If Ever I Should Love You by Cathy Maxwell

Narrated by Mary Jane Wells

Given my disappointment with Cathy Maxwell’s last series (Marrying the Duke), I wasn’t sure I was going to read or listen to any of her new Spinster Heiresses novels, but Mary Jane Wells’ name on the cover meant that I couldn’t resist picking up book one for review. If Ever I Should Love You proved to be a stronger book than any in Ms. Maxwell’s previous series, telling the story of a couple with a shared secret in their past which has affected them both profoundly in very different ways. The author tackles some difficult issues with insight and sensitivity as our hero and heroine discover that secrets thought long buried have a way of bleeding through into the present.

Former army officer Roman Gilchrist inherited the earldom of Rochdale on the death of his uncle, and is dismayed to discover that the title is an empty one (i.e., there is no money to go with it) and that he is expected to honour his uncle’s massive gaming debts. Without the funds to do that, or to run his Somerset estate of Bonhomie, Roman has no alternative but to consider marring a wealthy heiress – after all, it’s a common enough practice for men in his situation. The idea sticks in Roman’s craw, but he listens grudgingly to his solicitor – who is also his godfather – extolling the virtues of the three so-called ‘Spinster Heiresses’, three attractive, extremely wealthy young women who are still unmarried because their fathers are holding out for a duke or marquess – but who might accept the holder of one of the oldest titles in England even though he is a mere earl. Roman’s ears prick up when he hears the name of the last of the three – Miss Leonie Charnock. Miss Charnock is beautiful, charming and rich as Croesus, but she is also the woman responsible for ruining Roman’s army career; he was serving in India when they first met, and he killed a fellow officer in a duel over her. Recalling her loveliness, Roman admits it will be no hardship to marry a woman he finds attractive – and deciding that Leonie owes him, Roman determines to marry her. Or rather, to marry her money.

Leonie doesn’t want to marry, and even if she did, Roman Gilchrist would be the last man she would choose. He is the only person who knows the truth of what happened in India (the duel was a story Roman concocted in order to save Leonie’s reputation) and of Leonie’s shame, and she doesn’t want an ever-present reminder of the night that changed her life forever. But it seems she is to have no choice in the matter. Roman has (as was the custom) already spoken to her father and gained his consent to their marriage; all Leonie can do is try to get him to agree to a white marriage (a sexless union) and every time she tries to broach the subject he evades the question.

Leonie’s reasons for not wanting to marry and for trying to avoid physical intimacy are fairly obvious and are explained early on in the story. Roman is fully aware of them, so rather than plunging listeners into a tortuous round of misunderstandings the novel focuses on the aftermath and how those events continue to affect Leonie and sour her relationship with her new husband. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say that Leonie’s problem is not one often found in historical romance – I don’t think I’ve ever come across a heroine with this particular issue – and that the author handles this storyline well, first of all showing Leonie in denial and then not afraid to show that in spite of her determination to fix things, it’s not easy and that she makes mistakes along the way. She’s not always easy to like and seems, sometimes, as though she is bent on self-destruction, but she is a troubled young woman with a shedload of emotional baggage – not only over what happened in India, but because being the only child of self-absorbed parents who barely remember her existence has deprived her of any sort of real affection – and as such, her thought-processes and actions, even when they are ill-conceived, make sense.

Roman is a lovely hero, a decent, honourable man who takes his responsibilities to his title and dependents seriously, loves his family and wants to do right by them, and who genuinely wants to create a home and family with Leonie. It’s true that perhaps his initial reasoning – “she owes me for ruining my life, so I’ll marry her for her money” – doesn’t paint him in the best of lights, but marrying for money happened frequently, and Roman is both completely up-front about his motivations and far from the least gracious of the heroes I’ve come across when faced with such circumstances. In a neat bit of role-reversal, in this story it’s the heroine with the dark, tortured past and the hero who eventually helps her to leave it behind, but it’s not easy for either of them and I can’t deny that there are times when Roman could – and should – have been more supportive of Leonie. But he’s struggling, too, with the possibility that the woman he’s married and fallen in love with is someone he may never be able to trust and ultimately their HEA is hard-won and well-deserved.

As I said at the outset, narrator Mary Jane Wells is the main reason I picked up this audio for review, and she doesn’t disappoint, delivering another enjoyable and accomplished performance all-round. Her pacing in both narrative and dialogue is excellent, as is her character differentiation; in the scenes in which Leonie appears with her two fellow Spinster Heiresses, there is never any question as to which of the ladies is speaking as they are all rendered very distinctly from one another. Ms. Wells’ interpretation of Leonie is particularly good; she expertly conveys her vulnerability as well as her stubbornness and strength of character, especially later in the book when Leonie has to find that strength and draw on it if she is to become the woman she has realised she wants to be. Roman sounds suitably and attractively masculine; sometimes he’s a little overbearing, but in the quieter, more introspective or emotional moments, Ms. Wells adopts a softer, more subtly nuanced tone that clearly shows the depth of his concern for Leonie and his frustration that he doesn’t know what to do to help her. The other secondary characters are all appropriately characterised, and the slightly slurred manner of speech she adopts to portray Leonie’s father – who is almost always partially foxed – works perfectly. It’s a well-judged, expressive performance and one I greatly enjoyed, although a handful of odd and sometimes inconsistent mispronunciations led me to knock my narration grade down a little. That aside, I was pleased with the overall result in terms of both story and performance, and If Ever I Should Love You (I really hope Alan Jay Lerner isn’t turning in his grave!) earns a recommendation from this listener.

Caz