Reviews

The Wedding by Julie Garwood

agrippinaes's review against another edition

4.0

Brenna, the daughter of an English lord, is on her way to marry a highlander when she’s kidnapped by Connor, the rival of her betrothed. Brenna met Connor as a child, and asked for his hand in marriage not once, but three times. He uses this as the basis to marry her, as a means of revenge against his rival, who he believes was directly involved in the murder of his father. Despite how they came to be married, both Brenna and Connor are instantly attracted to one another, and must deal with this growing attraction as Connor’s conflict with his rival comes to a head.

I really enjoyed reading this. The writing is very good - it’s very fluid and easy to read, and it is genuinely funny in parts. The author has a lovely, witty turn of phrase. It makes what can feel like quite a dense and at times grim storyline feel a lot lighter. The plot is interesting and engaging. On reflection, not a lot actually happens in this book - it is very simple, but it never feels slow or boring, despite there being a lot of content that might be described as filler.

I liked both of the main characters. Brenna was a funny and bold heroine, and I found her so easy to root for and very entertaining. The glimpses of her family life and the genuinely close bond she shared with her siblings was quite sweet. I liked Connor a lot more than I did Alec from the previous novel in this series; he was very overbearing at times, and I think on a couple of occasions this slipped into him being annoying, but on the whole I found myself warming to him. I found his exasperation towards Brenna quite amusing at times. His relationship with Alec and his men was also quite endearing.

The romance was very strong. The dynamic between Connor and Brenna was very fun - they had good banter and their mutual frustration with each other’s flaws was amusing. It also felt quite emotional in parts - they had some genuinely very touching moments together, such as

Spoiler

the scene in their bedroom after he’s returned from his hunting trip and she gives him the wooden medallion, and their final reconciliation at the end.

The sex scenes were well-written - there were a couple of things I would have changed but nothing bothered me as much as it did in the first book.

I also thought this had a fairly solid external storyline. I wasn’t so invested in the inter-clan conflict with the MacNares, but I thought the way the subplot involving his stepmother and stepbrother was constructed was very well-done. My heart physically ached at certain points -

Spoiler

the horrid deconstruction of Brenna’s attempts to please and surprise Connor by the stepmother; Raen’s first truly physical altercation with Brenna, and Raen’s final scene.

I was genuinely emotional at these parts in a way I hadn’t anticipated. I thought the conclusion of the

Spoiler

sexual harassment storyline involving Connor’s stepbrother, Raen

was very well-done - I was glad that

we did not see the assault on-page, I actually thought it had more impact in this case to see Brenna’s response to it afterwards. I also appreciated how the male characters reacted, especially Crispin, one of Brenna’s guards, and how neatly he handled the situation to ensure that Connor knew the truth.

However, I did find the ending a bit rushed. It all came to a head very quickly, and some of it felt a bit rambling and confused, as if the author lost track of all of the plot threads. It was pulled back a bit by their final reconciliation, but I would have

Spoiler

liked more time for Connor to comfort Brenna after her assault before he left her.

. Overall, though, this was a solid historical romance and I would recommend it if you’re looking for a highlander romance with an arranged marriage.

Content Notes:

Spoiler

Warnings: Violence, death (on-page), violent death (on-page), blood, mentions of sexual violence, animal abandonment, animal death, animal mutilation, sexual harassment (on-page), attempted rape (off-page but described on-page), scenes of war.

Other: On-page sex.

verisarg's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

nanoreadsxo's review

4.0

Another good Julie Garwood books, it’s not as good as the first one but I still enjoyed this one. She wrote the best heroines with feel good books

booksreadbydeepti's review

4.0

Love the series, the author should have wrote more :)

carscats's review

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

finaldeztination's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

humblej's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

le_vicieux's review

4.0

I really liked it, it was actually better than I expected!! but what i didn't like about it is that in some parts of the book, Brenna acts like a whiny child who needs someone to constantly look over her or she'll get lost or do something stupid.
isn't she in her 20's???? wtf??

nancyn13's review

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

bookaholicforever's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5