The Parson's Pleasure

It was interesting to read a book that made known the daily life of a country lady. It spoke about how mundane it was and why any current news was so important-also why a new parson was a thrill - something new to gossip about! I enjoyed getting to know Claire Oliver. Her parents and she dealt with life in a mature and intelligent way. It seemed they knew how to be gracious and joyful. Mr. Bennett was an honorable hero, who had been pushed into the church. For once, it was the man with little control over his future. He made the best of it and still pursued his dream "to make a difference." Mr. Bennett also realized that he could never marry Miss Oliver. Not only was she "above his touch" but his path was going to be a rocky one. He believed in making waves. Lord Babcock (babbling and cocky!) was a wonderful secondary character! His pursuit of Claire is hilarious, but when he really falls head over heels for Claire's cousin Lydia, it gets even better. All the secondary characters in this book are enjoyable including Claire's Aunt and Uncle (parents to Lydia). Not a lot of distress in this book, just some soul searching. It did get a bit clichéd in the end with how everything was resolved, but I will not disclose the ending. Needless to say, our hero & heroine fall madly in love and do end up together. Pleasant reading.

Patricia Wynn has a nice, quiet style of writing that reminds me of Laura Matthews and some of the "older" style authors. She gets her facts straight without making a big deal of it or info dumping you. And in The Parson's Pleasure she tells the boy meets girl story from a slightly different perspective, that of a man forced into the clergy who really wants more in life. Miss Claire Oliver is the daughter of a Baron who lives a quiet country life with her loving parents. She is a young lady of good looks but not exceptional beauty, intelligent, practical and the possessor of a handsome portion. A portion which she gratefully knows will allow her independence after her parents pass on and she is left as a spinster, there being no one in their small community she desires to marry and not having found anyone during her one Season in London. It is not until the new parson arrives that she discovers just how much she would miss a lifetime spent with a man of her heart. Mr. Christopher Bennett is the son of the younger son who has had to depend on the grudging generosity of his wealthy cousin to make his way in life. The avenues which he wanted to explore, land steward to his cousin, member of parliament, have been denied him and he found that fighting the Americans in a senseless war while missing out on defeating the true enemy in France a waste of lives. Now his one path left in life is that of a clergyman but he is determined to do more with it than his lazy predecessor even if he puts a few noses out of joint in his efforts to help the truly needy. When he finds the woman of his heart, his position as a dependant poor cousin unable to support a wife truly strikes home. Claire and Christopher are delightful characters and it is sweet watching them slowly fall and admit their feelings to themselves. It is also obvious just how hard it must have been in this society to fall in love with one whom you knew society would not allow. Wynn tells a nice character driven slice of country life story with nary a Duke spy in sight. Unfortunately, she ends it with a convenient conventional HEA that sidesteps all the dilemmas she had given her two lovebirds. So a B for almost all of the book and a C for just the resolution.