Ravishing the Heiress, by Sherry Thomas

I read a lot about this book on the net before I got my hands on it. It is my first book by Sherry Thomas, and I have to say I am nicely surprised by her, although some parts in her book require some suspension of disbelief by the reader.

Let's go over the good stuff first; The very first, wonderful surprise is that this is not a Regency, but a book set in Victorian England, circa 1890. You get trains, air ballons, comodes, a woman with her own publishing company and the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution.

Next, the writing was absolutely beautiful. It was elegant, witty, compelling, and made up for much of the shortcomings of the story.

Now, before I go over the unbelievable stuff, here is the plot in a nutshell: 16 year old Millicent is the only heiress to a sardine and canned goods empire in Victorian England, and knows since childhood that her parents will arrange a good marriage for her, ideally with a Lord. The English aristocracy being the snobs they are, the only way to achieve that is to buy a husband for her, especially since Millie is no breathtaking beauty.
Enter Fitz, the new Earl, still at school (another original), who along with his new title inherited a crumbling mansion, a huge debt, and his predecessor's rich bride.
Millie falls instantly, madly in love with Fitz. On the other hand, Fitz is pinning and depressed over losing his sweeatheart, Isabelle, a schoolmate's sister, and barely manages to tolerate Millie.
Humiliated, Millie decides to keep her feelings to herself, and strikes a deal with Fitz: to have a sexless marriage for 8 years, until they feel they're ready to have children.
The story then jumps 8 years forward, when they're due to start their marital relations. Both are now fast friends, but not much else has changed: Millie is still hopelessly in love with Fitz, while Fitz still thinks of Isabelle (but that has not prevented him from engaging in several affairs). Things get even more complicated when Isabelle returns to London as a widow.

The story is original, and like many of Thomas' books centers on a marriage that has a shared history in the past. It's fast paced, two-hanky, and I liked the flashbacks into the past that allows the reader to watch how the friendship between Millie and Fitz developed. I started reading it at 1 AM (was having insomnia) and had to force myself to put it down at 5AM because I had to work the next day.

On my way to work I started thinking about the book from a more critical angle (and remember, I was cranky from lack of sleep) and I found several things that irked me:
1.- What 16 year old is as self possessed as Millie? She's an actress of the firts order, but to keep all her feelings bottled inside herself, never letting out even a hint that she might fancy Fitz over 8 years of living together is quite a stretch of the imagination.
2.- Fitz was 19 years old when he was married, and I can't believe that he would let 8 years go by without touching the woman who was legally his. What's wrong with his hormones? The only thing boys that age think about is sex.
3. Neither of them grow during the book, even though 8 years have passed. Yes, they both take over their responsabilities and Fitz starts managing Millie's company, but Millie still hides her feelings for much of the book and Fitz is still fixated on Isabelle.
4. The secondary romance between Helen (Fitz' sister) and Hastings (Fitz' best friend) was annoying because it stole time from the main characters and seemed to shout "buy the sequel!".
5. Helen is a grown woman, with her own publishing company, but her family put a maid/spy on her and keep such a close eye on her she's almost a prisoner after they find out she's having an affaire with a married man. Come on!
6. I couldn't care less about Isabelle. She's a needy woman who doesn't even make a good villainess.

I remember reading in one of Stephen King's books that sometimes you read a book that has a good story, other times books with good writing, and rarely you find books with both. In this book, it is the writing that is extraordinaire, specially with all the rubbish that's being published in romance world. The story is OK, but not very exciting. Anyway, I will keep reading Mrs. Thomas's novels.