Every so often I have a hankering to read an old Harlequin Romance. I read a review of this one from 1980 and this was described as the “funniest ever” and many other reviewers concurred. For its time, it probably was. It wasn’t until the 90s that really funny authors like Jennifer Crusie and Jayne Ann Krentz became part of the usual lineup in category romances and Harlequin and other lines started to lean into the comedy part of romantic comedy. When this was written, Harlequin (or Mills and Boon) was the only game in town and they hadn’t branched out from straight romance yet. Not to say humor never made an appearance ever.
Serra, our heroine, is a young Greek woman who is about to have her marriage arranged to someone who turns her off. She runs away and sure enough soon meets attractive Englishman Dirk and his nice friend. He needs to marry to get ahold of his inheritance and Serra likes the idea of marrying a Brit (she is half British herself). She has always wanted to go to England where she can “be free” and out from under the strict confines of Greek society and the control of her father and grandmother. I will interject here that Hampson’s portrayal of Greek society is spurious at best even considering the time this one was written. I took it all with a grain of salt. There are a lot of sweeping statements like, “In Greece we trust everybody…people are honest”, “In Greece, a girl must never be seen with a man before her marriage…” or they will be ruined irreparably. Apparently Greek wives back in the late 1970s never left the house and embroidered all day, and all marriages were arranged. Could be true-ish. I don’t know.
Serra is very sweet, unworldly and naive. Most of the humor stems from Dirk assuming she knows the basics of living in the modern world and has a grain of sense. Well, she doesn’t and Dirk has to come to her rescue whenever she gets into a pickle. And not with any good grace either. In some ways the whole scenario reminded me a bit of Friday’s Child by Georgia Heyer. His friend is much nicer and more understanding. She has no problem with him behaving as if he is still a bachelor as she intends to have a few boyfriends herself. The book has a slow start. The author apparently did a lot of research into the sights and other attractions in Greece and Lebanon and she was determined to make use of her knowledge. If you know what I mean. Things pick up considerably when they get to England and Serra has to deal with Dirk’s mother, sister, and butler as well as English customs and ways of doing things. Things come to a head when she starts to look for some of her relatives on her mother’s side and goes about it in the most dunderheaded way possible. Unexpected (by Serra only) consequences occur. Aaaaaand it’s Dirk to the rescue again. By the end, Serra wins over Dirk’s family and Dirk, who decides a real marriage, love included, will be best for all concerned. The Butler remains not a fan.
