Sweet Disorder

2024 reread: I can't believe this is my first reread. This was even better on reread.

I love the ending - it's not neat and tidy: Phoebe's sister and Mr. Gilchrist end up alright but Nick's relationship with his family is still very strained and there is little hope that this will change anytime soon. I appreciate this because families are complicated! Sometimes your family harms you in unforgivable ways and reconciliation is not possible. I think too often authors are quick to provide an undeserved reconciliation wrap-up - it's maybe a little more difficult to accept an ending where people's lives reflect reality. I also think Lerner was smart to end the book with Phoebe and Nick working (as in having jobs lol, what a concept!) - show more there's no reward of wealth here, instead we get two people who are making a go of it, rebuilding their own sense of family and belonging.

first read:The thing with Rose Lerner's books is there will be lines like this: "The rest of the dress lay crumpled on the table. It didn't lie entirely flat. The bodice in particular was still stretched, hinting very gently that it had last night contained the most splendid bosom in Sussex," and then my day is ruined because these are such lovely observations. Sigh. show less

*Not so much a book review as me blathering about my favorite themes and passages from the book

You all did not lead me astray! This was really good, there were some pacing problems in the beginning for me, I like my main couple to be more centric and interacting with one another, but the second half implemented that more and very well. This author's style felt like a cross between Courtney Milan (use of underlining themes and heroines) and Grace Burrowes (full framework of world and secondary characters). There were so many themes in this book that I want to start a book club just so I can discuss them all.

Economic status implications and noble poor myth

"I didn’t choose Jack for his money.”
“There’s nothing petty or show more self-interested in worrying about money,” Phoebe said sharply. “It isn’t easy being poor.” Miss Jessop couldn’t know what it was like, to worry you wouldn’t be able to pay the grocer’s bill next month. To kiss your husband’s forehead and feel that he had a fever, and to have to decide whether to call the doctor, and what you could sell to pay him.

Our heroine Phoebe is a bit brusque, yes, but she's pretty honest with herself, which others can't always handle. When the town rich girl wants to marry Phoebe's less monetary endowed brother-in-law, Phoebe doesn't see "love" through rose colored glasses and tries to share some realism with Miss Jessop.

Acclimating back into civilian life and how to live with the emotional/psychological impact of war

And he believed her; she wanted to know. So few people did. They wanted to shut their eyes and their ears---But was that true? Or was it only what he had told himself, because he didn’t want to tell the story? Would his brothers really have flinched back? His friends from school, his fellow officers? Hell, some of them had asked him, and he’d ignored them or played it off with a joke.

Our hero has been to war and as with many a soldier, he doesn't know how to fit into his new role in life. He doesn't think civilians really want to hear or can handle hearing his stories but when our heroine asks, he begins to see that maybe at least this one person does and that maybe he needs to tell these stories, just as it’s important that civilians hear them.

Family dynamics

“You were good company.” Tony ducked his head shyly. “If you’ve ever a mind to come again, you’d be welcome. Not that you’d probably want to, I know it’s a dashed odd way to spend one’s time, but---“
Just like that, it was all worth it. “I’d love to,” he said, and meant it.

Love wasn’t selfless, and it wasn’t selfish either. Love was equality. It was saying that another person’s self was just as important as yours, and expecting them to feel the same way.

Family dynamics were a huge part of this story and they were there in all their messy glory. No one is an island and even though our couple falls in love and want to be together, their world is messy. This was where the author really shined for me, the character dynamics felt real and were rooted in my favorite color, grey.

People are all the same and in this together

He felt the way he had talking to Miss Jessop or to Mrs. Sparks’s friends---the sudden realization that he wasn’t the only one. He wasn’t Childe Harold with his unfathomable, solitary pain. He was just a man, with ordinary human problems that plenty of other people shared. It was lowering, maybe, but it was a relief.

I don't want to give the impression that there isn't much romance in this book, because there is and the couple's relationship is pretty heartwarming and heated with their open communication sex scenes but there was so much more to the story. The cost of war and family/mother issues I touched on, along with grief, the wild notion that a man and woman can be friends (heroine and brother-in-law) and how two imperfect individuals and their flaws, can make a perfect story. show less

Very early in the book we find out why the author’s title is so spot-on. ‘Sweet Disorder’ is a tale of two extremely complex and very independent people who are set in their ways and while the heroine knows and accepts some of her perceived faults, she’s still hopeful for her future. Our hero on the other hand is someone who is filled with self-doubt, and would rather stay out of any conflict and do his family’s bidding more so because he hates to make waves, and not out of duty or even love.

While many authors give us dukes, earls and marquesses (not that anything’s wrong with that!), Rose Lerner digs up Nick, a war hero dealing with a constant pain in his leg, a mother that is domineering, intrusive and politics-mad, and a show more younger brother who’s a rising Whig star, on the outside.

She also has no qualm when it comes to giving us a heroine that’s anything but your average ‘English Rose’. Phoebe is a bit on the ‘plump’ side, sweet and sensual at the same time. She also has a lot of problems as she’s juggling to please everyone but herself. There’s her mother who never stops criticizing anything she says or does, and her younger sister who relies on Phoebe for guidance and support as she deals with her problems.

Both Nick and Phoebe have done the only thing they could to deal with their families, and stay true to themselves, so they chose to escape the vicious cycle by going to war, for Nick and marriage for Phoebe.

And then we have this interesting plot of ‘marriage for the sake of the vote’ which was stunning to me. I’ve never heard of it! Through that plot we are introduced to a few ‘secondary’ or as I sometimes call them ‘side’ characters who are entertaining in themselves, like Mr. Moon, Phoebe’s potential Whig suitor; Toogood, Nick’s valet; Sukey, Phoebe’s part-time maid; Robert Fairclough, Phoebe’s Tori suitor and Mr. Gilchrist, an ‘oily’ Tori who in the end turned out to be a gentleman of his word.

I loved everything about this story, but what I loved the best is the way the author portrayed the relationship between Nick and Phoebe, and the characters themselves. I adored the ‘growth’ of both, their honesty and rawness was painful as much as pleasurable. When it comes to creating real characters, Rose Lerner is the master. She gives her heroes and heroines as many ‘warts’ as she can find, and then ‘cleanses’ them with mutual love and passion, so that I may learn from them and possibly accept my own warts and cleanse myself as well.

I hope you give this author a try and read her stories as she creates intelligent yet flawed characters who are willing to learn from their mistakes and therefore grow into wonderful and loving beings.

*Melanie for b2b

*Complementary copy provided by the author show less

Super points for an unusual Regency setting, a really unusual Regency plot, a disabled* main dude, a (unapologetic) fat main lady, a disabled* side lady, and nary a duke in sight. I'm rating up to 4 instead of down to 3 for that stuff even though I didn't actually "really like" it. I'm not really a fan of the writing style, unfortunately. I will try another of this author's books for sure, hopefully one that will click a little better for me.

*The disabled folks are regular folks who happen to have disabilities and not just Inspirational Angels or Embittered Jerks. I think that Lerner writes about them in a way that is respectful, but I'm not an expert.

This story had an interesting premise. A widow is courted by both the Tories and the Whigs - not for her vote but so she could marry a man who would then become a freeman and allowed to vote. While the story had the usual romantic plot - it was the whole idea of the lengths people would go to to win an election.
I really enjoyed reading this. the heroine, Phoebe was smart and sassy and willing to do whatever she needed not to take care of herself but to take care of her sister.
I look forward to reading more books in this series.

An interesting take on political shenanigans--I really enjoyed having the details about the elections as a backdrop to the romance of the story of Phoebe Sparks. Many twists and turns, and also an interesting examination of love, family, expectations, and sibling relationships. Looking back on it, it's really amazing how much Lerner did cover in just this one book. The plot and characters are well developed and interesting--I will definitely read more by her!

Recommended read. I enjoyed the unusual setting of Regency-era election customs (including vote buying) well-drawn characters and thoughtful dialogue.