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The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever
 | The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever Julia Quinn Grade: Between a B and B- Sensuality: Warm Even when Julia Quinn isn't at the top of her game, she's still better than most. If that sounds as if I'm damning with faint praise, it's more the other way around...I'm praising with oh-so-very-faint damnation. |
This is Quinn's first non-Bridgerton romance in years, and it has some very funny, as well as very tender, moments. But what it also has are the sort of romance novel conventions I don't tend to associate with this author, and that's why my grade falters between B and B-.
Miss Miranda Cheever fell in love with the aristocratic Nigel Bevekstoke, Viscount Turner, when she was a child of ten and he was nineteen. She's a woman now and still in love with him, and they have become friends. Miranda intrigues Turner with her directness and humor, but because his now-dead wife cuckolded him more times than he can count, he refuses to love again...even if that means pushing away a friend and hurting her in the process.
The "she-done-him-wrong" hero is nothing new in romance, and if that were the only convention used by the author, I'd have been fine with it. After all, Turner and Miranda's meeting when she was a child was so lovely and wonderful, and Turner truly is a great guy, but then others sort of pile on. For instance, Miranda's scholarly father neglects her - benignly of course - and in a way that allows the narrative to progress, so that one's sort of a wash. Here's another: Turner's hot and cold feelings, which result in reducing the heroine to tears more than once. Again, it more or less works, but so far that's three, and three that were obvious to me without looking.
On the other hand, Quinn's humor remains pitch-perfect, the couple is lovable, and as far as characters go, Miranda sparkles; she's a terrific invention. Turner's two siblings are more than placeholders. Both have strong roles and I imagine we'll be reading about them again. The ending is also heartwarming and sweet.
So there you have it. A romance with lots of good points and some that are over-used. My sense is this, and it's one reason I'm glad I no longer review at AAR: had Quinn's name been removed from the novel and I didn't know who wrote it, I'd almost certainly have given the story a straight B as opposed to wavering between a B and B-. She's got expectations to live up to, and they're big ones.
TTFN, Laurie Likes Books