My Only Love by Katherine Sutcliffe

I've been reading romance for a long time (since my high school years in the 80's) and maybe that makes me a bit jaded. Plot twists that might have surprised me ten or twenty years ago now seem obvious and dull. There are still some authors who can make the "big secret" or the "big misunderstanding" work, but it's more difficult now that so many of these plots have been done over and over. That doesn't mean that I can't still enjoy an "old fashioned" romance - give me well written characters and well drawn emotions, and I will fall in love with romance all over again - but I have a lot less patience for the games that some authors play.

My Only Love by Katherine Sutcliffe
(1993, Victorian?) 7/29/08
Grade: 3

Olive Devonshire danced naked for gypsies, had a tattoo, and bore a son out of wedlock. Miles Warwick knew the shame of illegitimacy, but Olivia’s money was his one chance to redeem himself and make him respectable. And he couldn’t help being intrigued by someone who broke society’s rules so eagerly...

This book was a mix of good and bad. The characters were compelling, but it had two major flaws. First, why did Olivia “love” Miles? The plot depends on Olivia having this great love for Miles and wanting to save him, but he comes across as an irresponsible jerk who slept with her sister and treated everyone around him like dirt. I didn’t get it. Secondly, the “big secret” in the book was obvious (at least to me) from the first chapter, and after a while, the delays and interruptions just became frustrating. I knew how it was going to turn out, and I just wanted them to get over the “big reveal” and go on with the story, but the author put it off until almost the end of the book. I kept reading because I wanted to find out how the story would be resolved (unfortunately, exactly as I’d predicted) and the writing was compelling. But there’s a reason the big misunderstanding went out of style, and it just doesn’t work here.

I read several Katherine Sutcliffe books back in the 90's (A Heart Possessed stands out in particular) but unfortunately, I think the big misunderstanding plots haven't aged well. It's too bad, because I did find the hero and heroine compelling. If they'd spent more time together, instead of dithering about the big secret, the book might have worked a lot better.