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A review by guiltlesspleasures
The Devil Comes Courting by Courtney Milan
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Before I started reading this, I heard from a couple of people that this read more like historical fiction than strictly a romance, and I can see that argument. The couple, Amelia (a Chinese-British woman living in China with her missionary mother) and Grayson (a Black American man who is laying the first trans-Pacific telegraph line) spend months and months apart from each other, communicating through notes and the occasional telegram while Grayson is off laying cable (this will be funny once you read it) and Amelia is on the mainland working on creating a telegraphic code for Chinese (she is a literal genius).
As always, Courtney Milan packs a lot into this book: a critique of colonialism and missionary culture, family trauma, racism, war trauma (Grayson lost three brothers during the U.S. Civil War). But it never felt heavy or didactic to me. There was plenty of humor (I love that Amelia can't remember names), for one thing.
So, is it more historical fiction than romance? It's certainly a different approach to a traditional romance setup, and while much of the MCs' interactions take place through the written word, I actually think this approach was screamingly romantic. The way they communicated with each other, and their electricity when they were physically in the same room, was perfectly done. They are two odd birds who were made for each other.
A footnote that Milan is SO FREAKING SMART -- the way she has Amelia work through her code-creation process just boggled my mind. Give me all the brainy romance.
As always, Courtney Milan packs a lot into this book: a critique of colonialism and missionary culture, family trauma, racism, war trauma (Grayson lost three brothers during the U.S. Civil War). But it never felt heavy or didactic to me. There was plenty of humor (I love that Amelia can't remember names), for one thing.
So, is it more historical fiction than romance? It's certainly a different approach to a traditional romance setup, and while much of the MCs' interactions take place through the written word, I actually think this approach was screamingly romantic. The way they communicated with each other, and their electricity when they were physically in the same room, was perfectly done. They are two odd birds who were made for each other.
A footnote that Milan is SO FREAKING SMART -- the way she has Amelia work through her code-creation process just boggled my mind. Give me all the brainy romance.