Historical
Finished Ondine by Heather Graham, and it’s very much an old-school historical romance in the fullest sense of the phrase. Gallows, rescue, chivalry, a heroine called Ondine. It doesn’t exactly whisper.
I can see why it works for some readers. The atmosphere is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and there’s a certain pleasure in a book that commits to the melodrama without apology. For me, the appeal was as much in the mood as anything else. The characters have enough spark to keep it moving, but this is not a subtle book. Sometimes that’s the point.
I can see why it works for some readers. The atmosphere is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and there’s a certain pleasure in a book that commits to the melodrama without apology. For me, the appeal was as much in the mood as anything else. The characters have enough spark to keep it moving, but this is not a subtle book. Sometimes that’s the point.
That premise is either catnip or a hard pass, which is fair enough. I’m interested in old-school historical romance when it is properly committed to the bit, but it lives or dies on whether the heroine feels like a person rather than a decorative storm cloud. The title alone does half the work here. I’d want to know if it’s all atmosphere and peril, or if there’s enough character underneath to make the melodrama matter.