Name: A Compendium of Ever-Increasing Mayhem
Rating: 3.91 (3 reviews)
ISBN: 9781937248703

804 reviews184 followers

September 13, 2020

I've always told myself I'm not a historical romance reader, but I think I need to alter that belief: I very well may be a Milan historical romance reader. This collection of novellas is fantastic, and there was something in each one that had me super excited.

Unlocked: 4.5⭐︎

My least favorite story of the bunch—which is practically meaningless, since I still more-than-4-⭐︎ enjoyed it—this story had a lot to say about societal perceptions and the games we play to fit in.

Elaine is nearing 30 and accepted she will end up a spinster. Events during her first season in society ensured she will never be an acceptable marriage partner—the bullying has never truly stopped—despite the fact the man responsible for the worst of it has been gone for 10 years. It doesn't matter that she's beautiful; she'll always be known for having a braying, obnoxious laugh and a spectacle of a mother who is a package deal with her.

Evan went into hiding a decade ago, after he realized his ham-fisted attempts to procure his desired lady's hand went the wrong way...and like the idiot he is, he dug in and made it worse rather than apologize and right it. Instead of making her hopelessly infatuated with him, he made her loathe his existence. Worse, he created a hostile environment for her in the process. Turns out you can't Mean Girl your way into a woman's heart. So like any spoiled young gentleman of means, he ran away and has spent 10 years learning to be a better person. One who would never torment someone else the way he had in his youth. But. He can't stop thinking about her, and no amount of running has fixed it. It's time to go home and finally properly apologize to her. But when he gets there and finds out that her torment has not stopped after he left, it complicates things.

I loved so much about this story. I loved the commentary on the dynamics in relatively small groupings of people who regularly mingle. I loved the message about properly apologizing and for the right reasons. How, even if you do, there are still things that can never be forgotten or erased by them, no matter how much you wish it were so. I loved seeing a different type of Jealous Woman Adversary in this narrative, one more relatable and real. I loved Elaine's spectrum-ish mother, who is socially inept but brilliant, and no one apart from her daughter is intelligent enough to realize what a gem she is and appreciate her. I loved Elaine's struggles to not have her struggles sour her feelings for her mother. And I really loved how despite being an under 200 page novella, this story managed to give breathing room and space for forgiveness to happen and for Elaine's feelings to evolve and grow from the place she started. And Evan was given space to keep growing up and improve his efforts to negate some of the harm he initiated in Elaine's life, while fighting resistance to change from those closest to him.

Just. Excellent story all around. Good stuff.

Talk Sweetly to Me: 4.5⭐︎

I'm not usually a fan of older teen girls as romance protagonists, but I was willing to give this one a shot. It is the mid-1800s after all, so nearly-18 isn't as young as nearly-18 is in the present—especially not those born into lower classes.

A mathematics prodigy who is coming of age, Rose is living with her married sister and working as a computer for the local observatory. She loves her life and worries about the day when it will end; not many men want a wife who works and has passions that keep her outside of the home. She's used to the blank stares and discomfort others have when she speaks of what's on her mind, so she chooses to be quiet and melt into the background.

Stephen is in his early 20s and notorious for being Outrageous, the only option open for him to make a name for himself as a young Irish man. Now, he writes a hugely popular advice column for a women's publication, which usually gives him an in with any lady of his choosing (or more usually, the ladies who choose to use him as the tool to give their own messages to society). To avoid annoyance, live closer to the other Irish in the area, and to save as much of his earnings to prepare for the day that he's no longer in demand, Stephen's run into an interesting and delightful treasure in his neighborhood- a young lady who is obviously brilliant and lights up when discussing mathematics and astronomical matters, aka, Sweet Talking. But. She's very good at resisting his charms, which both amuses and vexes him.

Another really excellent story with so much to love about it. One of the things I came to appreciate about Milan's writing as I was reading this collection is that she doesn't shy away from contemporary topics in a historical context in a romance. So there's a lot in here that will make you angry beyond how rotten it could be to exist as a woman in the mid and late 1800s. Hint: it should be the fact that very little has changed about these things in 130+ years and are still issues now that makes you angry. Race and societal privilege play big roles in this story, and it gave me a lot to think about. This one tackles inter-racial relationships (what the challenges in the future are), racism in the healthcare industry and its impact on maternal death rates, and how society limits women's ambitions.

I really loved how much Stephen adores Rose and his attempts to win her over and how out of his depth he was. And I love how hard Rose tries to be practical, even though she's a big dreamer and shouldn't have to abide by Earthly limits.

Her Every Wish: 5⭐︎

Fantastic novella that does the miscommunication/misunderstanding romance trope Right. This is how you have 2 people misunderstand each other, deeply wound one another, be driven apart by it...and how you get them back together as better people.

Daisy can not help herself. Even though she'll never amount to anything in life, she can't resist dreaming big to keep reaching above her station, wounding her heart and pride in the process when the reality of her sex and class pull her back down to Earth. Thanks to Crash and stupidly believing he was a kindred spirit who loved her back and saw her true value, she'll never be able to marry unless she can find a fool to attach herself to. Unlikely: she's near her expiration date with zero interested parties. So she's going to keep hustling and try her hand at a charity grant that might allow her to start her own shop and provide for herself and her mother without needing to attach herself to a man she'll likely barely tolerate. She won't know unless she tries. It could happen. And pigs might grow wings and fly, which is far more likely than a woman's winning the grant. But it didn't specify one needs to be a man to apply, so she'll give it a go. It...doesn't go well, and now Crash is back and offering to help. For his own benefit, surely. Sniff

Crash has no lineage and no family name to claim as his own, but he's never let that stop him from getting what he wants. Sure, his life is full of obstacles and he's always having to smile through the bullshit, but it pushes him to go faster and try harder. Crash thought he'd found someone who understands him in Daisy, but after discussing some aspects of his past, she rejects him and tells him to leave the country. So he did. 4 months later, he's back home and looking to set up his velocipede storefront and get his future going—one where he's not married to Daisy. When he sees her disastrous business proposal and set up to be further humiliated in a week, he decides to help her fake confidence and get a little of his own revenge.

Another story that features an inter-racial couple, with the added bonus that Crash is either bisexual or pan, this one treads into the waters of microaggressions, intersectionality, female illness that sounds a lot like fibromyalgia, and layers of personal baggage. While I loved watching Crash and Daisy try their damndest to hate each other and not make up, the secondary maternal women in their lives were also delightful, especially Crash's aunt Ree. That point in the story where Ree finally gets to hear what happened between Crash and Daisiy and her reaction to it? Perfection. That WHAP! "get your head out of your butt, you idiot, you were really awful," talk was amazing. The fact that it never occurred to him that no one has ever been in Daisy's corner building her up like all of the women in his life, and that she has struggles that are different than his but equally as hurtful that hold her back was so well done. This is such a challenge when talking about societal privileges and man...if only talks about them went like this. And seeing two characters self-reflect, sincerely apologize, and then change based on that rather than continuing on being idiot sandwiches? So good.

Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure: 5⭐︎

OK. This one was my favorite of the bunch. I could not get over Bertrice's persistent jabs about M E N and was loudly cackling every time she took a shot at them.

Oh. How rude. She hadn’t thought. She hadn’t helped. How… How utterly manlike of her.

SNORT

“You really shouldn’t blame men for everything.”

“No, just the ninety-eight percent of society’s ills they’re responsible for.”

What's to love about this one?

* F/F romance.
* Our leading ladies are both ~70 years young.
* P R A N K S played on a truly awful man who deserved so much worse than the silliness that happened to him.
* Lots of deep truths about being women and how our value and experience differs from men, especially security and aging.

Every act of gravity and time made beauty in nature—except when it happened to human women.

I loved this one so very much. It manages to be so light hearted and outright silly while talking about such heavy things.

None of the stories in this volume are particularly explicit, but this one is even less graphic, for those who are not sold on a F/F story. Do yourselves a favor and read this one.

This is a solid collection of shorter stories that packs a lot of variety and HEAs all around. I will definitely be reading more of Milan's work in the future.

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A Compendium of Ever-Increasing Mayhem

Courtney Milan

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