To Be Determined

I won a copy of this from Jackie Barbosa on Twitter...Many historical romances have a corrupt vicar, usually a man who was the third son and had no other means of income. Not being a religious person at all, I've always been intrigued but that type of character. How must it have been for a person who doesn't have the desire or beliefs for such a position to have no other option to be be a vicar? It's not something I can imagine handling well myself, so it was interesting reading about Walter, a decent man who's making the best of his life as a vicar. And I'm a fan of the "fallen woman" trope, so this story was right up my alley. Artemesia was a great character. Like Walter, she made the best of a bad situation with limited options. After having a (stillborn) child out of wedlock, there was no hope of her marrying, so she went to London and became a courtesan. When she goes back to care for her father, she has enough money of her own to live independently. She's still a pariah in her town, but she deals with it. My one big complaint about this story is when Walter and Artemesia meet. Walter almost immediate says, "I want you," and while I, the reader, have enough of his POV to know his intentions, I felt that Artemesia should have been put off. That's the kind of behavior I'd expect of the stereotypical corrupt vicar, you know? Other than that, I really like the way the relationship developed, and I believed that they could make it in the end, though the resolution was a little to easy for my tastes. But it's a short story, so that's understandable.