CROSS THE OCEAN by Holly Bush is a late 19th century historical romance that spans continents and couture. While the extreme concept of a duke abandoning his traditional British life for a life on America's frontier as a rancher was interesting, the story was hamstrung by pacing issues, lack of depth or reason in the main romantic relationship, and major editing issues.
In CROSS THE OCEAN, Blake Sanders is the Duke of Wexford and has never before been out of control of his life. He inherited the title young and has always done his duty and ruled his duchy with a traditional mindset – the wife is for producing an heir and a spare, the mistress is for satisfying his other needs, the children are meant to marry well and improve the family connections and coffers.
When Blake's wife of almost eighteen years leaves him for a Scottish shipping merchant on the eve of their daughter's debut, he is bewildered and can't help but act inappropriately. He gets into several heated arguments with his neighbors' American cousin, Gertrude, who speaks her mind regardless of tact or decorum. After one such argument, he kisses her in front of his friends and family, and it all goes downhill from there. Over the next year, his entire life goes through a paradigm shift, and he must discover who he is, what is really important to him, and how far he is willing to go to get what he wants. The title provides readers with a clue: he crosses an ocean.
When I initially read the plot summary for CROSS THE OCEAN, I was intrigued, but from the beginning of the book, I was astounded by the characters' behavior. Gertrude's behavior, specifically, was downright rude, invasive, and outrageous no matter what country you call home. Yet her hosts did nothing to curb her impolitic criticism of their friend. I almost didn't get past the first 50 pages because I disliked Gertrude so much. Adding to that, Blake did not do the logical thing and simply leave his friends' house. The whole scenario was completely unbelievable.
Next, there was no credible development of the romantic relationship between Blake and Gertrude. Blake can't seem to stop arguing with Gertrude and making a scene wherever they meet. He also cannot stop kissing her. The tension between them grows to such a pitch with the speed of light that she cuts her trip short and books passage for the U.S. Before she can leave though, she attends a house party with Blake and the family. He plans a rendezvous with an old lover in hopes of getting his mind off of Gertrude, but accidentally winds up in Gertrude's room. Gertrude winds up pregnant. This progression of their relationship felt forced and lacked credibility. There is no reason offered for their attraction, and no rationale for their "love".
Throughout nearly the entire book, I felt like Blake got a bad rap. All of the characters love, love, love Gertrude, and criticize and blame Blake for their problems. Any adult should understand that it takes two people to make or break a relationship. Yes, Blake needed a wake-up call, and yes, he was the stereotypical aristocrat. That doesn't mean that Gertrude lacks faults or responsibility for her own actions.
The novel suffered from poor editing and definitely needs another round of examination. Punctuation errors, misspellings, subject/verb disagreements, and other blatant editing issues distracted and sometimes confused.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. The story seemed to gain a smidgen of substance after Blake crossed the ocean, but it was too little, too late for me. I recommend major revisions with an eye toward correcting the editing issues and giving the romantic relationship more substance prior to Gertrude's return to America.
