Series: Turner #2
Author: Courtney Milan
Published: July 7, 2014
Genre(s): Romance: Historical
Page Count: 426
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Handsome, wealthy, and respected, Sir Mark Turner has made a name for himself as an upright moralist. But behind his virtuous reputation lies a hidden passion, one that he keeps in careful check... until he meets the beautiful Jessica Farleigh and discovers she is the one he's waited for all his life, to take to his bed and let into his heart.
But Jessica is a courtesan, not the respectable lady Sir Mark believes. When Mark’s enemies ask her to seduce him and destroy his good name, she agrees. The money they offer will allow her to escape a life that has become unbearable. But along the road to seduction, the worst happens: Jessica falls in love. The only way to win the freedom she needs is to destroy the most honorable man she’s ever met...
Time and time again, Courtney Milan absolutely kills it with her novels. I think at this point it’s safe to say she’s my favorite romance author of all time. Every book of hers that I’ve read is gold. Unclaimed, this second book in the Turner series, far surpasses the first book or the half-step novella that came in between. And surprisingly, this is a book that deals with tropes I actually kind of hate (i.e. lying and disguises). But, in typical Courtney Milan fashion, this novel takes my least favorite clichés and twists them in unexpected ways to just do things to my heart.
So, the story sounds kind of bad just on paper. Mark is a Victorian celebrity after writing a book on chastity; Jessica is a courtesan desperate for money. She’s offered a grand sum to deflower Mark, so she sets off to seduce him. Then they fall in love. Then complications. Then Happily Ever After.
I realize this sounds unbearably cliché and bad, but you just have to trust Courtney Milan to stay far, far away from anything corny or tropey. You think you know where Unclaimed is going, but then Mark and/or Jessica does something completely unexpected but also completely in character and you just fall in love with the two of them and Milan’s creativity all over again. I mean, I’m sure it’s hard to write a new twist whilst dealing with centuries’s old conventions (and it’s also why I’m convinced that romance is the hardest genre to write effectively), but Milan does it. And I love that she honors traditional genre conventions even as she finds ways to subvert them. Her style of romance is completely different than anything else I’ve encountered.
Um, just, also: in this book, Mark, the male lead, is one of the most vocal and hardcore feminists I’ve ever encountered. He respects women, he likes women, and, more than that, he uses his privilege to champion them. As he says, “there are no fallen women—just look for the man who pushed her”. Though he’s not quite there, Unclaimed’s Mark made serious inroads in claiming my top spot on my Favorite Milan Character ranking. What a guy, that Mark.
And, of course, this is not to take the spotlight away from our female protagonist, Jessica! She is a shining example of what society does to a “fallen woman”. She’s been abandoned by her family, abused, nearly killed, and impoverished. It might be easy to villainize her, since she lies to and deceives Mark, but honestly, what other choice did she have? It was a choice between seducing him for money or something worse. Like any Milan book, Unclaimed is about more than just the romance—it’s also about the female lead’s journey (and, sometimes, the male lead’s). Jessica in this book is mired in self-loathing and shame, but she’s incredibly strong for all of that. Also, she shoots a gun like a boss.
All this to say: Unclaimed is fan-freaking-tastic. Unique plotline, wonderful characters, sizzly chemistry. Courtney Milan has, unsurprisingly, done it again.