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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Always a pleasure to read Barbara Metzger, November 24, 2009
Barbara Metzger is the queen of the comical regency - she has been writing them for many years and nearly always with the assurance of a seasoned hand. She has a clever and polished style of writing that is always a joy to read and an ability to create scenarios that are funny but poignant and populated by a range of cleverly drawn characters.
In this story, we have a comical though sometimes painful dissection of an arranged marriage of convenience. This marriage is set up for the usual reasons of advancement and money and will cross quite serious class divides. However, our heroine, the daughter of a rich and ambitious cit, has taken umbrage at being kept waiting for 13 years and is ready to kick over the traces. Our hero, originally the younger son, finds himself inheriting his father's title and, suddenly, his life needs to undergo some serious change - no longer in the Army, no longer living the life of a young buck in London, he needs to set up his nursery with a willing wife.
There are the usual coterie of oddball servants and relatives in this one; watch out for Marcel, her grandpa's valet, and a pretty unusual pug dog who needs the kiss of life every now and then. Add in some annoying stepsisters, a bit of a mystery and an abduction and you have one of the author's funny and harum scarum set-ups.
I particularly liked the homage to the late Edith Layton that appears in the chapter headings purporting to be from a tome on arranged marriages; some terrific one-liners here - worth the price of the book in my view.
I really liked this and had several hours of real reading pleasure. Highly recommended to her fans but also to those who like regencies, like comedy and appreciate talented, well crafted prose.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Just Couldn't Fall In Love, December 21, 2009
I agree with another review who said the short chapter notes written as a tribute to Edith Layton are worth seeking out. Those are amusing, very much in keeping with the late author's style, and fun.
But this is also the first Barbara Metzger I haven't finished. On my second try, I made it just over halfway. I'll probably give it a third try at some point, but since Metzger is in my top five must buy list, The Bargain Bride has to go down in the disappointment category. It has all the elements I love - the self capable heroine, the repentant hero, the arranged marriage (I'm a sucker for those), the positive view of male relationships, but it fails to come together. There's too much farce and not enough friction. Penny is angry, West is resigned, but why are they together? He's ready to make the best of it, she's decided she must fight him at all costs or we'd lack a plot. I mean, or her heart will be broken again. There are typically wonderful touches - Penny's book of adolescent poetry is as dreadful as it should be, West understands her reluctance to be seduced - but it never gains enough speed to lift all the baggage it carries.
I'm absolutely buying the author's next book, but this one just wasn't for me.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
humorous Regency romance, November 7, 2009
Their fathers arranged their marriage when she was thirteen and he was about to go fight against Napoleon. However, Persephone Goldthwaite has spent half her life waiting to tie the knot with Viscount Kendall Westmoreland. Both want to end their betrothal so he goes see her serendipitously to gain her concurrence.
However, West changes his mind upon meeting the beautiful effervescent Penny. Her father suggests Penny marry her stepbrother Nigel, son of his second wife. Instead West invokes the agreement, but his former lover and her odious step-sibling have other abduction plans for the pair that ignores West and Penny falling in love.
THE BARGAIN BRIDE is a humorous Regency romance filled with an eccentric cast that seems to have escaped from bedlam as their chaotic antics are fun to follow; but centered and owned by the lead couple. Fans will relish this fine historical as the battle for who marries Penny shapes into a zany free for all in which Penny must determine whom she can trust with her life. Topped by citations from the chronicles of "By Arrangement" heading each chapter, this is an amusing entertaining tale with a suspense subplot enhancing the jocularity; as Barbara Metzger is at the top of her game.
Harriet Klausner
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