THE BASTARD RETURNS, the second installment in The Montmoors serial, picks up 2 weeks after Catherine Roth's arrival at the estate. It begins with Catherine writing a letter to her best friend, Emily, who had previously advised Catherine against accepting the governess position. Unfortunately, the issues which perplexed me in the first installment are only compounded by more questions in the second, and what intrigued me in the beginning only makes me impatient now. Perhaps I am just not a fan of serials and prefer to have everything in one nice novel package to read at a quicker pace than the installments are published.
THE BASTARD RETURNS, a 22-page installment, introduces new characters, most of whom are just as creepy as Lord Andrew and the mansion. We are first introduced to the ghost of Monroe Montmoor, Lord Andrew's great-grandfather. The ghost seems intent on scaring the wits out of Catherine, and shows up in her bedroom in the middle of the night.
Next we are introduced to Lord Andrew's brother, Mr. Benjamin Smitt, who is loud, obnoxious, and just as creepy as Lord Andrew, but in a different way. Mr. Smitt says that he is "the bastard come home to claim what is rightfully" his and eyes Catherine like she is a tart fit for his dessert. She would do best to avoid Mr. Smitt. We are finally introduced to Cullen, Catherine's charge, who seems a sweet boy, but about whom we still know very little.
The descriptions of male characters continue to be well done. Their characters seem consistent, if still mysterious. Catherine's character continues to confound me, though. I was unable to resolve my questions regarding Catherine's character - whether she is as flighty and thoughtless as she seems. Her actions and words still seem inconsistent not only with each other but also with her gender and station in life.
The improprieties also continue, with Lord Montmoor spending the night in her bedroom in order to catch Monroe Montmoor's ghost when he makes an appearance. I have to ask: If the ghost has been ruling the roost at the estate for some time, why isn't the female housekeeper or some other maid on duty? Lord Montmoor's motivations are clear. We've always seen that he has some sort of design on Catherine, but why is Catherine not concerned?
Also, I would have liked to hear more about Catherine's first lesson with Cullen. It seems a momentous occasion given that she's been waiting for two weeks to do what she has been hired to do, but that event is glossed over as merely a scene to connect Catherine's interactions with the adult men in the house.
As far as historical integrity goes, the minor issues I noted in regards to the first installment were resolved here in the second. However, I was distracted by some instances of poor editing. Although I am still curious as to how this story will play out, I may have to wait until this serial is complete before picking it back up since it seems that I have no patience for the publisher-imposed pace.
This review was originally written for The Romance Reviews:
http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=6584
