The Carhart Series
Ratings2
Average rating1.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating1.5
Courtney Milan's Carhart series is now available in one boxed set. This set contains two full-length books and a novella. This Wicked Gift: Lavinia Spencer is too poor to be anything but practical. But when her younger brother lands himself in trouble, she has no choice but to do the unthinkable. She accepts the help of the dishonorable man that she's always wanted, even knowing that it might mean her ruination... Proof by Seduction: When Gareth Carhart discovers that his vulnerable young cousin is seeing a fortune teller, he vows to prove her a fraud. But he soon discovers that Jenny Keeble is far more than she appears to be, and before he knows it, he's caught in her spell... Trial by Desire: Lady Kate Carhart has no use for the husband who left her years ago. But when he returns, disrupting her carefully-laid plans, she has no choice but to distract him...any way she can. This is an enhanced ebook. In addition to the text of the book itself, it contains pictures, audio, and author commentary. You can read this enhanced ebook on any device, but the audio content may not be accessible on all ereaders. That content has been made available on the web, so you won't miss anything if your device doesn't support audio.
Featured Series
1 primary book2 released booksCarhart is a 1-book series first released in 2009 with contributions by Courtney Milan.
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CW: sexual assault
Lavinia and William start a ‘relationship' because William overhears a conversation between Lavina and her brother which indicates they need to produce 10 pounds or face imprisonment. Thus, William coerces Lavinia into sex by buying up her brother's debt and insisting she pay with her body.
For me, there was no redeeming William or the book after that. Unless he became a true champion of female rights who helped ensure fewer women had to be in Lavinia's position, I was always going to hate him. Additionally, I feel like Milan doesn't address the rape as she should. The resolution is too pat and fails to really contend with how awful his actions were. Apparently, he doesn't really coerce her because her brother was a minor and thus she didn't really need to pay the 10 pounds. But he didn't know that, and that's the important bit here. He selfishly exploits her vulnerability with no regard for her personhood and instead of being the villain of this story, he is the hero. In fact, by the end, he has both a better job and the woman he has always fantasised about (I won't insult love by suggesting that he loves her). At one point, he tells her he's not the man for her and she replies with: I knew that the minute you tried to coerce me into bed. This should have been the end. Honestly, this would have been a 5-star novella if the book had ended here and they never got together.
I believe that this book should never have been a novella. In order to truly rehabilitate a character as despicable as William, Milan needed at least 320 pages. This is Milan's first effort and it obviously lacks the nuance that she now brings to most of her stories (even the novellas).
