Jennifer Mueller

You can’t help but feel overwhelming pity for the heroine of A RUINED SEASON. Through no fault of her own she’s stuck with a moronic mother, milquetoast father, and rather overly dramatic brother. Plus, the lady she entrusts to bring her back into society and help, if not make her a match, at least give her a chance to get away from her mother, is possibly WORSE than her mother.

Nothing at all goes right for Sophie; bad luck seems to dog her footsteps. She doesn’t let it get her down, however; she’s got simple wants and needs. She simply wants to get away from her mother because she needs to banish the bad memories her mother stirs up on a constant basis.

I’m glad at least she has several friends she can count on, including her cousin (who wants to escape their sponsor’s clutches for her own reasons), a girlhood friend who married, and then William, who saves her from the clutches of a most despicable man and the continues to pay court to her (though she’s a bit thick as to why).

The romance is kind of sedate, with Sophie certain she’s unmarriageable due to the past scandal and several more on the horizon, William making a bungle of things by not being straight forward enough, and the two of them dancing around the necessary.

The secondary romances—there are two, more or less—are given some attention, but not enough to take away from the central romance. I would liked to have known more about Anjanette and Jasper, for instance, but I’m content with what was given. A small nitpick I have is that several times, social distinctions are mentioned—mostly between Sophie’s place as opposed to Anjanette, but it just seems to be there. Nothing is really made of it and it just crops up from time to time, almost like a page filler.

Mueller writes a lively tale honestly, with some twists that are perhaps a little predictable, but at least offer amusement and a slight urgency to some of the characters’ actions. I like the ending the best, I think, when William confronts Sophie’s sponsor (on a matter I won’t mention, as it would ruin things) and completely turns the tables on the wicked bat. Also, William keeps an amusing secret from Sophie that makes things interesting as he tries to keep his friends and crew from blowing the gun too soon.… (meer)