Title: Trouble at the Wedding
Series: Abandoned at the Altar #3
Author: Laura Lee Guhrke
Genre: Historical, Edwardian
Annabel is about to marry the perfect man…
The last thing Miss Annabel Wheaton desires is true love. She learned the hard way that love makes a woman foolish and only leads to heartache. That’s why she agreed to marry an earl who needs her money. He’s got a pedigree and a country estate, and he won’t ever break her heart. There’s only one problem…
Christian isn’t about to let her marry that pompous prig…
Christian Du Quesne, Duke of Scarborough, thinks this stubborn heiress is about to make the biggest mistake of her life, and he’s determined to stop her. Tempting beautiful women is Christian’s forte, after all. When her family offers him a nice sum of money to stop the wedding, he’s happy to accept. Falling in love with Annabel wasn’t supposed to be part of the bargain…
I hate having to write this review, because I have been a huge fan of Laura Lee Gurhke’s for a long time. I can’t remember a book of hers before this that I wouldn’t have heartily recommended. Sadly, I can barely recommend this one.
Trouble at the Wedding began with such promise. Annabel Wheaton is just the type of heroine that I love: smart, independent, and strong. She’s also a Southern girl, which I immediately liked, as it was refreshing to read a heroine who’s “different” from the typical Englishwomen born of the aristocracy and New York heiresses. I liked her immensely, and I liked the hero, Christian Du Quesne, immensely as well. In fact, I enjoyed the first half of this book immensely, when the question of whether or not Christian is going to be able to keep Annabel from marrying her scumbag fiancee remains unresolved.
And yet, when that question is resolved and she doesn’t marry him…well, the second half of the book just fell flat. The characters didn’t sparkle anymore, the plot was mundane and predictable and seemed to center on nothing but lust. To say it was disappointing would be an understatement.
With that being said, I remain a loyal LLG fan; she is still on my list of auto-reads. I just hope the next book can redeem this one.
Grade: C-
