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cranberrytarts's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't read the other books in this series. I don't feel I missed anything by reading out of order.
I enjoyed the setting and unconventional heroine. With the flood of regencies on the market, its refreshing to read about something different.
I enjoyed the setting and unconventional heroine. With the flood of regencies on the market, its refreshing to read about something different.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
Annabel Wheaton was poor, dirt poor, while growing up in Mississippi. Her family was looked down on and called white trash. At least until her father's legacy ended up being an Alaskan gold mine. Suddenly, she's one of the nouveau riche.
This series is set just as automobiles are coming into fashion and American heiresses are flocking overseas to marry for an English title. Annabel Wheaton is just such an heiress. She's not looking for love, she's been burned in the past and just wants acceptance for herself and her family. Unbeknownst to her, her uncle has hired a duke to try and disrupt the nuptials. Christian Du Quesne, Duke of Scarborough, also needs money but he tried marrying for it once and carries the guilt of the relationship to this day. However, he knows that Annabel's fiance is a typical romance bad guy (sleeping with a prostitute the night before they're to marry) and he actually likes Annabel so he decides to save her from herself. Of course, it's with disastrous results that leave our hero and heroine entwined for much longer than they had anticipated.
I'm really liking this series. There aren't many romances set in the Edwardian era and Guhrke does a great job of including emerging technologies with the changing social spheres and really making the time come alive.
If I liked it so much, why only three stars? Because I'm comparing it (maybe unfairly) to Scandal of the Year which I actually sat down and read in one sitting. While I really liked Annabel and her plain speaking as well as Christian and his sense of responsibility, Julia and Aidan captured my heart just a little bit more.
This series is set just as automobiles are coming into fashion and American heiresses are flocking overseas to marry for an English title. Annabel Wheaton is just such an heiress. She's not looking for love, she's been burned in the past and just wants acceptance for herself and her family. Unbeknownst to her, her uncle has hired a duke to try and disrupt the nuptials. Christian Du Quesne, Duke of Scarborough, also needs money but he tried marrying for it once and carries the guilt of the relationship to this day. However, he knows that Annabel's fiance is a typical romance bad guy (sleeping with a prostitute the night before they're to marry) and he actually likes Annabel so he decides to save her from herself. Of course, it's with disastrous results that leave our hero and heroine entwined for much longer than they had anticipated.
I'm really liking this series. There aren't many romances set in the Edwardian era and Guhrke does a great job of including emerging technologies with the changing social spheres and really making the time come alive.
If I liked it so much, why only three stars? Because I'm comparing it (maybe unfairly) to Scandal of the Year which I actually sat down and read in one sitting. While I really liked Annabel and her plain speaking as well as Christian and his sense of responsibility, Julia and Aidan captured my heart just a little bit more.
thenia's review against another edition
3.0
RTC
Previous book reviews:
✦ Scandal of the Year (Abandoned at the Altar, #2)
✦ Wedding of the Season (Abandoned at the Altar #1)
Previous book reviews:
✦ Scandal of the Year (Abandoned at the Altar, #2)
✦ Wedding of the Season (Abandoned at the Altar #1)
prgchrqltma's review against another edition
4.0
Characters: American heiress, rake hired to stop her wedding to unsuitable English aristo
World Building: shipboard
Plot: rake inadvertently ruins her reputation to stop wedding, plot to redeem her reputation, quick marriage but with love this time
Sex: medium, not much
Read another: Yes
World Building: shipboard
Plot: rake inadvertently ruins her reputation to stop wedding, plot to redeem her reputation, quick marriage but with love this time
Sex: medium, not much
Read another: Yes
jacqueline1989's review against another edition
3.0
Here's the progression of this book, in short: Interesting, good, getting better, even better, fun, best, wow, wow-wow-WOW, HOLY-COOL-PEAK, rushed scenes, resolved ending, The End. Yep, that about covers it.
Laura Lee Guhrke has a weird talent for making books oddly unique and different. She's a writer who creates interesting plots that either start off wonderful, get better, and end awesomely, or instead she creates wonderful buildup with too-hurried endings. Sadly, Trouble At The Wedding was just such a book; excellent exposition and a great first act, but an epic Dropped Ball in the final chapters.
The start of the novel was unquestionably interesting, opening with the Prologue of the heroine, Annabel, smack dab in the middle of getting married to someone Not-the-Hero. What made this book such a grab for me, personally, was the shocker that Chapter One didn't jump ahead in time to a single-heroine-zone, but rather, reversed course and retreated seven days prior to the wedding ceremony of the Prologue. Essentially Annabel and our hero, Christian, are juxtaposed in an interesting dynamic for the first half of the novel, and every page of this plot-part is a phenomenal read.
...Until Part One is resolved. As Annabel and Christian enter a new scenario, the feel of the book seems as if the author suddenly realized she was running short on pages and had to rush a bunch of scenes together. While such writing device previously went unused in the story, all of a sudden major time-jumps are occurring, almost within every chapter. The emotions and realism of the characters were seemingly sacrificed on the alter of Spliced Editing, and as the reader sees less "real time" scenes, the story almost appears to fall apart.
Ironically, despite this big-time Let Down, I still found myself desiring to see the outcome of the plot. Even while watered-down, I did care enough about the characters to reach the HEA, and enjoyed the wry humor of the fact that the novel opens with a wedding, and ends with a wedding. Overall, I enjoyed the uniquely refreshing qualities to this book, its timeline and plot-time construction, its initial on-the-seas setting and so forth, but realistically, the story was as much a let down as it was entertaining. Likable, though not remarkable.
Laura Lee Guhrke has a weird talent for making books oddly unique and different. She's a writer who creates interesting plots that either start off wonderful, get better, and end awesomely, or instead she creates wonderful buildup with too-hurried endings. Sadly, Trouble At The Wedding was just such a book; excellent exposition and a great first act, but an epic Dropped Ball in the final chapters.
The start of the novel was unquestionably interesting, opening with the Prologue of the heroine, Annabel, smack dab in the middle of getting married to someone Not-the-Hero. What made this book such a grab for me, personally, was the shocker that Chapter One didn't jump ahead in time to a single-heroine-zone, but rather, reversed course and retreated seven days prior to the wedding ceremony of the Prologue. Essentially Annabel and our hero, Christian, are juxtaposed in an interesting dynamic for the first half of the novel, and every page of this plot-part is a phenomenal read.
...Until Part One is resolved. As Annabel and Christian enter a new scenario, the feel of the book seems as if the author suddenly realized she was running short on pages and had to rush a bunch of scenes together. While such writing device previously went unused in the story, all of a sudden major time-jumps are occurring, almost within every chapter. The emotions and realism of the characters were seemingly sacrificed on the alter of Spliced Editing, and as the reader sees less "real time" scenes, the story almost appears to fall apart.
Ironically, despite this big-time Let Down, I still found myself desiring to see the outcome of the plot. Even while watered-down, I did care enough about the characters to reach the HEA, and enjoyed the wry humor of the fact that the novel opens with a wedding, and ends with a wedding. Overall, I enjoyed the uniquely refreshing qualities to this book, its timeline and plot-time construction, its initial on-the-seas setting and so forth, but realistically, the story was as much a let down as it was entertaining. Likable, though not remarkable.
marimaiz's review against another edition
2.0
I thought I would like this one better, but I was a bit disappointed. I also got a bit stressed about the abrupt way these books end. I always wonder why there isn't an epilogue, it is like something keeps missing. And the ending in this particular story was so underwhelming...
beckymmoe's review against another edition
4.0
I still like the second book in this series the best so far, but this one was still a good read. I have to admit I'd probably have liked it better if I hadn't listened to the audio--I really wasn't crazy about the southern accent that the narrator gave Annabel. Plotwise, I would have liked to have seen more details about Christian's first marriage--it felt like we saw way more of Annabel's disastrous early love life and never got a solid enough grasp on his. Time was definitely spent on it, but it still felt uneven. In the end, though, it wasn't enough to really affect my enjoyment of the novel...just made it seem a bit out of balance.
Is it a coincidence that this novel was released so close to the premiere of season two of Downton Abbey? The theme of rich American heiresses bailing out the bankrupt ton seemed awfully familiar.... :-)
Is it a coincidence that this novel was released so close to the premiere of season two of Downton Abbey? The theme of rich American heiresses bailing out the bankrupt ton seemed awfully familiar.... :-)
silvercal's review against another edition
4.0
America heiress Annabel Weston is determined to marry a titled gentleman to help provide a better coming out for her younger sister, following her own humiliating episode. Even though Annabel is beyond wealthy, everyone still thinks of her as 'white trash' from the backwaters of Mississippi and Annabel dreams of a better life in England and just knows a title will do that. She meets the Earl of Rumsford and believes all her hopes are coming true much to the dismay of her uncle who sees Rumsford as the fortune hunter he is. Her uncle concocts a plan with the help of the dashing Duke of Scarborough, Christian De Quesne who also happens to be in great need of funds but has no desire to marry again after his disastrous first marriage. But Annabels uncle makes too good of an offer to Christian that he can not refuse and he reluctantly agrees to board the ship bound for England and try to stop the wedding.
When Annabel and Christian first meet the sparks fly right away but Annabel shoves them away as she believes her fiance is perfect. But the more little snippets that Christian feeds to her about how 'perfect" Rumsford is, the more her cold feet start to show up until on the day of her wedding she is seriously considering crying off. She bucks up though and the resulting actions are quite funny and put Annabel and Christian in quite an awkward position. As they move forward with their lives and try to put the scandal to rest, their feelings deepen and they try to ignore them but fate has other ideas naturally.
Laura Lee Guhrke has written another excellent, unique story set in the fascinating time period of the early 1900's. When our couple was traveling on the ship to England, I loved the little attentions to details (lips on bookshelves so the books won't fall out) that really made me feel like I was traveling with them. The inclusion of the motor car is again fascinating and leads to a very happy, somewhat drunk on moonshine, experience. I adored Annabel and all her Southern goodness. Ms Guhrke wrote her in such a way that you always knew she was from the backwaters of Mississippi (lots of y'alls and sugars) and it was a delight to read but never felt like all the twangy goodness was overpowering. When Annabel complains about her accent, Christian is right there to defend it and tell her how much he loves it. Together, our couple have quite a few hurdles to overcome. Christian is a bit jaded as his first wife was also an heiress and he refuses to marry for money again and has a hard time even thinking of Annabel due to her wealth. Annabel is stubborn and determined to do what is right but is closely guarding her heart as she just wants to be truly loved. Together, Annabel and Christian push through these barriers and find happiness with Ms Guhrkes trademark humor, passion and wonderful attention to details. If you are looking for a slightly different historical romance that reads easily and will have you laughing and sighing, this is a great book for you! 4 stars
I received this ebook from Avon via netgalley.com.
When Annabel and Christian first meet the sparks fly right away but Annabel shoves them away as she believes her fiance is perfect. But the more little snippets that Christian feeds to her about how 'perfect" Rumsford is, the more her cold feet start to show up until on the day of her wedding she is seriously considering crying off. She bucks up though and the resulting actions are quite funny and put Annabel and Christian in quite an awkward position. As they move forward with their lives and try to put the scandal to rest, their feelings deepen and they try to ignore them but fate has other ideas naturally.
Laura Lee Guhrke has written another excellent, unique story set in the fascinating time period of the early 1900's. When our couple was traveling on the ship to England, I loved the little attentions to details (lips on bookshelves so the books won't fall out) that really made me feel like I was traveling with them. The inclusion of the motor car is again fascinating and leads to a very happy, somewhat drunk on moonshine, experience. I adored Annabel and all her Southern goodness. Ms Guhrke wrote her in such a way that you always knew she was from the backwaters of Mississippi (lots of y'alls and sugars) and it was a delight to read but never felt like all the twangy goodness was overpowering. When Annabel complains about her accent, Christian is right there to defend it and tell her how much he loves it. Together, our couple have quite a few hurdles to overcome. Christian is a bit jaded as his first wife was also an heiress and he refuses to marry for money again and has a hard time even thinking of Annabel due to her wealth. Annabel is stubborn and determined to do what is right but is closely guarding her heart as she just wants to be truly loved. Together, Annabel and Christian push through these barriers and find happiness with Ms Guhrkes trademark humor, passion and wonderful attention to details. If you are looking for a slightly different historical romance that reads easily and will have you laughing and sighing, this is a great book for you! 4 stars
I received this ebook from Avon via netgalley.com.
chrissir's review against another edition
4.0
4,5
I loved the first half - it really was perfect! I liked Annabel and understood her reasons and her motivations to marry the Earl of Rumsford and also Christian was great. He really liked Annabel und tries to prevent her from being unlucky in that marriage, from making his mistakes.
But I would have liked to have the second half a bit of a different direction. I would've liked to see more of Annabel in the british ton and some amusing scenes with her american style to shock the ton. I think there was more potential in the book, but I loved it anyway.
I loved the first half - it really was perfect! I liked Annabel and understood her reasons and her motivations to marry the Earl of Rumsford and also Christian was great. He really liked Annabel und tries to prevent her from being unlucky in that marriage, from making his mistakes.
But I would have liked to have the second half a bit of a different direction. I would've liked to see more of Annabel in the british ton and some amusing scenes with her american style to shock the ton. I think there was more potential in the book, but I loved it anyway.
book_grinch's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a fan of Laura Lee Guhrke's books, but this one didn't grab me as the others did. I didn't found the characters very interesting, or maybe their story just needed to be more developed. There was this lack of intensity in their relationship that stoped me from getting involved in the story as i usually do. Nonetheless i still enjoyed the book, and i will continue to buy her books. My favourites nonetheless continue to be "Scandal of the year", "Secret desires of a gentleman", "Guilty pleasures" and "When he kissed her".