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Abandoned at the Altar, No 2
Laura Lee Guhrke
Avon /HarperCollins
January 2011/ ISBN 978-0-06-196315-5
Romance – Historical (London, 1901)
Amazon
Reviewed
by Leslie Halpern
Lady Beatrix Danbury didn’t deserve to get abandoned at
the altar back in 1896. And her former groom, William Mallory, Duke
of Sunderland, would say she wasn’t. These differing opinions
resulted from two entirely different goals from the long-time lovebirds:
Beatrix wanted to be a Duke’s wife and live a life of leisure
with family, friends, and society, while William wanted to earn
a living and make a name for himself as the explorer who discovered
King Tut’s tomb. Their conflicting goals resulted in a broken
relationship and a scandal for the Danbury family.
When William arrives back in England after six years of excavating
in Egypt, he plans to disrupt Beatrix’s wedding engagement
to another man, and ultimately win her heart back. However, Will
has a difficult challenge ahead of him. Beatrix now drives a motorcar,
wears pants, has changed her eating and drinking habits, and seems
to want nothing to do with him. To get past her outer resistance,
he constantly reminds her of their past and rekindles the sparks
that she has never experienced with anyone other than him.
Much of this spark rekindling takes place at Pixy Cove, a nearly
magical retreat where they also had vacationed as children. Amidst
the swimming, picnicking, and flirting, Will searches for the vulnerable
“Trix” with whom he fell in love with so long ago.
Much of the novel is devoted to setting the scene at the whimsical
Pixy Cove and establishing the time period with descriptions of
the clothing and Beatrix’s newly acquired Daimler automobile.
Their earlier relationship also gets plenty of coverage, including
flashbacks to words, images, and feelings from their youth and later
during their courtship. What doesn’t get much attention is
why after six years and so many life-altering changes, they can
make things work now. Minor sexual play and major compromises on
both their parts don’t seem like enough to bring these two
back together for the long term. Based on the little we know about
the characters’ current states of mind, readers may be left
wondering if the long-established behavior patterns and personality
types of Beatrix and Will might resurface after the honeymoon wears
off.
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