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A Most Unsuitable Man

by Jo Beverley

reviewed by Cheryl Sneed

February 2005, 368 pages, Publisher: Signet, ISBN: 0451214234

I know I am predisposed to like any Jo Beverley novel I pick up; I like her multi-dimensional characters, her coherent storytelling, her sense of place and time. But sometimes even a well-loved author can still surprise you. I like every Jo Beverley novel I've read – but I loved this one.

Damaris Myddleton was raised in poverty only to find, upon her slightly demented mother's death, that she is now one of England's greatest heiresses. Determined to belong to the world in which she is suddenly thrust, she decides to buy herself an impoverished, titled husband. She is at a Christmas house party at Rothgar Abbey when the man she has decided upon, the Marquess of Ashart, declares himself to another (see Winter Fire) and Damaris behaves very badly in a very public setting. Humliated, she attempts to flee the scene the next morning only to be stopped by Octavius Fitzroger.

Fitz, best friend to the aforementioned Ashart, has been keeping Damaris occupied and out of Ashart's hair and has come to admire her strength of character. He convinces her to return and to put on a show of flirtation with him to show her unconcern for the defection of her would-be suitor and to gain some practice for her upcoming London Season. After sharing a passionate kiss that surprises them both, she agrees. Fitz also encourages her to petition Rothgar to act as her guardian in the place of her present one who is elderly, childless, and in-over-his-head. This he agrees to do and then sets about, in typical Rothgar fashion, to order and direct everyone's lives. Rothgar decrees that Damaris and Fitz will accompany Ashart and his fiancée to the Ashart family country home before moving on to London for the winter Season.

So the stage is set for all kinds of emotional drama. Damaris must accompany the man whom she wished to marry, and the woman who usurped her, to the home which would have been hers. Damaris is an intriguing character and a real one. She is willful and selfish, but with a longing for an acceptance that she doesn't really expect to receive. This underlying vulnerability makes us root for a person who is not terribly likeable at first glance. As she gains her footing and forges relationships, her confidence increases as does her determination to marry for love – to marry Fitz.

Fitz is very quickly besotted with Damaris, but though he is a Very Nice Man, he also really is a Most Unsuitable Man. He is a younger son with no money, no occupation and is estranged from his family due to some awful scandal which makes him unacceptable in most of the Polite World. He is also a man with an assignment. During his stint in the army, he quietly acted as bodyguard to some of Europe's most important men. Now he is safeguarding his friend Ashart whose life has been threatened, a difficult enough job, but when that threat spills over onto Damaris, he becomes almost wild with fear for her.

I cannot say enough good about this book. The assassination plot and the reasons behind it are complicated, but Beverley walks us through it in logical, interesting steps, making this story arc seamless and fascinating in its historic overtones. The battle between Fitz's determination to not fall in love or to act upon it and Damaris' insistence that she will have him is finely drawn. Both characters are true to their natures, which also means that each will make mistakes and say and do the wrong thing at times – especially Damaris. But the love and longing is always there and the sexual pull between them is vibrant.

The secondary characters are full-bodied without taking away from the leads. This book follows directly on the heels of the previous Winter Fire, but while Beverley builds upon the previous book, she also does a fine job of making this book stand on its own. It is not necessary to have read Winter Fire before reading A Most Unsuitable Man, though it is well worth your time. But this one is something special. Enjoy!

Reviewed by Cheryl Sneed, February 18, 2005