Judith’s review of Lady Hathaway’s Indecent Proposal by Suzanna Medeiros

Twelve years have passed since Miranda Hathaway ended her courtship with Andrew Osborne and married the older, but much wealthier, Viscount Hathaway. It is only one week after her husband’s death and Miranda cannot ignore the temptation to have a taste of what she threw away all those years ago when she followed her parents’ wishes. But to entice the man she never stopped loving, she will have to act quickly.

Now the Earl of Sanderson, Andrew is no longer the same man who once believed in love. When Miranda asks him to help her conceive a child—one whom she means to pass off as the next Hathaway heir—he sees her deceit as proof that she is not the same woman he once knew. However, he cannot ignore the temptation to finally have her in his bed.  Miranda knows she is infertile, but her deception gives her three weeks with Andrew. He plans to use that time to finally consign Miranda Hathaway to the past, while she hopes to build memories that will last her a lifetime.

This is a new author for me so but as a long-time fan of historical romance I was happy to read the ARC from Net Galley.  I never really know what to expect from a novella and I have to say that as a reader that has never liked this shorter literary format it seems as if I am reading a large number of them lately.  That being said, it was a pleasant surprise for several reasons.

First, it is another story that embraces the plot of an infertile aristocratic lady who needs an heir to her recently deceased spouse RIGHT NOW in order to save the estate and not find herself living on the streets.  It is also a common thread that the heroine has been maneuvered into marrying a wealthy older man rather than the second or third son of another aristocrat with whom she shared a love interest.  Yet in the hands of this author those sometimes overworked themes have come alive.  It is a kind of “second chance” novella, with Lady Hathaway using this very real pressure of getting pregnant asap in order to save her inheritance to make a renewed connection with the man who she spurned in order to respond to the pressure from her family 12 years earlier.  She’s a smart lady who is doing all she can to use the social “system” to not only keep a roof over her head but to also finally have the man she wanted in the first place.   He may no longer love her by he was still physically attracted to her and she was not opposed to having a month with him, a month where she could build some memories to keep her company in the destitute years that lay ahead.  She had no expectation of conceiving–12 years had pretty much put “paid” to that expectation.  But a month with the man she loves?  That she will do any way she can.

Now at first I really didn’t warm up much to Andrew–a man who  had come into his own  inheritance and who has moved far away from the tender young man who first loved Miranda.  Yet he is not above taking her up on her proposal if it means that he can have her for a month.  The love may be gone but the sex is hot.  Yet this author has written this story in a sharp and gritty way, not backing away from the feelings and disappoints that both Miranda and Andrew have experienced in the intervening years.  It’s not a love story, at least on the surface.  It is hot nights in Miranda’s bed and inner struggles to keep distant, to protect one’s emotions and ultimately one’s heart.  Ms Medeiros has crafted these characters in a way that rings true with their historical context, something that some authors don’t manage well in their enthusiasm to tell the love story.  Andrew knows that widows have far greater latitude to pursue illicit love affairs and is not above taking advantage.  Yet there is still that connection.  And though it is faint and very nearly not there, the reader is aware that the connection between these two is not entirely dead.  It is the writer’s skill, in my opinion, that keeps that quiet reality as a part of the encounters between the lovers.

Second, I was surprised that I really enjoyed this sort read.  It did not feel hurried, as if the author was trying to squeeze a larger story into a smaller format.  It was a set of familiar themes that were worked into a novella in what felt like a creative new re-telling, and I appreciated the sense of history that the author kept front and center throughout.  I also appreciated the way the author made all the words work very hard–no superfluous inner monologues to tire the reader and clog up the pages.  There was a good balance throughout and that made the reader far more enjoyable.

Lastly, I am going to be looking for more work from this author.  She did a fine job here.  I give this novella a rating of 4 out of 5.

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

This title is available from Suzanna Medeiros.  You can buy it here or here in e-format.