Marvelous Monroes #1
“Pentercasts are Pentercasts. And we do not associate with Pentercasts.”
Widow Monroe
My True Love Gave to Me has a cute concept, and it works very well. The gifts are very inventive and entertaining. Sadly, the ongoing lack of communication between the lead characters spoiled the story for me.
Gen is a sweet, vivacious woman who is drowning under the weight of keeping her family together. Her mother and sister do nothing to help as they blithely/maliciously ignore their financial situation. Her stress levels only go higher when Alan talks her into a wager that could keep her family from starving or see her married to a man she doesn’t think loves her. I loved the glimpses of what she is like when not stressed out, but I entirely understand her anxiety.
Alan, despite internally claiming that he loves Gen, is horrible about showing it. His initial wager gets Gen’s hackles up, and her opinion of him slides downhill from there. Instead of trying to talk to Gen or reach out to her when it’s clear that she’s not enjoying the gifts, he gets gruff and huffy about it. It’s only after he snaps at Gen when she is trying to help after a disaster strikes his estate that he shows any genuine tenderness towards her. It’s not a wonder that Gen believes that he doesn’t love her.
The gifts are the most unique part of the book. Some of them were very charming, like how Alan snuck the three French hens into Gen’s house. The twelve lords leaping was also very amusing as the ladies were leaping as well. Others were disappointing with the execution. I liked the form of the five gold rings, but Gen and I were both disappointed with Alan’s presentation.
I liked parts of the book, but nothing elevated it above a mediocre offering. I would be interested in reading other books based on this idea, but I won’t feel a need to revisit this version.
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