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Caressa
Caressa Chiari Ruggerio, a young widow in Renaissance Italy, finds herself attracted to Dante de' Allesandro despite her vow never to marry again
463 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 10, 1990
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 29, 2020
Difficult to rate. This has the misfortune of straddling two romance-writing eras; the late 80s/early 90s were shifting away from no-holds-barred rapefests of the late 70s onward, but some authors were still trying to accommodate readers that preferred an older style with wild plots & cartoony villains, yet also tone down the hate!sex. It's unfortunate, because this would've benefited from the old skool approach -- rapey hero & onscreen violence included. Key unpleasantness was glossed over even tho it proved hugely important to the story (Caressa's rape, Giuliano's assassination); meanwhile Dante's reassuring honorableness sometimes felt forced, as did the dog's antics & the cute niece (zzzzz). But I liked Caressa, as well as her father, Dante's father, & Aristo the hunchback dwarf.
The pace, plot holes, & sometimes awkward prose earn it 3/3.5 stars, but I was invested & intrigued despite the flaws. Characters repeat personal revelations more than once, which contributes to the pacing issues, & there's a bit of 'As You Know, Bob' in the Lorenzo scenes, but in this case I can forgive some index-card convos; the Renaissance is woefully unrepresented in romantic fiction, so allowance must be made for those who have little exposure to the backdrop.
Overall, I can't quite nudge this to 4 stars, but it certainly isn't a bad book. There's a charming unrepentant cheesiness to the story, & I also liked the (not accidental?) undertones of Ann Radcliffe & other old skool Minerva Press potboilers, what with the evul clergyman, deformed dwarf, tunnels, feigned personas, vendettas, & repeated fail-schemes on the part of the villains. Yes, there are slow parts, but whenever the story hits a stride, it's entertaining...& you gotta love the Renaissance setting.
The pace, plot holes, & sometimes awkward prose earn it 3/3.5 stars, but I was invested & intrigued despite the flaws. Characters repeat personal revelations more than once, which contributes to the pacing issues, & there's a bit of 'As You Know, Bob' in the Lorenzo scenes, but in this case I can forgive some index-card convos; the Renaissance is woefully unrepresented in romantic fiction, so allowance must be made for those who have little exposure to the backdrop.
Overall, I can't quite nudge this to 4 stars, but it certainly isn't a bad book. There's a charming unrepentant cheesiness to the story, & I also liked the (not accidental?) undertones of Ann Radcliffe & other old skool Minerva Press potboilers, what with the evul clergyman, deformed dwarf, tunnels, feigned personas, vendettas, & repeated fail-schemes on the part of the villains. Yes, there are slow parts, but whenever the story hits a stride, it's entertaining...& you gotta love the Renaissance setting.
Displaying 1 of 1 review