Absolutely Positively

Not sewing anything but the unpolitical purple quilt top for the entire month of November allowed me to devote nearly all of my creative time to NaNoWriMo, but on my breaks I got back to reading for pleasure, too. One of my reads was The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England Scotland and Wales by Anne Stuart, which was a fun historical romance romp.

Kit Adderly, self-admitted to be the worst man in England (and everywhere else) for his drinking, gambling and womanizing, helps his much less attractive but almost equally loathesome friend George Latherby kidnap a not especially attractive heiress and force her to marry George so he can use her inheritance to continue carousing with Kit. P.S., George has syphyllis, and likes to hurt women, and may have murdered a couple of his former wives. This doesn't bother Kit at all, and they grab the girl (and by accident her much prettier cousin) and head for Scotland for the nuptials.

The kidnapped heiress, Bryony Marton, comes with the typical tragic past and all the physical disadvantages: she's covered in freckles, red-haired, and a tad bit overweight. She's determined to protect her cousin, the classical English rose debutante Cecilia, and escape their unsavory fate with their reputations intact. Thrown into this mix is Peter Barnes, a low-born but handsome Bow Street runner Cecilia's greedy parents send after the kidnappers to rescue their daughter. Said parents already written off Bryony, from whom they can't financially benefit no matter who marries her. Let the games begin.

If you've read any of Anne Stuart's historicals then you're probably aware that she writes basically the same story every time: gorgeous, insanely wealthy, lethal, bored aristocratic hero becomes involved with quirky, smart, not-so-stunning heroine in peril; shenannigans ensue. There's usually a loathesome antagonist intent on murdering the girl, a cross-country race in a carriage, lots of very hot sexual tension and some fairly graphic love scenes. The ending is always the same, too. Checkmark all those for this book. For this go she actually makes the hero one of the antagonists at first, which is something the author has also done frequently in her books. I occasionally do the same thing, so I have much admiration for the uncrowned queen of the Love Redeems Even the Worst of the Bad Boys stories.

I wasn't expecting to be surprised by this book, and I wasn't. Despite the grim set-up, however, it's actually very light-hearted. I enjoyed the story as it played out; sometimes even when you know how it will go that kind of story can be a comfort read. I knew from page one that everyone would get their just desserts, even Kit, and I didn't care. It was fun. Also, I loved the overlong marketing disaster that is the title of the book. That's the kind of thing digital self-publishing has opened the door to: authors titling their stories whatever the hell they want versus what NY decides is best.

It won't change your life, but if you're in the mood for an entertaining historical romance, The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England Scotland and Wales by Anne Stuart is a good pick.