Grade: B-

I have the same problem with this book as I did with the previous Bonnie Dee book that I reviewed. It ends too neatly. Bonnie Dee sets up a complex world with complex characters who have complex feelings, yet at the end of the day, everyone is pretty much happy-happy-joy-joy. Romance novels require an Happily Ever After, I know, but when the author sets up world where a reader like myself can get emotionally and mentally involved, then ends it in a way that leaves me unsatisfied… well, that’s just not cool. This story has a heroine who is a noblewoman who becomes a slave and is brutalized and raped and all it takes to fix it is for the Emperor to wave his wand and make everything okay? What is the emotional impact of the rape on the heroine? How does it affect her relationship with the hero? I was actually taken back with the way the author resolves that plot point because it is a goddamn big deal. As it is, it just felt like… the heroine fell down and the hero helped her up and brushed off the dirt from her butt. This story is only 59 pages and I know there are probably word count restrictions, but surely there could have been a way to end this without making it seem like the most major problems were swept under a rug?

Our heroine, Helena, was a noblewoman in Thracia a really, really long time ago. She was married to a powerful man and her husband had owned a great estate. When he died, the Proconsul (I think that’s some kind of mayor) decided that Helena will be his new chew-toy. When Helena refuses, the Proconsul has her lands seized and Helena herself is kidnapped and sold into slavery. The guy who buys her, Quintus, is a Roman officer who gives her as a present to Lucius, an up and coming soldier. Lucius doesn’t want to have sex with her because he won’t have sex with slaves and promises that he will return her to Thracia and have her lands returned to her as soon as he can. Meanwhile, she can help out around the house and hang out with his other slave and friend, Magnus. The three of them hang out (without having sex), have dinners together, and play dice to pass the time (how quaint!). Lucius gets injured, Helena tends to him, they get a little touchy-touchy, then they get to the sexin’. The two of them become lovey-lovey, then Lucius has to leave, and Helena gets raped by the bad guys. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius fixes everything, Helena and Lucius get what they want, and that’s it.

This story could have been set at any time and any place. The fact that it is set in Rome during the time when Rome was still the reigning power of the world means nothing. There is nothing to anchor it there and the setting itself doesn’t seem to have any significance. I was rather put off by the modern vernacular. Lucius even tells Helena to “relax”. I’m not a nit-picker, but I found myself taken back by it. I just couldn’t get into the period because Bonnie Dee doesn’t fully set up the atmosphere for me (and I know she can do it). It doesn’t feel like the Roman times and Helena and Lucius don’t feel like they’re people from that time.

The most important aspect of the story, of course, is the relationship of Lucius and Helena. Bonnie Dee has a talent for writing such gentle, considerate, yet strong male characters and we see that in Lucius here. He is offered a female slave, yet he won’t take her because he is not the kind of man who would sleep with an unwilling woman. Because he knows what will happen to her if he released her into the camp, however, he takes her into his home where he treats her kindly. He is attracted to her and even though he can pretty much do anything to her and no one will say anything about it, he doesn’t take advantage of her. He encourages her to talk about her past, as well as her life in Thracia… he’s just an all around sweet guy.

As for Helena, she is just a woman trying to survive. She’s the kind of person who just rolls with the punches. Even though she is a slave, she is not stupid enough to run away because she knows that worse things could happen to her out there. She accepts her fate and makes the best of it, even though she would like nothing more than to go home. The friendship that develops between her and Lucius is wonderful and I wish this book had been longer so that we could have seen more of it. I really believed that a true relationship could happen for these two people and that they could have withstood anything.

My biggest issue with this story is how the rape of Helena was resolved. This was a strong, proud woman who was violated and brutalized, yet we don’t really see how it affects her emotionally. I would have liked to see more internal monologue on Helena’s part after the fact and read about how she felt about it. When Lucius springs to her defense and is arrested for it, Helena doesn’t hesitate to act and pleads his case to the Emperor himself. After that, the story is pretty much resolved. We don’t see the after-effects of the rape on Lucius’ and Helena’s relationship or how they deal with it. They talk about it a little bit and move on. It just didn’t seem characteristic for the two of them since they spend the earlier part of their courtship just talking and getting to know each other. I would have thought that Helena’s rape would have had a deeper emotional resonance with the two of them.

Other than that, this story is worth reading if only for the relationship between Helena and Lucius. It is a shame that characterization was set aside in the end for a more plot-driven piece ’cause I think Bonnie Dee would have had another winner here. The deus ex machina ending really didn’t work for me and I wish Dee would have focused more on Helena’s thoughts and emotions. I would have also liked a deeper sense of the time as well as the setting. I can’t recommend it as passionately as I recommended Bone Deep, but it’s still a good read.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 13th, 2006 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Books, Grade: B, Romance: Historical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.