Angel in a Red Dress by Judith Ivory – A Review

Angel in a Red Dress was previously published in 1988 under the title ‘Starlit Surrender’ with the author, Judith Ivory, writing as Judy Cuevas. The new title doesn’t seem to relate easily to the story. The heroine, Christina, is the angel, but nowhere in the story is she depicted wearing red. There is a quote at the beginning of Part One of the book: “Except for the corn poppy, the pimpernel is the only scarlet flower in all of England.” So maybe the red part in between when the hero, Adrien, conjures it up in his favorite opium-induced fantasy, when he takes opium (which is derived from the bright red poppy plant) for pain relief. He is also an angel in his battle to save him when everyone else thinks he is dead.

Christina Bower is the beautiful only child of a respected attorney at King’s Bench. During his first season in London, he has a very brief encounter with the notorious libertine Adrien Hunt, 7th Earl of Kewischester. She finds it totally intriguing, but even her title-eager father finds Adrien not a suitable match for his daughter. Her father fosters a union between Christina and Richard Pinn, the eldest son of a baron, only for Pinn to divorce her three years later for apparently being sterile.

Needing to escape to a quiet place until the divorce is final, Christina, now 23, accompanies her cousin Evie to an earl’s estate outside London. Christina hadn’t realized that the absent earl was 35-year-old Adrien. Adrien is an arrogant half-French British couple whose affairs are legendary. Evie even tells Christina that there isn’t a woman within 50 miles of the earl’s estate who doesn’t know him intimately, herself included. He’s rich, smart, handsome, and deadly charming. The attraction between Adrien and Christina is immediate and palpable.

Christina is not immune to Adrien’s charms, but she knows that she really should run away from him, because giving in to his feelings would amount to causing heartbreak, as he would never consider her a wife and she could not tolerate becoming his lover. It may well be glorious to be with him, but in the end he would break her heart, because eventually she would need to marry and have a legal heir.

The story takes place in England and France around the time of the French Revolution and the second half is full of action and adventure as Adrien (in Scarlet Pimpernel mode) tries to rescue imprisoned French aristocrats from the guillotine. Christina unknowingly finds herself in the middle of Adrien’s surreptitious operations. The main focus of the story is on Adrien and Christina and their complicated relationship.

On the surface, this book has it all: romance, intrigue, mystery, and action.

But the hero, although on the one hand he has his attractive qualities, in my opinion, they are a little overcome by his imperfects. I realized this was set in the 18th century and that he was an earl. However, I felt that his actions were too selfish. Though on reflection, perhaps he knew of no other way to get what he wanted, having not encountered such persistent opposition before, or growing desperation to maintain control over what he came to realize he wanted most: Christina.

He’s certainly not a ‘fake rake’ – he has five illegitimate children from some of his previous affairs, which Christina understandably finds unsettling, even as she’s impressed that he’s actively and genuinely caring for them. Also, he doesn’t immediately abandon his libertine and other loving ways when meeting and pursuing Christina for the first time.

When Christina initially refuses to become his lover, he gives her some space and respects her decision. However, after she succumbs months later he decides that he does not want to continue in that role, he simply cannot understand why she would not be satisfied with remaining his lover for the foreseeable future. He forces her to accept his physical advances, using his sexual prowess to create sexual desire in her, even though she fights him, or forces himself on her anyway, or, exhausted from fighting, he finally gives up. Saying for example: “Go ahead, rape me.” Adrien hated going through his stage of resistance every time, but still he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

While it is clear to the reader that on one level she wants to do it with him, on another level she is fighting it in a fight to keep her dignity and integrity for herself. She can’t escape because he made it physically impossible for her to leave him, so she’s doing the only thing she can, trying to be true to herself. His selfishness does not allow him to respect his wishes.

For the reader, this repeated abuse puts a disappointment on the romantic side of the story. Another issue I had in the romance department was the lack of other displayed interaction between the two main characters. Not enough story was told to show the positive sides of their developing relationship.

Adrien has to be dragged kicking and screaming until he realizes how much he has grown to love Christina. When he is finally faced with this, circumstances separate the characters and the reader looks forward to the outpouring and declaration of love, but everything rushes in and never happens, leaving the reader feeling cheated. The hero never apologizes for the hurtful and insulting things he has said and done to her, and never actually verbalizes that he loves her. It is an unsatisfactory ending that ends too quickly. The tyrannical hero never redeems himself at the end of the book. The story lacked the emotional intensity expected of a romance novel.

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