Married by Morning
a heartbroken viscount, a strong-willed governess, violets, papyrus, and more.
Dear Reader,
It’s only Taylor this month, Cassie traveled to the Lake District to see what Taylor Swift meant by ‘those Windermere peaks look like the perfect place to cry’ so I’ll be taking over Trope Notes duty for the month. Pour yourself a cup of tea or take a sip of your coffee because this one is a little unconventional.
As we find ourselves in the midst of spring with all its crisp morning air–the sun being out just enough that I swap out a morning coffee for a smoothie–I’ve been thinking a lot about the term ‘bodice ripper’. Spring evokes a sense of running away with a lover (Alexa play Love Story by Taylor Swift) or getting ravished by a rake in the woods. During Cassie and I’s break in March I found myself examining the term, studying it, and reading so many historical romances I found myself typing, “How does one make a corset,” like that scene in Twilight where Bella very seriously searches ‘Is my lab partner a vampire?’
The next week I read Allison P. Davis’ profile of (our Queen) Emily Henry. The title is one for clickbait, to enrage readers on Twitter who turned out to be very upset (!) After gathering my wits, I did read the piece which was insightful of Henry’s style, her work ethic, and her passion for storytelling. There is one quote though that stood out to me–like an echo down a dark winding cave:
Once denigrated as a guilty pleasure for the desperate, horny housewife, to Gen-Zers, romance wasn’t embarrassing at all. In fact, they loved it.
In every profile I’ve read of Emily Henry, Colleen Hoover, Taylor Jenkins Reed, or any other buzzworthy romance author you can think–they all feast on their success. It’s bloody and sometimes brilliant, but some generalizations all together are alarming. Women are reading romance books in public now! Those cute cartoon covers (!) the bad Adobe floral portraits (!) the surly titles that turned from hot and wild to sweet and gentle.
In these profiles, Henry especially does a great job of pointing readers to other authors who came before her, when profile authors want to spin a story that she has re-invented the wheel. Henry knows she has not re-invented a wheel, she has just taken it off the cart–dipped her pen inside an inkwell–and made it her own.
Historical Romance books, like any other romance or narrative, have a formula. And y’all . . . Lisa Kleypas just gets it. She just gets it (!) and there is nothing guilty about it. I could go on and on about the marketing tactics behind why Gen Z now read romance in public and are open about their reading preferences, fortunately for y’all Substack has a word count limit.
During my mini stay-cation, I read nine Lisa Kleypas books (shoutout to the Avondale Public Library). What can I say, I’m a fool whose heart beats wildly at the thought of a reformed rake–a man who is witty yet reluctant to hold any kind of power. I love a strong-willed woman and a man who obeys her. I devour the risk of scandal. While this book is the fourth in a series, Kleypas literary universe is all-encompassing and may be read in whatever order you fancy.
In Married by Morning we pick up where the last three Hathaway books left off. Leo Hathaway, heartbroken over the loss of his fiancee has turned his life around. No longer a drunk who spends afternoons lounging in gambling halls or brothels, he’s inherited an unlikely title of viscount and has returned to Hampshire to take over running the estate from his brother-in-law. That is until he receives a letter from a solicitor–he must marry within a year and sire an heir or risk losing the Ramsey estate, which would leave himself and his sisters without a home.
Ramsay House – Fox in the Flowerbed by Imaginary Authors
notes: garden kisses, honey, sweet spring air.
Rebuilt after a nearly fatal fire, Ramsay House stands proudly in Hampshire. Its green rolling landscape is enough to tempt a wicked fox into becoming obsessed with a graceful butterfly. With notes of jasmine, pink pepper, wildflower honey, and silver thistle–this scent will inspire you to take a chance on loving again, on trusting someone who makes you feel safe and secure.
Frustrated at the prospect of marrying a local girl he has no interest in–Leo loudly remarks to the family, “I’d be better off with Miss. Marks,” his sister’s governess with whom he claims to have no fondness for. They bicker. They fight. He teases. She bites. He laughs and she threatens.
Despite all of their quarreling, the two can’t seem to stay away from each other. After one argument leaves the two in a passionate kiss, their intrigue for the other intensifies. I’ll be honest, as a Rochester sympathizer and someone who frequently drools over Captain Von Trapp ripping up a n*zi flag – this is a genre of romance I 100% support.
Leo Hathaway, Lord Ramsay – Paper by Commodity
notes: papyrus and spending hours coming up with teasing remarks for a spinster governess.
Former skirt-chasing architect turned reluctant viscount, Leo Hathaway can’t be distracted by love. Not even if the short-tempered spectacle-wearing governess by the name of Catherine Marks haunts his dreams and piques his interest. The centric amber note of Paper will glow on your skin, this soft woodsy fragrance conjures images of a viscount and governess swapping riddles for kisses in the garden. When one kiss is meant to be the end of it, an accident that leaves Leo depending on Catherine’s determination and will–has him reconsidering everything about life and love itself.
As the time of the Ramsay Estate’s ball approaches, Leo and Catherine can’t seem to stay away from one another. Their mutual attraction, respect, and admiration for the other grow despite Leo’s reluctance to form an attachment and Catherine’s reluctance to trust any man. When a secret of her past is revealed, she runs, hoping to save the family from a scandal that is likely brewing. But her charge’s garter-stealing ferret stows away in her carpet bag, and the attendant forces her off the platform.
Catherine Marks – Violet Ends by BoySmells
Notes: violet, white birch, and finding an architect's scandalous sketches of you.
Quiet, stern, the proper lady who has come to Ramsay House to educate the two youngest Hathaway sisters on how to be a lady (and finding her stolen garters no doubt taken by one of her charges unusual pets) This fragrance pulls no punches, its smoky with a hint of sweetness. The rhubarb, violet, white birch, and papyrus are the perfect notes for this feisty governess. Leo’s humor bewitches her, his kindness has her questioning every assumption she’s made about him, and his searing eyes always seem to find hers across the dinner table.
Leo finds Catherine outside the train station–begging her to return to Ramsay House–not as his sister’s governess but as his wife. Before accepting, Catherine insists on continuing their journey to London to consult with her brother (who incidentally married Leo’s sister in book #3). The two spend the night at the Inn, recounting their passions, Leo with his tenderness and dedication while Catherine begins to open herself up to someone for the first time. With each passing day of their journey, Leo’s attachment to Catherine solidify, while her anxiety about his commitment to her dwindles.
Stolen Garters at the Inn – Naviglio by Milano Fragranze
Notes: pleading please don’t leave me again, warm baths, sweet orange blossoms
Tenderhearted yet bold, delicate yet powerful, and slightly aquatic this fragrance is laced with mandarin oranges, sweet roses, tobacco blossoms, pink pepper, and patchouli. Proposals outside of a train station, freshly clean garters, whispering promises between the sheets, and trusting someone simply because you can.
This book has everything you could want in a historical romance: rakish yet kindhearted men, a strong-willed woman whose determination drives our hero absolutely mad with interest, scandals, action, adventure, and not to mention confessions of love that will have you reading the rest of the series.
Needless to say dearest reader, this spring embrace the bodice ripper. Find the old paperbacks at your local library, absorb them on picnic blankets, and push them into the arms of your friends! The formula works y’all, a solid 10/10, and as I said earlier Lisa Kleypas just gets it. I’ll probably follow her to the ends of the earth.
Until next time,
Taylor (& Cassie)