Miss Cayley's Unicorn

by Elizabeth Chater

“I will not marry that—that pirate!”Miss Georgina Cayley wishes to escape marrying the scandalous slaver, Captain Ruthbane. Meanwhile, Lord Stephen Delatorr is in an equally precarious position as the target for his mother’s matchmaking machinations. For mutual benefit, Miss Cayley and Lord Stephen agree to solve each others’ marital dilemmas by marrying one another, and then they’ll dash away to the Lord’s country estate to enjoy a blissfully loveless marriage. But their practical proposal suddenly turns tempestuous by their rising passions.

Genres: Romance, Historical, Marriage Of Convenience

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Elizabeth Chater (1910-2004) was the author of more than twenty-four novels and countless short stories. She received a B.A. from the University of British Columbia and an M.A. from San Diego State University and joined the faculty of the latter in 1963 where she began a lifelong friendship with science fiction author Greg Bear. She was honored with The Distinguished Teacher award in 1969 and was awarded Outstanding Professor of the Year in 1977. After receiving her Professor Emeritus, she embarked on a new career as a novelist with Richard Curtis as her agent. In the 1950s and 60s she published short stories in Fantastic Universe Magazine and The Saint Mystery Magazine, and she won the Publisher’s Weekly short story contest in 1975. At the age of sixty-eight, she began writing in the romance genre and published twenty-two novels over an eight-year period. She also wrote under the pen names Lee Chater, Lee Chaytor, and Lisa Moore. For more information, please visit: https://elizabethchaterbooks.com.

Reviews

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not sure how I made it to the end of this 'romance'.

Here are some quotes from the book: you be the judge.

The Father Squire Cayley, not at all objecting to the crudity of the captain's reference to his daughter as a doxy, reassured his wealthy prize as to the bride's appearance. He cast a final glance at his unconscious daughter and suggested they adjourn to the dining room for some grub and bub. In case you can't guess, he hit his daughter: the heroine of the story. With a good amount of force.

Captain Ruthbane, a pirate and slave trader Not on her face. Some of my shipmates claim to relish a black eye but I prefer my meat less plainly schooled. Think of the wedding. Gina Cayley was being forced into an ugly marriage against her will. She had to escape.

Lord Stephen The H and h have just gotten married. It was his idea. No, child, I'm getting bored with bucolic life and -entertainments. Once arrived in London, Lord Stephen was prepared to enjoy the fleshpots after his boring sojourn among the rustics. He was referring to life in the country with his new wife. He also called her 'child' numerous times but they were the same age!

Gina Beaten down with low self-esteem. Her father had physically hurt her over a number of years. Stephen does the next worst thing and emotionally assaults her with words. The man who looked down at her was a stranger. Of course he is annoyed. Hard on the heels of that guilty thought, her long-held sense of inadequacy, of insecurity, fostered by her father's critical scorn, provided the obvious answer. He regrets marrying me.

If you want to torture yourself with numerous shallow and selfish characters, read MISS CAYLEY'S UNICORN. But my advice? Stay far, far way.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book from the library book sale. This one could have been good. The writing was enjoyable and it had a more old fashioned “Regency” vibe, which I usually prefer. And the plot was bonkers. For a short book, the author crammed a lot on there.

Unfortunately, the hero ruined it. While he was unpleasant, he wasn’t a rake or a “villain,” so much as an insufferable stuck up misogynist. He thinks constantly about how much he hates “scheming females” and only marries the heroine because that way his mom will have to stop nagging and the eligible young ladies of the ton will stop scheming for his hand in marriage. I dislike the “all women suck except the heroine” trope in general.

But this time it was even worse because up until the last couple of chapters, he seems to genuinely dislike her too, always thinking about how rustic and embarrassing she is and how she’s no beauty. Every time they have a happy moment together, he immediately has to belittle her about something.

Two stars because parts of the book were fun and this book was nowhere near as bad as the stupidest romance I have ever read. And what book is that, you may wonder. REBEL BRIDE by Catherine Coulter, which will forever be the yardstick by which all bad historical romances are measured.

Also in case anyone was wondering…spice level in this one, negative peppers. Completely closed door and not even any passionate kissing.

[Megan Shjerve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, cute little regency

[Marilyn Kavanaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A traditional Regency

filled with a villain of a father and an more vile suitor,?a charming countrywoman, a suspicious earl, his faithful and only friend, and a cohort of faithful servants.

[Claire S · Rating 1 out of 5]

The basic premise of this book is that Gina is abused by her father and told she'll marry another brutal man, wether she wants it or not. She escapes with the help of some loyal servants and ends up meeting Lord Delatorr who's also in bad shape. He just had some bad experiences with horrible women being deceitful and is also escaping. He thinks she's just like other women and is conniving and untrustworthy. She helps him while he's sick and he starts thinking that she might be different. He proposes a marriage of convenience to help them both out. She accepts since her father and his friends are still after her, and Lord Delatorr proceeds to treat her like crap. She gets kidnapped by the bad guys, beat up again, then saved by Delatorr and others. Then they have their HEA.

There were so many issues with this book, it's hard to list them all. The main one is that Delatorr is an a-hole, and abuses the heroine both verbally and emotionally before and after they're married. It's supposed to be because of his bad experiences and I guess we should feel sorry for him. However, he's a man who is in possession of a title and fortune, dependent on no one, able to come and go as he pleases, and Gina has done nothing to betray his trust-quite the opposite. Gina, on the other hand, has been abused all her life, is dependent on her father, and has little to no agency as a woman. Yet, she's kind and considerate to all and is willing to trust this man who's a stranger. Any sympathy I feel goes to her, not him.

And, with all this heavy issue of abuse, the author tries to use a light tone that I think is supposed to be comedic, but it just makes light of a horrible situation. For example, Delatorr wants to consummate the marriage right away even though Gina has a broken arm and is obviously uncomfortable with the situation. He"teases" her about it throughout the whole day and thinks her discomfort is funny. When the time finally arrives, he learns that she knows nothing about the act and wants him to just go on and do what he needs to do. You'd think that he would maybe give her some space or wait until she's comfortable with him but this is what happens:
"Perhaps his approach was too determined. He almost launched himself upon the little termagant standing by the bed, caught her in his arms, and forced her down beneath him."
The only reason nothing happens is that the bed breaks beneath them and it's played for laughs. I suppose I should just ignore the fact that he was going to rape her perhaps because it wasn't considered rape back then or because she "consented" by telling him to just do what he needs to do.

There are too many instances of Delatorr treating her like crap and the end is another case of making light of a horrible situation. Gina is physically abused again and kidnapped after Delatorr leaves her home to go to London implying to get that he'll be seeking other women. When Delatorr learns about it, he gathers people to help him rescue her and it becomes a bit of a romp. At some point he tells his friends to hurry up, and the friends basically asks why the rush since they're not going to kill her. Probably not, just beat her up and possibly rape her, but it's obvious that these men don't see abuse as anything serious. To top all that, in the midst of these preparations, Delatorr actually wonders if Gina is trying to trick him.

I have no idea why I finished this book. The best thing I can say about it is that it's short. I thought about giving it two stars because Gina is a nice character and there were some nice people in the story such as her servants and the doctor (who would have been a better husband for her), but I just can't rate a book that thinks this is romance any higher. I can only imagine their lives together. Gina is conversing with a nice young man, and Delatorr thinks she's cheating on him. He proceeds to berate her and mistreat her until she's able to prove that nothing is going on. He accepts it and treats her well again until the next time, and the cycle of abuse continues...