Guest Review: Forbidden by Nicola Cornick

Throughout this series, readers have been introduced to some of the most unusual and independent women that have found their way into historical romance fiction. Ms Cornick’s heroines have come from all walks of life and have ensnared some of the ton’s most eligible bachelors, not to mention that all are very well-heeled and titled aristocrats. Now we meet the woman who has served them as their personal maid–working her way up in the eschelons of servanthood, a woman who is very young to have become a senior servant in wealthy households. Yet with all the mayhem that seems to be the norm in her growing up years and which is attached to each of her adopted brothers, Margery has insisted that she will 1) remain innocent and not become the “passtime” of a rake; and 2) never marry except for love. Her most cherished dream is to become what was then known as a Confectioner–making candies,desserts, etc. It was a skill she had developed over the years and one at which she was particularly good. Into her life comes a very good looking “swell”–a man she literally bumps in to at a high class brothel where she takes her candies, sweet cakes, marzipan cookies and exchanges them for the discards of the women of that house. Her brother sells these discards in his “second hand” shop and gives Margery a cut of his profits. It is here on one of her “collection days” that she encounters Lord Wardeaux, a man who is completely taken with the quiet, shy, poorly dressed servant, especially after sharing a kiss that imprints her on his brain and libido.

This story is quite different in that it is about a missing heiress working as a lady’s maid, and one whose inheritance can be accepted by a woman. That was not the case in most situations. Margery becomes the talk of the London Season and by the time she has been there for two weeks–parties, soirees, balls — she has received 21 offers of marriage from men who disdain her years as a servant but who are in desperate need of her money. Even when Lord Wardeaux offers for her (after compromising her virtue) she refuses because he doesn’t love her.

This young woman is a character that I liked immensely–a woman who was willing to remain true to her values even though she feared that for a time she might lose her identity. Her loneliness was profound and difficult to bear after the warm comraderie of the “below stairs” crowd, many of whom now refused to see her as a friend. It is a novel that clearly speaks of the class system, the differences in the minds and levels of friendship and acceptance between those who served and those being served. However, there is also the joy that Margery has discovered in finding out she had a grandfather who never stopped searching for her and finding within herself the confidence to be the kind of person of worth and value that she has always been.

I have really enjoyed all the novels in this series and this last one did not disappoint. There is mystery involved and the sense of impending disaster as the Taro Cards are read and Margery’s life is put in danger because of old jealousies. Ms Cornick once again displays a find sense of the whole as she brings many different strands together to form a complete literary tapestry. She is a very, very good writer, and those who really like historical romance fiction will, no doubt, enjoy this latest work.

I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from HQN. You can buy it here or here in e-format.