Mulry's cheery, joyful romance writing continues in this fourth (third?) installment of the Unruly Royals series. Yet I had major ideological problems with this one. Do-gooding sister Abigail broke up with her long-time girlfriend earlier in the series, and found herself attracted to American luxury goods magnate Eliot Cranbrook. Not really one for much self-reflection, Abby decides not to think too hard about her own sexuality ("I'm not going to label myself to make you feel better," she tells her brother when he asks if she's still a lesbian or not), and ends up allowing herself to be gradually wooed into bed by Eliot. But when Eliot declares his feelings, Abby runs away. For an entire year. Until the news that Eliot's engaged to someone else finally brings them back together.

I don't have a problem with a bisexual character moving from a girlfriend to a boyfriend. But Mulry does very little to show Abby's thoughts or feelings about being with a man sexually (for the first time), after being with a woman for ten years. The scene where Eliot asks Abby why she didn't tell him she was a virgin was particularly grimace-inducing—truly? Would a woman who had been having sex with another woman for ten years truly still have a hymen intact enough that a man would be able to feel it breaking??? This scene serves primarily to cut the overly PC Abby down to size (because her chastisement of Eliot's sexism gets thrown back in her face, she's the one being stereotypical, not him). Oh, and of course Abby becomes a better dresser, more in charge of her financial life, and a stronger advocate for the disadvantaged, all after breaking up with her girlfriend. Whether Mulry intended it or not, Abby's story comes across as the tale of the girl who grew up by ditching the girlfriend and hooking up with the smart capitalistic man. And there's no discussion at all of the connection between Western consumption of luxury goods and the state of less developed countries...

Yuck :-(