Self Published
Featuring: Stephen Shaughnessy; Rose Sweetly
109 pages ISBN: 1937248224 EAN: 9781937248222 Kindle: B00MUC5UUQ Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List
TALK SWEETLY TO ME is a novella, the latest in the
Brothers
Sinister series by Courtney Milan. It features Mr.
Stephen
Shaughnessy, who was a supporting character in the
fantastic book The Suffragette Scandal. Stephen is a rake
and a scoundrel, and is the author of the outspoken 'Ask A
Man' column featured in the Women's Free Press run by
Frederica "Free" Marshall. Stephen is Irish and Catholic.
He has become a flamboyant character in order to be of
interest to the general populace as a writer.
Miss Rose Sweetly is a young black woman living with her
pregnant sister while her brother-in-law, a ship's
captain,
is at sea. Rose is a calculator, someone who performs
calculations for the Royal Observatory astronomers in
Greenwich, England. She's a mathematical genius and
extremely well versed in astronomy, but by virtue of her
sex and her skin color, she is relegated to the sidelines
despite her great aptitude and fascination with astronomic
research. I love the feminist bent of Ms. Milan's work,
and both Rose and Stephen are positive role models both
for
their time and for now.
Stephen has been intrigued for some time by Rose, and
cleverly figures out how he can get to know her better
under the guise of learning computations from her, while
allowing her to maintain the appearance of propriety.
Ms.
Milan does not shy away from showing us how both Stephen
and Rose are faced with daily obstacles simply due to
their
positions in society. There no sugarcoating of the
difficulties they will face as a couple either. This
unflinching honesty makes the poignancy of their
burgeoning
love resound even more sweetly.
TALK SWEETLY TO ME is a short story, but
Milan's superb writing packs a lot of goodness into a tiny
package. The story is filled with her signature witty
prose, and some excellent puns, continuing the tradition
started in The Suffragette Scandal. TALK SWEETLY TO ME
can be read
as a stand along novella, but all Milan fans will want to
read this to enrich their Brothers Sinister
experience. An
outstanding contribution to the series, and I wait on
tenterhooks for the next by this author!
Nine months ago, Miss Rose Sweetly started a friendly
correspondence with Britain’s most infamous advice
columnist, Mr. Stephen Shaughnessy. But a virtuous young
lady cannot write to a known rake without risking her
reputation. That's why she's signed all her letters as
“Aldus Grange”—a man who claims to be everything Rose is
not: old, male, and white.
Three months ago, Stephen Shaughnessy moved into the house
next door. In person, he’s wickedly funny, devilishly
flirtatious, and heart-stoppingly handsome—exactly the
sort
of man that earnest, mathematically-minded Rose should
avoid. But as she’s struggling to cut all ties, he writes
to
“Aldus” for advice…on how to seduce the girl next door.
Rose knows she should walk away—but she can’t let this
brazen insult pass. Instead, she vows to bring Mr.
Shaughnessy to his knees…any way she can.