JESSAMINE'S FOLLY by S.G. Rogers is a sweet and satisfying turn of the century romance that will leave you wanting more. I give it three stars.
At sixteen years old, beautiful Jessamine Foster was orphaned, destitute and plagued by callous, malicious, and neglectful relations. She becomes the companion of Lady Amelie Kirkland, the seventh Earl of Kirkland's sister, and soon finds herself unfortunately distracted by the handsome earl. Navigating her life as a companion, not the "social equal" of her employer or the household servants, is difficult enough without the spiteful machinations of Miss Olivia Hightower, daughter of Sir Bartholomew Hightower, who was Kirkland's father's business partner. Olivia is determined to maintain the marriage arranged for her and Kirkland by their fathers and seeks information to ruin Jessamine. What she stumbles onto with the help of Jessamine's cousin, Charlotte, is a greater mystery and scandal than she imagined.
For the most part, I enjoyed JESSAMINE'S FOLLY, although I must say at the outset that the title does not reflect the substance of the novel. I found no folly attributable to Jessamine, only to her parents, her aunt, uncle and cousin. If falling in love with Kirkland is supposed to be the "folly," it would have been nice to have a literary cue to tie in the title with the plot, perhaps Jessamine telling herself that "to fall in love with Kirkland would be folly."
My other initial reaction is that the book could have been a full-length novel if the first chapter and epilogue had not summarily dispensed with the initial setting and the conclusion to the novel. The beginning seemed rushed and short on character details. I had so many questions, the first on my list being: Why didn't Jessamine speak with or write to her uncle about how her aunt and cousin treated her? For someone who could so calmly stand up to her aunt, you would think she would have been a bit more proactive in dealing with such vile treatment. As to the conclusion, while most readers like their villains to get their comeuppance, it would have been more satisfying for the reader to experience it, instead of being told about it. All in all, there seemed to be little character development.
The development of the romantic relationship between Kirkland and Jessamine was also truncated. At the point where their love is declared, there hasn't been enough time spent together or conversation shared to support the feelings, and so it seems contrived.
The romance is sweet--chaste, or chastely described kisses only--and I don't recall there being any actual cursing, making this novel appropriate for any age.
I enjoyed the plotline. It had some nice twists and surprises, but I so wanted to see more of the characters' interactions and histories to establish their characters, and more of their lives after the scandal breaks and resolves.
There were also some minor issues with how people were described that were distracting. For example, some quick research would reveal that an earl's daughter would be marrying up if she married a marquess, a title that comes from the French "marquis," and is one step down from a duke. If that point was couched in teasing or sarcasm, it needs to be more obvious for the jest to be conveyed to the reader.
I would definitely recommend JESSAMINE'S FOLLY for a quick afternoon read, but I would also love to see a revised/full-length version of the novel.
** Review originally written for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=12748.
