Customer Reviews

At the Bride Hunt Ball (Avon Romance)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I always get excited to read a debut author -- a new talent, a fresh voice. And as a fan of reality TV, I was especially intrigued by Olivia Parker's At the Bride Hunt Ball as it has been called "a Regency version of The Bachelor".

Gabriel Devine, Duke of Wolverest, has no plans to marry. He expects nothing less than perfection in a wife and since such a lady doesn't exist, he is resigned to let his brother's future heir carry on the title. So, he comes up with a plan to host a Bride Hunt Ball in order to find a bride for his brother, Lord Tristan. During a dinner party hosted by the duke and his sister, Lady Rosalind, seven prospective brides are chosen and invited to stay a fortnight at Wolverest Castle in Yorkshire. While there, each young lady will do her best to win Lord Tristan's heart. One of the chosen seven is Miss Madelyn Haywood, who wants no part of the Bride Hunt Ball. She even goes to great lengths to avoid getting that coveted-by-many invitation by running away from the duke's solicitor. From a balcony above the garden, Gabriel spies the chase and takes it upon himself to mange the situation. However, when he approaches her hiding spot, Madelyn makes plain her feelings by plunking him in the forehead with a lemon.

Madelyn is a delightful heroine. She's clumsy and impulsive, but also practical and sensible. Despite being in her fourth season, she isn't opposed to marriage in general, just marriage to men who could care less for a woman's heart. Men like the Devine brothers. Men like Lord Rothbury, whose proposal she turned down the year before. Her fervent wish is to move back to her beloved childhood home in Yorkshire, Willowbrooke, and perhaps someday marry a nice man. She is eventually convinced to attend the ball when her stepmother promises her that if she at least makes a valiant effort to win Lord Tristan, or better yet, the duke, that she can have Willowbrooke. When Madelyn finds out that her dearest friend, Charlotte (who has been in love with Lord Tristan for years), is also one of the chosen ladies, she makes it her mission to protect her friend's heart.

Gabriel is a hero you grow to love. At the beginning, he's stubborn and arrogant and has his reasons for being so. He has no designs to marry because he witnessed how unhappy his mother was in her very one-sided marriage to his father. During the two weeks of the competition, he plans to make himself scarce, but cannot seem to resist the inelegant and outspoken Madelyn. Especially when they cross paths so frequently. And it is through his interactions with her that his armor starts to crack and his true character shines through.

I enjoyed this book very much. It's light-hearted and sexy and filled with lots of witty dialogue. I found myself laughing out loud many times, especially during a particular scene brought on by Madelyn's clumsiness that involves a bee and a lily pond. It has plenty of sexual tension, including a sexy archery lesson. One of my favorite parts of the book was a very touching scene in which Gabriel and Madelyn share a private waltz. The secondary characters of Charlotte, Tristan, Rosalind and Rothbury are very likable characters that only add depth and humor to the story. And now I'm curious if one or all of them will have their own story one day! The only problem I had with the book was within the love scenes. The point of view switched so often that sometimes I had to read back a bit to figure out whose head I was in. But this certainly won't keep me from purchasing Ms. Parker's future books.

At the Bride Hunt Ball is a fun, witty Regency romp that is, at times, very reminiscent of an early Julia Quinn. I recommend it!

~Andrea~
Reviewed at romancenovel.tv

If you are looking for a book without annoying dangling plot lines, if you like books that are stand alone and not part of a 10 book series, if you like lots of laughs and plenty of romance, then At the Bride Hunt Ball is the book for you. I picked it up by chance at the bookstore and was pleasantly surprised. I really liked it. The premise was that eligible young ladies would be invited to a ball in order for the younger brother of the duke to pick himself a bride. One young lady wants an invitation so badly and another, our heroine Madelyn, doesn't. Naturally, they both end up at the ball and it is a lovely story.
This book was a great book to read on a sunny afternoon. It was filled with pleasant people I wanted to read about and didn't have a lot of minuses. It had humor, a plausible plot, and was very readable.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book as I had never heard of the author. I was a little disappointed to find out this was a debut book. I am looking forward to reading more from Olivia Parker and had hoped she had a backlist. But, I can wait--hopefully, Charlotte's story is next. I know who I would like her to end up with. We'll see if that's where the author is headed.

"At the Bride Hunt Ball" starts with a completely ridiculous premise (being on The Bachelor *today* is skeevy--I can't imagine it flying in Regency England) but Olivia Parker carries it off well, if not entirely plausibly. Several parts were romantic enough to bring a sting of tears to my eyes, but, unfortunately, Parker could not maintain that level of tension throughout. As previous reviewers mentioned, some dramatic plot threads and interesting character traits were never fully explored, and the transformation of Rothbury from a sinister ex-suitor to sympathetic ally was unconvincing. Nevertheless, I'd recommend it. It's rare to find a debut novel at this level. Most are, quite frankly, awful, but "Bride Hunt Ball" kept me reading until 1 in the morning.

That said, the lack of professionalism in producing this book was shocking and jarred me out of the story several times. Doesn't anyone proofread any more? Does everyone rely on spell-check? For example, "soul recipients" which should have read "sole recipients" (this was not a paranormal, so no one had a soul transplant, except perhaps Rothbury); "his ridged arm" which should have read "his rigid arm;" several incorrect uses of the word "sunk" where it should have read "sank;" and the worst--"his riding breeches, which fit snuggly" (it's "snugly," people!!! I don't think the Duke was wearing a Slanket or a baby carrier!).

Unfortunately, these amateur mistakes cheapened the novel and made its other missteps only more glaring. Ms. Parker--hire someone to proofread your galleys. Avon obviously doesn't care.

The premise of this book is the reality show "The Bachelor" set in the Regency period. Seven carefully selected prospective brides are invited to a ducal estate to vie for the hand of the Duke of Wolverest's younger brother because the actual duke has sworn never to marry.

It's a really cute idea, and some of Ms. Parker's plot does work. But the writing is labored and the story is repetitious. How many times do we need to be told that Madelyn (our heroine) is attracted to Gabriel (the Duke), but is only at the Bride Hunt to protect her friend, Charlotte (obviously being set up to be the heroine of the follow-up novel), from heartbreak over her crush on Tristan (the younger brother)? I mean, we must go through that explanation at least every fourth page.

Besides the unintentional humor from Ms. Parker's inept handling of the English language (One terrific example is during a seduction scene: "Wearing only her silk stockings and garters, he stroked one of her thighs, urging her leg to ride high on his hip." The image of the Duke wearing stockings and garters as he rolls around on the floor with our heroine is making me giggle as I write this ), I found nothing amusing about this book. The author keeps telling us that Madelyn is clumsy, but there is nothing cute about her weaving around bumping and falling into things. If I was her doctor, I would suspect an inner ear infection.

The plot is the really clumsy character in this novel. The entire book seems like it is on the verge of being really meaty and interesting, and then it just falls short. For instance, we are told that the Duke doesn't want to marry because his father was mean to his mother, but we are shown no angst or hesitation at all when he feels an attraction toward Madelyn. We are told Madelyn has a really cruel stepmother, but the character is drawn unevenly, and in the end that plot point is left to dangle unsatisfactorily. The brother, Tristan, is a rake, but not a horrible rake, and so we don't know whether to like him or hate him. Madelyn has been cruelly insulted by a former suitor, but she doesn't seem to react all that strongly to him when he reappears, and so the reader doesn't know if the character has reformed or what the deal is. I find this kind of "almost, but not quite there" writing extremely frustrating.

Another thing that really bugged me throughout the book was that the author seems to be telling us that these brides are vying to be the next Duchess of Wolverest, but that's not true. If they marry the younger brother, they will only be the bride of the younger brother, (he probably has a title, but it is never mentioned) no matter how many heirs they produce, until the older brother dies. The older brother is not that much older, and seems to be in magnificent health. He can remain a bachelor, and will still be the Duke, until his demise. Only then would the younger brother become the Duke, and by extension would the bride become a duchess. If the younger brother pre-deceases the older brother, even if the bride has produced the heir, she would never become the Duchess. She would only be the mother of the future duke (and without ever being married to a living duke, I'm not even sure if that makes her a dowager duchess.)

In the end, however, none of these plot problems would be a real problem if the characters and situations had been compelling enough to hold my attention. I've swallowed much sillier plot points than this "bride hunt" premise (such as the existence of a perfume which acts as an aphrodisiac only on one's true love, as in Lisa Kleypas' "It Happened One Autumn") and still enjoyed the book immensely because the writing was so good and the silliness of the plot point was accepted and acknowledged by the author. But that is not the case here.

This is a debut effort, and I will probably give this author another chance because I think she had some good ideas here. But she definitely needs to be edited more closely for grammar and usage, and she needs to think through all her characters and plot points before blithely shoving them at her readers. And then she just needs to let loose and go for it -- sometimes an evil character should just be evil.

I loved it. Its so nice to read a romance that is actually romantic. No nasty villian, no sadness, no tortured hero, no abuse....etc etc.
Very nice writing for a debut author. Wonderful characters and a very sweet story.Looking forward to more from Ms. Parker.

What a fun book! Everything I like in a regency is here- A non-perfect, sensible heroine and an unsuspecting hero thrown together. I hope her next book is as good, and I will be watching for it!

No point in my getting into the storyline as many have done it here already. My take on the book is this: I liked the idea, I didn't like the execution. I don't have major problems with the characters, except that the author introduced several layers to them that she later forgot. What's the point in telling us about events that were supposed to have shaped the characters but then show that the event didn't actually leave any mark that merits a follow up. And if the certain event (and there were a few of them here) was a blimp in the character's life, why tell us about it in the first place? It made me think that the author felt she needed to flesh out the characters and give them more depth so she inserted these events. But then she didn't close the circle. So what was the point? Finally, my last issue with this book is the writing. The grammar was awful and to me the whole thing read like a high-school student's attempt at romance. Eh.

I thought this book was delightful--my only real disappointment is that it is her first, and therefore I cannot go out and buy another.

I won't summarize the plot [sorry that this means a lot of generalizations...], so don't worry about spoilers here!

To my surprise, I found all the characters I was expected to like to be genuinely likable, and those I shouldn't, I didn't [too often in romance novels the character we're told is likable just, well, isn't really]. I enjoyed very much how Ms. Parker used the Duke's sister, in particular, to fill us in on the Duke's character, often producing small surprises that I found absolutely delightful. And I found that she a much better than average job "showing" not "telling" all the time--using dialogue and actions to show that a character is funny, or intense, instead of simply tellings us that so-and-so is so charming....

Our hero, the Duke, faces an intense reason for not wanting to marry (it seems most Duke's have some aversion to marriage!), but we, as readers, aren't forced to dwell on this on every other page while he dwells on this point. Ms. Parker simply shares his thoughts a couple times so we understand the background, and the the plot moves on. While his internal struggle does seem to be resolved rather abruptly, I actually found the surrounding details to be refreshing.

The heroine is the clumsy, pretty but not beautiful type, that I happen to enjoy. I like a heroine that is not too perfect, but seems to remain true to herself (as opposed to heroines that really ARE perfect but have bad luck or something).

Most importantly, the progression of their romance doesn't seem forced, awkward, or really unbelievable. There are setbacks, of course, as there always are, but they, too, seem natural to the story, rather than simply being frustrating to the reader. This is the type of romance novel that makes me wish I weren't already in love--just so I could fall in love again!

Yes, we are hit over the head with some details, such as why Madelyn agrees to attend the ball. And the writing is a bit awkward in places, almost as though Ms. Parker tries too hard to be fancy. In general, I think she does a better job than most at not switching perspectives every other sentence (or mid sentence!), though, as others have mentioned, in the love scenes, things get a little confusing. [Maybe it's just me, but I actually thought that rather added to the scenes.] My biggest complaint about the writing is that little details, such as someone entering into the room, seemed somehow to appear mid-sentence so I missed them (I read too quickly....) and I would find myself a page later being shocked that so-and-so was part of a conversation, when I thought there were just two people in the room.

I am completely in love with these characters, and the way their romance progresses in this book; and I'm delighted that the door has been left open for secondary characters to have a story of their own.

Highly recommend this book if you like romance as a genre.

I sort of had low expectations but funnily enough I really enjoyed this book. A funny, outspoken, determined, refreshing heroine and broody, unsmiling hero who falls for her exactly because of that. There's no oft-used "big misunderstanding" plot that happens because it's kept a big secret until the end - in fact it's sorted out in the middle of the book. It had enough sexual tension and laugh-out-loud parts to keep me continuously reading that I finished it in one sitting. Their romance was very sweet and overall completely engaging. Great job from a debut author, I will be seeking out her other work now.

Don't you love it when you don't have high expectations about a book and it turns out to be a delightful read? That's what happened with this book. Knowing its premise was similar to the TV show 'The Bachelor' - a group of girls gathered in the same house for a period of time with the sole objective of catching the coveted bachelor -, I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this read. Well, I'm glad I overcame my initial prejudice because At the Bride Hunt Ball (Avon Romance) ended up being a very entertaining read.

Gabriel Devine, the Duke of Wolverest, has sworn off marriage but he knows he needs to start "producing" heirs to carry on the title, so he decides his younger brother, Lord Tristan, is to be married and to take care of the "heir issue". Gabriel's plan is quite simple: invite 7 young ladies (and their chaperones, of course) to a house party at his country estate, so his brother can get acquainted with them, "evaluate" them and, after a fortnight, choose the "winner".

Madelyn Haywood is one of the 7 ladies selected to participate in the "contest". She doesn't really want to go because she doesn't have any interest in mingling with the "rakish" Devine brothers, but her stepmother forces her to go. Madelyn finds another reason to go when she discovers that her friend Charlotte, who's been in love with Lord Tristan for years, is also one of the selected ladies, and Madelyn vows to protect her too dreamy-eyed friend from Lord Tristan's wicked ways.

At first, Gabriel plans to make himself scarce during the house party, as he has no interest in getting himself involved in the "contest" as long as Tristan comes out of it with a bride in tow, but he can't resist Madelyn. She isn't like any other woman he's ever met, and he can't help falling in love with her and questioning his decision to never marry. On her side, she slowly realizes that he isn't the cad she thought he was, and falls for him too. He blunders his marriage proposal but, as this is Romancelandia, it's just a tiny bump in their way to the HEA.

As described above, the plot of this story was quite simple and straightforward, with no unexpected twists. What made this book so enjoyable was watching Gabriel and Madelyn interact and fall in love with each other. I smiled, laughed, sighed and, at one point, even hurt with them. Gabriel was a bit arrogant sometimes - after all, he was the Duke of Wolverest and he could do anything he wanted! - but he was completely helpless when it came to Madelyn. She was adorable in her clumsiness, and I was very happy to see how Gabriel helped her overcome her insecurities.

All in all, I had a great time reading this book, and I recommend it to anyone who likes a light and sweet romantic comedy set in Regency England.