No. 15: Rebelious Desire

Rebelious Desire by Julie Garwood

I am still set on re-reading all of Garwood's books to see if my hypothesis regarding the FMC's is true.If this book is a true representation of the rest of her books (and I hope it is not) than my hypothesis is 100% accurate. In this book, the FMC - Caroline - is summoned from the Colonies where she was sent by her father the Earl after an unfortunate shooting incident when she is 4. She grows up in America raised by her Aunt and Uncle as their own child and as a sister to her cousins. Now she is back in England. In one of the first scenes in the book, Caroline, her cousin Chastity and their black friend are riding in a carriage when they hear gunfire. Their groom flees and Caroline calmly approaches the scene of the shooting, there she finds some ruffians holding a carriage at gunpoint, a man in the carriage has been shot. Caroline, as calm as anything shoots the gun out of the hand of the bad guy - they run away - and she tends to the gunshot wound of the injured man. Nothing phases her, she is totally in control and collected.

Then, HE shows up and she turns into a nervous bubmling flighty wreck! Why Julie Garwood? Why? Some examples:

The FMC, to herself, when thinking about her dealings with the MMC, "What had happened to her control, her independence?"

And later, "Caroline continued to stare at him. A thousand thoughts flew through her mind but she wasn't able to catch a single one. She was, for the first time in her life, completely overwhelmed."

So, clearly, my hypothesis holds up thus far. But, I admit this is not one of my favorite Garwood books. First of all, it is set in the Regency Era (which I usually love) but is not one of Garwood's strong points. Secondly, I think the MMC is a bit of a jerk and a bully and I don't like him. Thirdly, it isn't in Scotland nor is there a single FBI agent or cowboy - those are Garwood's strong points. So not a winner, but it is proving my hypothesis so not a total loss!