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The Governess Affair (2012)

by Courtney Milan(Favorite Author)

3.91 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Courtney Milan

review 1: This was really nothing but a fluff fest. I was disappointed that there wasn't much plot to this story. It just plunged through quickly with no real character development or story line development. Luckily this was an amazon freebie so I didn't waste money on it. I've heard better things about the rest of the series so I will try them out and hopefully it will be better than this one. I realize there are some limitations to a short story.
review 2: I am far from an expert on romance novels (read: I've read like 3 in my life including this one) but I would venture to say that Courtney Milan is one of the most feminist romance novel writers out there. I was reluctant to read this at first even though it came highly recommended by several friends because I knew it... more dealt directly with issues of rape, and I wasn't sure I wanted to read about that in a romance novel context after spending a year doing counseling for victims of sexual violence. HOWEVER: what this book made me realize is there's no reason why romance novels shouldn't deal with issues of rape, especially if the book actually DEALS with it instead of glorifying it in some kind of quasi-misogynistic way (see: pretending it's BDSM in 50 Shades of Gray). Serena in this book is a survivor of rape who, even while pregnant with the child conceived by the act itself, is still depicted as strong, smart and defiant. She is desperate but ultimately not humiliated, and the man who "saves" her really does no such thing. Instead, she learns to value and forgive herself, and to come to terms with the way she has been victimized without letting it destroy her life. If her recovery is a bit speeded along in the name of plot expediency, that is the fantastical element that makes romance novels escapist; and why not allow women who have been through similar traumas (and women who haven't) that escape? Milan manages to do all of that in a novella-length prequel, no small feat indeed. less

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