#roarke

Another double drabble, this time for Lettie and Roarke from AN ORC AND A GENTLEMAN and it's unnamed sequel

[Divider by saradika-graphics]

Lettie waited anxiously by the window, looking for a car to appear and pull up the drive. She looked down at her phone, double checking the text that Roarke had sent. Confirming for herself that he was indeed on his way home. His business trip had turned from one week away to three. Most of his time spent putting out little fires before they turned into big ones. He always sent her a good morning and good night text but never really had much time for conversation.

To say she had missed him was an understatement.

A black car finally pulled up the drive, the back windows tinted, and Lettie flung open the front door. Roarke barely had time to get out of the backseat before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers. The cool edge of his silver-capped tusk dug into her cheek. He chuckled against her lips, large hand gently cradling her cheeks.

"Did you miss me, sweetheart?" he asked, pressing his forehead to hers.

"You're not allowed to go anywhere else," she grumbled, standing on the balls of her feet to search out his mouth again. "Never again."

All it does is shows the hypocrisy of Eve’s morals. She seems to have a very hard time understanding that some people’s form of Justice is having their abuser dead by their hand. That is good enough for them. It’s not that she has to agree with it or support it, she can’t cause she’s a cop. But she seems to have a hard time understanding it at all.

All we get is everyone around Eve being like “no Eve you killing your abuser is different! Those other guys who killed their abusers are in the wrong, you’re not.” Even though in the grand scheme of things one can argue her killing is exactly the same.

Also she comes across as rude, unsympathetic, and sometimes heartless. Not because she’s “standing for the victims” and often times because of her job it makes her hunt down victims and stand for the people who victimized them in the first place. However, what makes her worse in my opinion, is the fact that she doesn’t really offer any kindness or sympathy. Just “why didn’t you go to the police” or “it’s your fault you didn’t go to the police” which is ironic because 1) them killing their abusers is sometimes the only reason their crimes get brought to light and investigated and 2) with her (spoiler?) background with Homeland Security she should know that not all organizations deemed to protect and serve are trustworthy. What can be said to a victim of their abuser is powerful enough to just call up the chief of police when they get accused?

My other thing is that Roberts writes Eve as a character who comes off as so deep into the patriarchal bargain (in simple terms a ‘not like other girls girl’) that she is very misogynistic when dealing with women who step out of her schematic of what a woman should be. (This also extends to her friends). Which makes sense in terms of her job, her position but makes her unlikable when it comes to cases where women and their pain are the forefront. I suppose that’s what Peabody is for.

Eve is not my favorite character of the series, she is a good character in some regards. When I read cases like what I hope I outlined above it’s like really hard for me to brush past her (what I deem) character flaws.

This Goodreads review of Brotherhood in Death by reader “E” pretty much sums up my thoughts more eloquently.