to even begin to imagine a more condescending speech. It was so horrible I actually gasped aloud reading it.
**Here's a key thing. Up until this point, I was pretty into the story. I thought Maria was a great character: strong, intelligent, independent, marvelous. What she said while throwing his proposal back in his face was fabulous. I will admit that I couldn't imagine what Guhrke was going to do for Phillip's come-to-Jesus moment, to redeem him, but I really love her as an author, so I was excited to see.**
Then she went to have tea with her friends, and it all fell apart. This was about the 80% mark.
When she told the story to her friends, rather than be appalled at the shitty stuff Phillip said (I'll be frank - if someone "proposed" to my friend like that, I'd be headed to his place to make him pick his teeth up off the floor), they decide that it is terribly romantic, and wonder if Maria doesn't actually love him. They simply can't imagine why Maria would decline to marry this rich aristocrat who treats her like garbage and gives long speeches about why she's so far beneath him.
I was stunned. Stunned.
And from there, the book went down that trite, crappy path. He secretly loved her (though I don't buy it... I don't buy anyone doing what he did to someone they LOVE, because that's not what love is). She secretly loved him. Her dream of 12 years, the cake business she'd poured her heart into, was worthless, and she'd give it all up in a minute to be by his side always.
*vomit*
The only reason this book has any stars is because of how much I liked Maria, right up until the moment she decided that she would happily toss out her whole life to meekly follow whatever Phillip wants her to do... and I guess hope that he doesn't decide to randomly stop talking to her, send her packing, evict her, and/or otherwise repeat any of the horrible things he's done to her repeatedly throughout their lives. Thereby utterly gutting her character and making her into a caricature... the meek woman who never really wanted to have her own life at all, but simply wanted to be some strong man's kept woman, so she can flutter through her life without a care in her empty head.
Appalling. Terrible. Fucking disappointing.
I mean, come on. The hero was a complete dickbag. Let's run down the series of events.
Phillip has never had respect for Maria. From his appalled reaction at their first meeting (she was freaking SEVEN YEARS OLD and he was vaguely appalled that a servant child was daring to speak to him... and the fact that he had that level of arrogance as a 9 year old speaks volumes), to the way he casually discarded their friendship without a word when she was 15, he made it clear that he had less than zero consideration for her.
That brings us to the key problem: I do not believe Phillip has ever cared for any human being but himself. I don't know that I've ever seen a more self-centered character. And not only does that never change, he's never even called on it. From just deciding to be cruel to Maria in their childhood, snubbing someone who was supposedly a friend... to breaking up her relationship with his own brother because he was jealous? Stealing a hair ribbon - the ONLY token this poor girl has from her dead mother - and not even caring that she cried about its loss for days. This bit was from his own POV, mind you. He says that he never once even thought about returning it, even when she cried.
What the fuck is wrong with him? I don't believe he loves her. He's like a damn sociopath.
This amazing bit of dickery is followed up by ... her father dying. The only person she has left in the world. He can't be bothered to comfort someone who was once a friend (and someone we're supposed to believe he secretly loves) through this horrible experience that is not only emotional for her, but also terrifying, because now not only does she have no family, she has no money, and no idea what to do. And he gets jealous that she and his brother get close because her brother is actually a decent human being and tries to care for his sobbing friend. So, despite the fact that nearly everything that means anything to her in the world has died, he decides to take the last little bit of anything she has, and cast her out into the world to do... whatever. He doesn't care what, as long as she doesn't do it near him or his brother.
He is the Marquess of Assholery.
Then, when he trips over her as she's finally accomplishing her dream and opening her shop, he casually evicts her from the building, while casting aspersions on her character. That was so fucking out of line I don't even know where to begin. Being a woman in that era was hard enough. Assaulting her character? That could DESTROY her. (The irony here is that later he claims that they must marry to protect her reputation. Since when does this fuckbag care about her reputation?)
The shit cherry on top of this diaper sundae is his first proposal. I am hard-pressed to even begin to imagine a more condescending speech. It was so horrible I actually gasped aloud reading it.
**Here's a key thing. Up until this point, I was pretty into the story. I thought Maria was a great character: strong, intelligent, independent, marvelous. What she said while throwing his proposal back in his face was fabulous. I will admit that I couldn't imagine what Guhrke was going to do for Phillip's come-to-Jesus moment, to redeem him, but I really love her as an author, so I was excited to see.**
Then she went to have tea with her friends, and it all fell apart. This was about the 80% mark.
When she told the story to her friends, rather than be appalled at the shitty stuff Phillip said (I'll be frank - if someone "proposed" to my friend like that, I'd be headed to his place to make him pick his teeth up off the floor), they decide that it is terribly romantic, and wonder if Maria doesn't actually love him. They simply can't imagine why Maria would decline to marry this rich aristocrat who treats her like garbage and gives long speeches about why she's so far beneath him.
I was stunned. Stunned.
And from there, the book went down that trite, crappy path. He secretly loved her (though I don't buy it... I don't buy anyone doing what he did to someone they LOVE, because that's not what love is). She secretly loved him. Her dream of 12 years, the cake business she'd poured her heart into, was worthless, and she'd give it all up in a minute to be by his side always.
*vomit*
The only reason this book has any stars is because of how much I liked Maria, right up until the moment she decided that she would happily toss out her whole life to meekly follow whatever Phillip wants her to do... and I guess hope that he doesn't decide to randomly stop talking to her, send her packing, evict her, and/or otherwise repeat any of the horrible things he's done to her repeatedly throughout their lives. Thereby utterly gutting her character and making her into a caricature... the meek woman who never really wanted to have her own life at all, but simply wanted to be some strong man's kept woman, so she can flutter through her life without a care in her empty head.
Appalling. Terrible. Fucking disappointing.