I hope it's okay to do this. I wasn't sure if I should post this here or in my personal journal, and decided since this is for writing, and books help me think about writing, it ought to go here!

I wanted to review a book I bought in late December and read for the following few weeks. Thank you, phantomangel777, for the suggestion and I do hope you comment!

So, without further adieu...

A ROSE IN WINTER by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
567pgs
3 out of 5 Stars



Being that I haven't read a novel in a long, long time, (quite hypocritical being that I aim to be an author myself), I stepped into reading this with a really optimistic demeanor. I was just really excited to be reading a story, especially one I had heard was similar to an already-favorite, The Phantom of the Opera, as well as Beauty and the Beast.

Although some Amazon reviews claim even the first few pages were annoying, I was pleased with them. They set up a heroine that was clearly young and quick to have an opinion, but you kind of felt for her because her dad kept bringing her creeps that he hoped she'd marry so they could pay off their debts. (Loved the descriptions of them, though. Head like a grey, bulging melon and rat-like eyes... tehe.)

I guess I should provide a brief synopsis of the story, but I find them really annoying when they take up half the review, so this'll be quick. The main character, Erienne, is a young woman from a relatively poor family (even though her father is the mayor) who ends up being sold to the highest bidder for marriage because said father is a totally selfish dick with an alcohol problem. To her dismay, the highest bidder is perhaps the scariest of all suitors ever presented to her, Lord Saxton: a man everyone thought was dead by a deadly fire in his abandoned mansion, who covers his scarred body completely and sort of looks like a dungeon master. At the same time as this whole affair, Erienne realizes that she may have feelings for this egotistical jerk, Christopher Seton, who won't leave her alone and is bent on making her his woman even though she's married.

Because I knew this was where the story was going, I was eager to work my way in and find the author's approach to this situation. I didn't start off reading very much -- maybe 25pgs a sitting, but as plot thickened, I was doing 60-80pgs a day. One thing that I give Woodiwiss credit for, her decisions on plot aside, is that she has the ability to create brain candy for the reader, where you're just happy to munch on it and have an escape for a few hours. You read it the same way you reach into a bag of potato chips and realize it's empty.

I don't read cheap novels that you could probably find at a grocery store check-out line often, but, even acknowledging that it was one, it had a well constructed plot, lots of useful personalities, and each chapter was a legitimate installment instead of just filler. As Christopher Seton was introduced, sending Erienne through the loop, I was beginning to smile to myself and enjoy their quite offensive interactions. It was in third-person unlimited, so sometimes the switching around of perspective was distracting, but I guess I have to be thankful that it wasn't all in the point of view of Erienne. She would've gotten rather boring. Woodiwiss' characters were mostly stereotypes, but she made lemonade with her lemons. I don't think I liked any of them besides Lord Saxton, and I hated Christopher, but they still put on a good show.

While her writing style could turn purple prose at the drop of the hat, I mostly found her descriptions to create a great deal of atmosphere. There were times when a scene started, obviously with some suspense, and she thought it appropriate to first give a wordy meteorological report, but I guess what best describes my thoughts is that her strength was also her weakness, so I just lived with it.

I can honestly say that the real point of this book didn't materialize until she met the man who bought her hand in marriage. By the time she was alone in her room at the dark, dusty Saxton Hall, scared stiff of her mysterious husband who had sent her to prepare for their first dinner, I was officially happy to be reading the story, sipping my caramel tea, and going along her journey. It really was like Beauty and the Beast, where she began with terror but came to realize, gradually, that the one she was stuck with was actually the best for her. Although she had much to learn about being a wife, going to parties (and avoiding being molested practically by other certain lords), and fighting off the courting efforts of Christopher, the whole story, for me, became about Lord Saxton. He was really a breath of fresh air; scenes with him couldn't come soon enough. He was the first man to show Erienne any respect - both physically and emotionally. The first example of that came on the night of their wedding, when she refused to consummate with him and he agreed not to lay a hand on her until she was ready.

He also had a good eye for the true colors of others, recognizing that her father was never after her best interests. He was accordingly cold whenever they had to speak, and when suggested Erienne be forced to share their wealth or come visit, he made very clear that his wife made her own decisions. Especially respectful given it was 1792 and most men didn't feel that way.

The blank, featureless face of leather turned squarely toward Avery, and the glimmer behind the eyeholes bore into him with a hard, penetrating coldness. The mayor's spine prickled as tiny barbs of fear set themselves against it, and his bravado dwindled swiftly.

"You have been paid well for your daughter." The sibilant voice was curt and frigid. "There'll be no more haggling. The bargain was been struck, and you'll get nothing more from me. p.165

A new idea was added to the plot at this point, concerning a strange black figure, like an "angel of death", riding the countryside and killing off members of a group of highwaymen suspected of burning down the east wing of Saxton Hall and attempting to kill Lord Saxton, as well as successfully killing his father in the past. It created a very questionable air, as the man she had married was already enigmatic and elusive, and clearly after a serious dealing of justice. Her time with him revealed little bits and pieces about his past, and his attempts to live after the horrible hand that was bestowed upon him, but never a clear picture.

"Since my life may depend upon my caution, I have learned to be wary of many."

"Madam, of all people, you should be the one to realize that I leave as little as possible to chance." p.192

The most appealing part of seeing the life inside Saxton Hall was, surprisingly, the romance he so worked to have with Erienne. Despite everything going on around him and having to deal with a whole shitstorm of issues as a returning lord who's suspected of murder, he really wanted a woman to "save him from his solitude" you might say, and Erienne was beginning to realize that she might be okay with that. I may not have found her a compelling heroine, but it put me in a good mood when he did the opposite of everyone else in this bizarre book, and said sincere words to her, and treated her. The entire time that this happened, she was being chased relentlessly by Christopher, and though he was described as physically gorgeous and she secretly lusted after him, she was persistent in refusing his offers. She may not have refused them as strongly as I would have, but it still gave me hope that inside she knew what was right and there were more important things and people in her life. It was shaping up to be a story with the message that looks and reputations don't matter, and you can find happiness in things you don't expect. And when I was under the impression that this book was after that idea, I thought it was lovely and couldn't wait to recommend it. But things really twisted around in the last 150pgs, and there was a revealing that Amazon reviews claimed was obvious, but I guess I'd been put under the spell of the moment.

Although it probably sounds stubborn of me that I rate it down because it ended so differently than I predicted/wanted it to, I think the bigger reason is that Woodiwiss' twist destroyed the only message that was being created. She ended it like, well, like a cheap check-out line romance would, with satisfaction in vapidness and mediocrity. She pulled a Twilight, really. Imagine what that means as you will.

And as long as I'm complaining, I've got to say that if this is a typical example of the genre "bodice rippers", I'm not sure if I'm ready for a while to read another book that uses the word "bosom" so often. The society's obsession with women's beauty and boobs was so strong, it reminded me of that episode of South Park where the boys found out about them and Kenny started graffiti'ing them on walls because he couldn't stop thinking about them. Very few in this book weren't perverts with one-track minds, and everywhere Erienne went, guys were peaking at her cleavage or hitting on her, all in ways that would merit a sexual harassment suit nowadays. I guess Woodiwiss liked the idea of her heroine getting that type of attention, but for me it got old, and I thought, if anyone, a woman writing this book would put things like boobs aside since she has a pair herself and sees them everyday and they're nothing much.

On that subject, it seemed like she made every woman besides Lord Saxton's housekeeper a bitch or a whore, less attractive than and jealous of Erienne. Most of the interactions she had with the rest of society were without her husband by her side, so another reason I loved their scenes together was that the crap all these youngsters put each other through was not even a reality at Saxton Hall. When she was with Lord Saxton, it seemed like she and the story were growing up and earning some respect.

As I enjoyed 3/4 of the story and probably will not read past that point should I pick it up again, that leaves me with three out of five stars, meaning it would've been four if the ending hadn't been such FAIL. I think it's good simply just to come up with your own ending on this one.

With that, I thought I'd just write down some reflection of particular characters.

The haunting echo of the footsteps died away as Lord Saxton's form came partly into view, at first only a black shape with a flowing cloak covering most of his body. The upper part of his body remained obscured in the darkness of the hall, but when he passed where the light was better, Erienne gasped as she saw the reason why he moved with an odd, twisting motion. The boot of his right leg bore a thick, heavy, wedge-shaped sole, as if for the purpose of straightening a clubbed or twisted foot. After each step he took, the weighted foot was dragged sideways to meet the other. ... Lord Saxton's face and head were completely covered by a black leather helm. Two slitted holes had been cut for the eyes, two tiny ones for his nostrils, and a row of small, square openings formed a mouth for the mark. It was a neatly stitched creation that had been shaped to fit over his head without giving any hint of the features beneath. Even the eyes were hidden in the shadowed depths of the slashed openings.

Erienne's shock was great, and it was through a numbed sense of awareness that she noticed other details about him. Except for the white shirt, he was dressed entirely in black. Leather gloves of the same hue covered his hands, and he gripped a heavy, silver-handled cane. Beneath the cloak his shoulders seemed thick and broad. The left one rose slightly higher than the other, whether from deformity or because of the unbalanced gait she could not rightly determine. In all, he presented a most fearsome mien for a young bride seeing her future husband for the first time.

He halted before them and bowed stiffly. "Miss Fleming." His voiced sounded hollow and distant, while his breath hissed eerily through the openings of the mask. p.162,163

Lord Stuart Saxton
Naturally, I adored him. You could relate him to Erik/The Phantom or the Beast all you want, but I think I admired him on his own terms, and found him to be different than those characters.

He was always polite, he was always gentle, and was by far the most civilized man in the story universe Woodiwiss created. It was hard to tell if he really lived with resentment for his actual injuries rather than for the harm done to his family as a whole because he lived a life with dignity and always assured Erienne that he was no different from anybody else. In fact, one of his stark differences from Erik is that he doesn't mourn over being scarred/ugly. He doesn't mourn because he's a cripple. If anything, it's helped him realize an empowering philosophy; that there are ways to do anything and little should hold you back. If he were a real person, I wouldn't be surprised if he coined thephrase "differently abled."

Although he couldn't walk well without a cane and couldn't mount a horse, he could still fire a gun with accuracy like nobody's business. When it came to protecting himself, his wife, and his staff, he was not hit or miss. And coincidentally enough, Erienne's brother was too a cripple, with the opposite mentality, so one of my favorite demonstrations of Stuart's character was when he kept inviting him back to the mansion to practice shooting with his only working arm. Stuart became a role model for him, and by the end of the book, he had optimism, a job, and a fiance.

His sensitive side with Erienne got me the most, though. He waited as long as it took for her to be intimate with him, and sometimes was too hesitant just to touch her. He claimed he may have created his own personal hell because he had bought her marriage but she wanted nothing to do with him.

His hand, as if on its own volition, came upward from her back and hovered out of range of her vision, as if he yearned to caress her cheek but fought against the urge. After a moment's pause, he dropped it over her shoulder again. Behind her back, she could feel him jerking on his gloves, and on impulse she laid a palm against his chest, finding it firmly muscled beneath the crispness of his shirt.

"You see, milord? I can touch you now, and it does not cause me to shudder."

Carefully, so as not to alarm her, he raised his gloved hand and gently rubbed his knuckles along her cheek. "My dear Erienne, beneath this twisted exterior there beats a human heart quite warmed by your beauty. 'Tis painful for me to wait, but I will endure anything knowing there is hope." p.290

He really had every reason besides his appearance working for him. He was incredibly smart, calculating, brave, and he had a sense of humor. He was generous, people liked him as a lord, as did his mansion staff. This might make him sound like boring perfection, but he also hid a lot of information, disappeared, and was clearly seeking revenge on the ones that killed his father and tried to kill him. It was beginning to seem clear he might be the "Night Rider", too. Oh, and he played the harpsichord in the dead of night. No shitting you! Erienne described it as "attacking the instrument". It conjures hot Phantom images.

Overall, I found him to be a really compelling character with great potential. I kind of became a little infatuated with him. I was always rooting for him. I was always hoping he'd find his happiness, and he seemed to be finding it: light in an otherwise dark world, love from a woman, respect from people who once thought he was dead. Eventually, Erienne was ready and said the sex was great. All I could think was "YEAH, CRIPPLE CAN PLEASE A WOMAN."

Oh, and I realized Kiss From a Rose by Seal reminds me of him. Lol I always liked the song, so I guess it's a good thing.

"My dear Stuart," he mimed with a chuckle, "Now, that is a phrase my heart has longed to hear." p.303

Erienne Fleming/Saxton
I think "mary sue" pretty much sums her up, so you can infer most of her details. She probably would have been much more annoying if this story were written in modern times, but because it was a period story, she was more bearable. If you don't think too much into her, she's not blatantly annoying or stupid or rude to people who don't deserve it, most of the time. When you take a deep look into her actions, you realize that she's kind of a shallow twit, though, whose only real value in this society lies within her physical beauty, of which she conveniently isn't all that aware. You'd think after 20+ years surrounded by the type of people that she is, she'd realize that there's a huge obsession with boobs and she's got a pair of bazongas. I don't know how someone could be so little self-aware when she was in silk nightgowns.

No, I think her real problem is just how much she judges others based on really superficial things. Since chapter one she was ogling Christopher Seton. She even still found herself attracted when it was very clear he had no respect for her. Meanwhile, she had very unfounded repulsion for Stuart, even after the weeks he put in to being super careful and super sweet with her. I'm not sure how a leather cover on his head brings about that much discomfort in someone. She even complained about his limp, for God's sake, saying it made her cringe listening to the "step, scrape, step, scrape" sound of him coming into her room. Maybe I have a predisposition because I relate Stuart to a few characters I know are good at heart and clearly can't help their condition, but at the same time I think anyone with compassion would lay off the judgment and not make someone feel so alien and untrustworthy in their own home.

He stood aside, not making any attempt to touch her, and Erienne moved past him into the great hall. Near the hearth she perched rigidly on the edge of a chair, poised like a bird ready to flee at the first sign of threat. p.176

Even still, I was going along with it because, I figured, a story of growth has to start somewhere, and this story was shaping up to be one of love between the two of them. I thought she was growing out of her tiny world before him; that just as Stuart helped her brother turn into a man and stop putting down himself and others, he was helping her become a woman who recognized character, not appearance. If she thought or did everything right, you wouldn't have to be that worried for her, and you couldn't anticipate that big a change. However, the author decided she had different plans for Erienne's ending point.

Christopher Seton
Annoying bastard. For a hundred pages, he wasn't so bad. Mostly because everything was still being established and, without him, there wasn't much action. I liked him being around because it actually brought feelings out of Erienne and he would sometimes say funny things. But the more I got to know him, the more I realized he was a pompous, disrespectful, borderline rapist. The kind who think "no" means "yes" and when a woman tells you to go away forever, it only means for the next few hours at most.

It got to the point where I just couldn't stand him and I found Erienne's weak opposition to his advances quite perplexing. He really did stalk her everywhere, and yet, like he was some kind of Edward Cullen, all that was ever described was how hawt he looked and how he'd cock an eyebrow and make her shiver or some such bullcrap.

When Lord Saxton came into the picture, these feelings just intensified because of the level of juxtaposition between them. Whenever a Christopher scene was being set up, I'd just sigh, really hoping it'd go by quickly. When I took reading breaks, I'd be ranting to myself about how I hoped Christopher would just disappear and Stuart would instead sweep her up in his arms. The fact that she was even unsure who meant the most to her was jarring. Ugh, he was just your typical romance novel rake who used his dick as a compass and tried to tempt Erienne over and over to commit adultery with him, and almost succeeded. She became so stressed about the fact that he put her in positions where she almost gave up her virtue that one night she went to her room, got down on the floor and was beating her fists into her crotch. Who puts someone through that just because they really want to have sex with them?! Somebody sound the sociopath alert.

When it came down to it, he appeared to have everything; good looks, money, power... But, to me, he was useless.

Avery Fleming
I know he was supposed to be considered a bad guy, since he sold off his daughter and later... well, yeah, but I had a hard time taking him seriously, maybe just because of the way he talked, his drinking habit, his appearance... The way I imagined him in my head was just funny and a little pitiable. I think the author had that in mind, because the things that went wrong for him were all quite amusingly described. Like, he got thrown off his horse at a great height and hit a tree and it tore off his breeches. So he came to Lord Talbot's manor with just his shirt hanging over his junk, in total disarray. Lol Oy...

I can't think of much else I need to say about him. He had a lot of screwed up perceptions about women (thinking they don't need to learn about the world), he was the cause of his son becoming a cripple, because he fought Christopher to protect his "honor", even though he really did cheat in a godamn game of cards and would never fess up.

He thought Lord Saxton was a total creep, but always got what was coming to him. Stuart didn't give a rat's ass about his opinion anyway. :)

Lord Talbot
Creepy man. I just imagine this foppish older gentleman, practically in rococo, going around staring at women's boobs and copping a feel. I don't know why, but he reminded me of the opera owner in the 1962 movie version of Phantom of the Opera, who invited Christine out to dinner and insisted they have "singing lessons" at his home afterward if she wanted to keep her role. (Luckily, she was saved from that experience by Raoul.) He was a creep but he also had power, so he could get away with it, and in the time period of the story, people were not openly disagreeing or hostile. They always had to fit in their feelings with subtlety (which takes SOME creativity), to the point where it was almost annoying. Characters just got taps on the wrist when they misbehaved. Anywayyy.

That about sums up my review. I think I should still recommend the book, just because I would think anyone would enjoy the presence of Stuart while he lasted. *sniff*

This was the full picture I drew in my notes:


{Click Image to Enlarge}