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Abandoned at the Altar series, Book 3
Laura Lee Guhrke
Avon Books/HarperCollinsPublishers
January 2012 / ISBN: 978-006-1963179
Romance - Historical (London, 1904)
Amazon
Reviewed
by Leslie Halpern
In Trouble at the Wedding, Laura Lee Guhrke continues
her series of would-be brides abandoned at the altar. This time,
it's the lovely Miss Annabel Wheaton, a Southern lady who recently
went from rags to riches through a generous inheritance from her
father. She nearly obtains her goal of marrying a titled English
gentleman until Christian Du Quesne, an inebriated scoundrel and
current Duke of Scarborough, interrupts her cruise-ship wedding
to a money-hungry earl by claiming just cause they should not lawfully
be joined together.
That's how Annabel goes from being on the brink of marrying a respectable
earl of whom she is quite fond to being unceremoniously dumped on
her wedding day. After the earl breaks off the wedding due to the
apparent scandal (exactly what did occur between Annabel and Christian
the night before her wedding?), Annabel strikes a deal with Christian
to save her reputation and gain her entrance into British society.
The marriage-fearing duke agrees to act as a trustee for the young
heiress and introduce her to eligible men in his circle of friends.
That's the least he can do after ruining her marriage plans.
The only problem remains their mutual attraction to each other.
Christian is exactly what Annabel is looking for - someone to save
her from a white-trash past - yet his reluctance to marry again
after a disastrous first marriage seems an insurmountable obstacle.
For his part, Christian finds himself drawn to the outspoken American
woman, in part because she reminds him of his first wife, who committed
suicide due to his shortcomings as a husband. When mutual lust compromises
her position even further, Annabel and Christian find themselves
in another uncomfortable situation. Should they marry just to keep
the servants from gossiping and the scandal sheets from printing
scandalous stories about them?
Borrowing heavily from the Titanic movie, the story and characters
in Trouble at the Wedding feel vaguely familiar. Because
of this, my favorite parts of the book reference the time period
rather than the actual romance. I especially enjoyed reading the
details about the shifting social structure in England, where titled
gentlemen either married well or found some other non-working means
of making money because their estates were no longer self-sustaining.
It is also interesting to note the cultural differences between
the English family and the American family. For example, Annabel's
fondness for Southern moonshine adds an entertaining note to her
otherwise unhappy situation. This book is an entertaining read,
but I found it hard to get swept away in the romance.
Reviewer's
Note: Sexuality
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