Dahlia Rose Unscripted, $2.99, ISBN 978-1005754617
Historical Romance, 2021
Dahlia Rose’s The Owl and the Pussycat pits the hero, Duke Richard Vance, against the cat burglar heroine, Ella Covington, and I’m giving you folks one guess as to which one is the Owl and which one is the Pussycat.
This one is set in London in the 19th century, and sees Ella being the predictable bleeding heart sort that is Robin Hood-ing the rich because of all the starving poor people, et cetera, while Duke Vance is an investigator set on the trail of the Pussycat. The usual cat and mouse game ensues.
The Story, well, it’s alright. It’s exactly what it says on the box, and while I’m glad that Ellie shows the brainpower to back up her big talk, there isn’t much here that feels out of the ordinary. It reads a lot like every other “The heroine has a secret, one that makes her the hero’s enemy… ooh!” story of this sort.
Still, the heroine isn’t an idiot—she’s fiery and hot-headed, yes, but it’s good that she doesn’t like her emotions overrule her common sense for the most part.
My enjoyment of this story, however, is affected by how distracted I am by the details in this story.
For one, everyone keeps calling the hero “Duke Vance” that I’m sure his name is really just that, and maybe they are doing some kind of playful ribbing about how his name makes him a toff in all but name. However, it turns out that he is a duke, and this opens a whole can of wriggling worms.
One, why is he addressed as “Duke Vance” by everyone when he’s an actual duke? Two, why is a duke running around like he’s a member of the Pinkerton? He seems like a responsible sort and not some wastrel slumming around to pass the time, so why isn’t he instead hiring some goons to track down the Pussycat?
Him being a duke also makes the story even more perplexing because, once again, this is a story set in a time when society is stratified into an obvious hierarchy, but everyone addresses one another like they are bosom drinking buddies. Oh, so Ellie is black and a cat burglar, but nobody bats an eyelid that this person is marrying a freaking duke at the end of the day. There is no upheaval or repercussion to Duke Vance’s social standing at the end of the day, and he and Ella are allowed to just run around happily in society as they please.
Also, Ellie being such a strident opponent of the social and capitalist systems of society happily marrying into the system at the end of the day… yikes. What happened to principles? Are they all talk? Maybe she will wear a super expensive dress with “Eat the Rich!” at the next Almack’s party or something and all will be forgiven?
At any rate, this story should have been set in America or somewhere else that will allow a greater degree of flexibility for the hero and the heroine to do whatever they do without needing the author to break the rules of her setting just to accommodate these characters.
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