My Beautiful Enemy

O_o! Atwood and Ying-Ying are back, and they are all grown up and very dangerous! Such a delicious story, full of spies, political intrigues and serious heartbreak. Reminded me a bit of Mr and Mrs. Smith, the main characters are so capable and confident. Throughout the story which involves quite a few years and couple of continents it's Atwood who is more vulnerable and desperate to find his love, and Catherine who is reticent and stoic. Really, really loved it, and recommend it to almost anyone but the most cynical reader.

Picking up where The Hidden Blade started, My Beautiful Enemy chronicles how Ying-Ying and Leighton Atwood met, fell in love, fell apart, reunited, and came back together. It's a beautiful, moving story while also touching on a lot social and political topics that would have been relevant to the time period, setting it apart from other romance novels. The blended wuxi (Chinese martial arts novel) and romance novel elements worked really harmoniously together, and I highly recommend this book, with some caveats.

When you meet Ying-Ying/Catherine Blade and Leighton Atwood, the two are already exes. Their reunion is bittersweet, and the way it's described - Ying-Ying is shocked that she didn't succeed in killing him after all - only makes show more me want to read on further. Honestly, I don't think this story could've worked any other way. Leighton was always dignified and honorable with regards to his fiancee while slowly falling back in love with Ying-Ying. For her part, Ying-Ying was equal parts devoted to her work and to Leighton. Their emotions were palpable, and I really felt for them. The writing between these two is well done!

This book stands apart from other romance novel because of the strong wuxia elements threaded throughout the story. Ying-Ying's commitment to her mission and her devotion to her blended family is unique to Eastern cultures, but it's no less poignant for being unfamiliar. Even though I didn't grow up in the same structures or with the same values, I felt how torn Ying-Ying was between personal desire and duty. For his part, Leighton had the same dilemmas, and while this initially tore them apart, it also brought them back together. It really was quite fulfilling.

So, what are my caveats? Well, readers may recognize this story, as it is very heavily "inspired" by the wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, if Ziyi Zhang's character then went to England in the latter half of the story. The whole cave scenes were pretty much lifted straight from the movie, complete with bandits. Rest assured. As this is a romance novel, it ends on a happier note than the film does.

Another point that irritated me is the character of Leighton Atwood's fiancée, Miss Chase. She seemed well-written until it was no longer convenient for her to be so. Miss Chase starts out as a sweet yet intelligent woman who very much cares for Leighton yet recognizes she is losing him to Catherine Blade (Ying-Ying). When this happens, she doesn't meekly stand aside or fall in love with someone else, which is typical of romance novels to absolve the hero of guilt. Miss Chase fights to keep Leighton in the ways that would've been socially acceptable for her to do so. Yet, Thomas falls victim to tired romance tropes, and if Miss Chase can't be an angel, she must be a devil in disguise. Without explanation, she is turned into a villain and then summarily dismissed as someone who only wanted Leighton's money, despite there never being any evidence to this. It felt very cheap, lazy, and it really derailed the story for me.

I know the prequel is only a novella, but I highly recommend reading it before this novel. There are lots of characters and references in the prequel that really aid in understanding this novel. You could read this as a standalone, but you would miss so much of the growth and sacrifice of these characters if you read them out of order. The two stories together create a wonderful and compelling story with a heartfelt romance at its core. show less

The sequel to The Hidden Blade, although it can be read separately. The Hidden Blade does however explain certain things about the core characters and their motivations - and provides a certain level of depth to the story that would be lacking without it. Read together - it's a good story. Both lack something without the other.

This is the romance between Leighton Atwood and Catherine (Ying-Ying) Blade, the characters introduced in the previous novel. And unlike The Hidden Blade, the focus is on the romance. It is not erotica and there are no explicit sex scenes. So readers who require that sort of thing, will be disappointed.
The focus here is more on fight scenes, of which we get several. And the exploration of the characters feelings show more for each other, and how they fell in love. Thomas excels at the reunited lover's trope - examining why it didn't work out, and how years later they somehow come back together again. Older and wiser.

Thomas also excels at subverting trite and true romance gender tropes, and flipping the roles, while examining along the way how women have been treated and what they had to do to survive. In addition she does an excellent job (in the first book, The Hidden Blade, less so here) of depicting a loving homosexual relationship torn apart by religious intolerance and cruelty. And demonstrating the differences between the Chinese and British cultures, neither come off well - the British are homophobic and cruel, as well as a bit small minded, yet women in Britain have more freedom in some respects than women in China. Both cultures abuse power and both make mistakes in the name of nationalism - this is demonstrated in both books. Thomas is not quite subtle about it, but she doesn't hammer you over the head either.

Here - the female character, Catherine Blade is the fighter, hard edges, brooding, scarred, and world-weary - while Leighton is far more temperate, a dancer, and the nurturer, good at languages, and clever. Also, Catherine's on the quest, while Leighton supports her and waits until she's completed it.
Often it is the opposite.

At the end, a sweet romance off the beaten path. show less

Recommended for historical romance fans who also like warrior women and a little wuxia. To be honest, I think I actually liked the first volume (The Hidden Blade, sort of a prequel) a little better. I liked this a lot, although the ending telegraphed itself in a few key ways, and the author really simplified the villains and heroes and victims toward the end in a way that I think dis-served the earlier characterizations. I rarely say this, but the story could have been expanded by 20% or so to have a richer and emotionally deeper conclusion.

After the fabulous opening the story dragged a little so it took me a while to get pulled all the way back in, a good 60 pages or so. But from there on out it was thrilling, albeit tinged with melancholy. The intrigue is good and the fight scenes are gripping: I would dearly love to watch this movie, filmed on location as it would need to be.

Library copy

I really enjoyed the characters, the adventure, and the mystery. It had a lot of great plot points. I feel like some of them were hastily resolved I would have read an even longer book that didn't have everything tied up with a bow.

Loved the story, romance was"romantic" but lacked the punch I've come to expect... More later. Maybe. I next to think.

Loose threads...3.5 rounding up.