After the Storm by Claudy Conn #review

Publisher -  Fawcett; 1st Print

Published -  November 12, 1976

Pages -  252 

Electronic Publication -  February 3, 2013

Sold by -  Amazon Digital Services LLC

Listed As -  British, Drama & Plays, Arts & Photography, Literature & Fiction, Gothic

Genre -  Regency

Sexual Content -  3/5

Language -  Irrelevant

Narrative -  3rd P

No matter what her family and friends say, Jenny knows she will never fall in love again. How can she, when her childhood sweetheart was one of the countless killed at Waterloo?
So when the Earl of Danfield proposes a marriage of convenience, it seems the perfect solution. He will secure his inheritance, and she will be spared the necessity of being paraded in society, forced to dance and flirt and do all the things her broken heart cannot do. His proposal will give her what she wants most. Peace.
But peace is the last thing she finds in her marriage. Her growing attraction to the earl brings with it guilt that she’s betraying her beloved Johnny. Her mother-in-law considers her an interloper. Her husband’s former lover makes it clear she doesn’t want it to be former. And when a supposed prank nearly kills her, Jenny has to wonder—now that the earl’s inheritance is assured, has she become an inconvenience to be eliminated?

Once I discovered this is, in fact, a reprint from 1979 to modern-day Electronica, I had to re-think my review for this one.

It isn't fair to fault the author for Amazon's having hired a Chimp to retype this for the Kindle crowd, is it?

Do people get PAID to offer their typing service, because if so, where the HELL do I sign up?

On with the review...

This is about a young woman who loses the love of her life to the Boor War and spends an entire year mourning that loss.

Then, along comes our dashing Hero on his trusty steed, who nearly kills Jennifer after she scales a picket fence in full Regency regalia, and directly in front of the path of our galloping Hero's horse.

How she didn't know a rider approached is beyond me.

He steals a kiss, she gets pissed at him, and then they are both forced to have to suffer one another's company at a soon-to-be-held house party in the gallant Hero's honor.

He has to find a bride before he turns 30 or say bye-bye to his inheritance, and Jennifer's good friend, though younger, is anxious to get the marriage thing over and done with so she can begin to live the life she's always dreamed of living... aka- whoring.

However, our dashing Hero isn't interested in Lavina anymore and wants 'Jenny' for his bride.

She's reluctant to agree to any form of 'arrangement' because of her undying love for her dead love (I say love as opposed to loveR because she and Johnny were childhood friends turned sweethearts, but in the most innocent sense of the word).

Still, the Earl is determined to have his way and woos 'Jenny' into agreeing to a marriage of convenience.

He takes her to his ancestral home... a castle in Devon, and there she discovers a run-down, abused place with dull, gray walls and the ever-present wicked stepmother at her heels.

Not much ever really occurs in this story.

The romance isn't really romantic, but the Earl did say and do a few chivalrous things to make the reader side with him in his tireless endeavor to make 'Jenny' come to him willingly.

Sadly, I do not know how much of this original work was 'updated' to 'suit' the 'modern' audience, but I was disappointed to have to read yet another Regency with the meet-greet-sweep-weep device employed.

The whole story wraps up within a few weeks of their first meeting.

A hasty marriage agreed upon, planned, and undertaken in less than a week's time.

The 3-day carriage ride to the castle.

Meeting the staff and stepmother, along with the Earl's half-brother, someone named Howard, a governess who kept eyeing the Earl but who slept with the half-brother and then ran off with Howard.

In between all of the will they/won't they that is eventually answered in, of all places, a secret tunnel inside the castle... there are 3 separate plots to eliminate not just 'Jenny', but the Earl as well.

Some guy nicknamed Mac, whose name is actually William McMillan (that would be MICK, wouldn't it? Another Irish name being pawned off as Scottish) was with Johnny during the war and promised to take care of 'Jenny' after Johnny met his untimely demise.

He arrives at the castle claiming he has to take care of Father's business nearby.

Then there is Hermoine, an ex-lover of the Earl, who keeps popping up to annoy 'Jenny' and make her shed tears of 'anger' and cry 'unfaithful' even when she and her Earl hubby haven't consummated their vows yet.

Oddities

At the beginning, 'Jenny's' father and aunt are arranging for her 'out' to occur in London, and then it is suddenly occurring in another place entirely.

“Next week, we shall leave for London, (6%)
off to Brighton for the Season. (8%)
a London Season. (26%)

Another oddity that occurs has to do with a secret tunnel.

Our reluctant bride can't wait for her overly handsome husband to 'take' her, and soon after he has finally shown her where the secret Priest's Tunnel is inside the castle.

A bit later on, and shortly after 'Jenny' has had her first serious mishap on the castle grounds, she sees an odd cluster of trees near the old greenhouse and goes exploring, discovering an iron door in the ground.

She is stunned and refers to it as The Secret Priest's Tunnel.

Which ends up being nothing more than a few yards' journey underground, leading her directly inside the greenhouse.

Very confusing, but again, I am at a loss as to its being the fault of the author or the person who retyped this for the Kindle.

AND, more importantly, how much of the original story, if anything, did that re-typer choose to embellish, update, or leave out altogether.

Unless I can get my hands on the original copy, I'll never know.

YOGURT and CORNSTALKS

I had to go online and research these two topics that came up in this Regency England story.

The only thing I could find of the slightest help included a 'maybe/maybe not' story about some sixteenth-century French king being cured with a Constantinople sheep farmer's yogurt production.

Yogurt didn't make its way to our fair shores until the turn of the twentieth century, so I find it a little hard to believe a product like yogurt was so readily available in Regency England.

As for Maize, the jury is still out on this one because while we tend to 'assume' Columbus brought the kernels back to Spain after his voyage, it isn't as likely that the crop spread as rapidly (or took as easily) to most soils.

At the time of this story, England referred to most grain crops as 'corn' while Americans still referred to it as Maize.

Very Confused!

Another oddity occurred when it kept gnawing at me that I'd read something quite similar to this story before.

No, not the original.

I am thinking it was the Earl's sister's story, but I have no record of having ever read a Regency Romance by either Claudette Williams or Claudy Conn.

I do recall reading a Regency Romance about twins and a totally effed-up father who treated their mother like crap and had all kinds of lurid affairs.

(which are eluded to in this story)

The twins eventually discover they have a half-brother and even meet their father's 'true love', the half-brother's mother.

(in this story, however, she is their stepmother)

The sister hates the whole thing while struggling to accept HER fast-as-lightning marriage to yet another hot, young Duke itching to get his hands on his father's fortune, but only if he weds by a set date/time.

I know I read that book.

Her father ends up dying right in front of her, after telling her how much he hated and despised her and her mother.

I thought I wrote a report on that novel, but maybe not?

Anyway, there is zero indication of this being a series or that this is book two of two.

And yet...

So, to sum the whole thing up, I was prepared to write this one off as being yet, another zero-romance/zero-plot, and zero-intrigue romance set in Regency England, and with the fast-becoming stale trope of his having to wed REAL SOON and her wanting to go along with it for WHATEVER reason.

Extremely unoriginal and boring.

Just really, REALLY dying to get my hands on the original copy so I can put all these unanswered questions to rest!

Either the original author or the Kindle Typist have an odd grasp of the English language because more often than not, the wording forced me to re-read sentences in order to understand what was written.

visibly was relieved
didn’t want ever to
was then doing the polite once more

The earl looked about to say something, but Lavvy waved off Jenny’s objection

He took her into his arms and patted her back.

that was because she and Johnny were just meant.

Along with some really stupid doubles.

Perhaps she hadn’t heard footsteps, perhaps?
as though they were alone, as though no one else were in the room.
and swiped away a mass of hair away from his eyes.
this is close enough. He should be here soon enough,”

And the ever-present mistakes.

The stopped short
“I know that Howard said he was has headed for Dover,”
In a manner of moments,
Brad was already at the Jason’s saddle,
and took his both arms to gasp and declare,
hold told her

And finally, the one that made me laugh.

his immediate and physical reaction to her was a hard-on.