Customer Reviews

Not Quite Married

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

 

 

I can't say the book didn't hold my interest, but I can say I won't be re-reading it. It's a very convoluted story, with multiple marriages (one of which would have been illegal, so it was rather silly to threaten the heroine with it in the first place). I really liked the hero, but the author doesn't seem to have a grasp on how primogeniture works, or on how titles descend, which bugged me. He couldn't be disinherited by his father, and he couldn't renounce the title. He could choose not to use it, but he couldn't bestow it on his brother. Simply didn't work that way. Yet another case of the writer bending history to suit her story line . . . I was also really put off by the heroine's father. He vacillates from loving dad to abuser who rules with an iron fist and back again so many times it made my head spin.

I won't say don't buy it, but I also can't really recommend it. I certainly won't be buying anything else by this author.

Unlike most of Krahn's books, I had to pick this one up a few times to really get into it. I have to admit, though, that may have been as much because of the cover as the writing. I loved 'The Husband Test' and the two books that followed, and picked this book after those.

As I said, it took me a few chapters to get into it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. While I don't know that I'd necessarily read it again and again, I definitely put it back on my bookshelf to keep rather than out with the pile for the used book store -- something which not many mass market books achieve in my household.

Like most of Krahn's books, the strength lies in the incredible tension between the different characters, the depth of the emotion, and Krahn's ability to portray independent women while still retaining an incredible amount of historical accuracy.

While this book would be quite good for some authors, it's definitely mediocre for Krahn. There are excellent moments, but the twists and turns are repetitive and almost comical at inapproproate moments. The villains are inconsistent and most are too easily dealt with. The roadblocks are sometimes contrived and not worthy of the weight given them. Brien's father's character alters according to the role he needs to play in the plot. Krahn's descriptions of Aaron's enthusiasm for the opportunity in America is marvelous, though, as are some of the moments for the romantic leads.

It's an okay read, certainly better than many, but it has too many faults to be a must read and it's certainly not a must buy.

If this is your first Betina Krahn book and you weren't impressed, don't give up on this author. I am a HUGE Betina Krahn fan, and I picked this particular book up after I had already read her Marriage Test series. It was like reading a different author and I nearly put it down several times. The heroine's actions in marrying and bedding the hero weren't plausible and overall this book had a darker tone than her others. However, Betina Krahn has such a way with words that you're drawn in, in spite of the weaknesses. This book was previously published in 1983 as RAPTURE'S RANSOM, so I'm just chalking it up as a work written by a younger, less experienced writer. Her more recent books are absolutely wonderful, and they're keepers in my library. If this is the only book by Krahn that you've read, then try one of her others, like THE HUSBAND TEST -- you're in for a real treat.

This is my first B.Krahn book and it wasn't bad, it wasn't a phenomenal page turner either. The characters' character changed several times throughout the book so that they became almost unbelievable. The father for example, took his daughter with him everywhere when she was a little girl but when she was a young woman he ignored and insulted her. Usually a good father remains a good father and a bad one remains bad. Also it didn't make sense that Brien was bold enough to run off and get herself married to a total stranger yet easily gave in to later marrying a man she detested, she should have run away or done something dramatic and headstrong. The book did use the marriage of convenience storyline in a way that is different than what is typically used in romance novels. My advice borrow don't buy and don't read when you're in the mood for something that is totally engrossing you'll never be that taken in by it.

Bettina Krahn usually writes a good novel. This was not.
The plot was convoluted and silly. Her dominating Daddy wants to marry her off to a man of little honour, who is a one dimensional very nasty fellow.
Our intrepid heroine goes off to London and pays the hero 4000 pounds so he'll wed her, a total stranger. He then seduces her, just as her slimy fiance does

a few days earlier. She seems to have trouble saying no to complete strangers. The wedding is a sham, and she docily marries the villain who is a very, very bad fellow indeed. She keeps him from the marriage bed, but he fortuitously expires in suspicious circumstances. Oh yes, she undergoes a complete overhaul of her appearance and gets skinny. Probably from being locked in the dungeon. And then we have the Big Misunderstanding. I didn't finish it. This was apparently one of these rewritten early stories. Why take a potboiler and make it worse? Bettina, you are capable of so much better.

This was my first book by this author. I am always reluctant to try new authors and this book is a major reason why. The plot was totally contrived even for a romance novel. The characters were likable enough but you just didn't care. The female lead comes off as boring and unlovable. There is just too much side plots involving one dimensional super villain (French of course) to make this worth your time.

I loved this book and i can't understand why others didn't enjoy it.
Oh well, the main thing is that i had a wonderful reading experience.
I loved the characters.

This is my thrird book that i have read from the author, and it hasn't disappointed.

This book was really hard for me to get into. I put it down several times vowing that I probably wouldn't even go back to it, but I kept hoping it would get better and eventually, it did. The general plot is good one, girl marries handsome stranger to avoid marriage to a cad, but I think the author had too many ideas going on here. Then there's the fact that after our heroione, Brien, marries our hero, Aaron, they spend a couple of "unforgettable" hours together and then you don't see Aaron for like another 125 pages! And by the way, Ms. Krahn didn't sell
the "unforgettable" part here! The initial love scene is about three paragraphs long and the rest aren't much better. If you're looking for a couple of steamy love scenes, this book is definitely not for you! It also irked me that the heroine just can't seem to make up her mind, which gets old after a while. I mean, in one sentence she's admitting to herself that she's in love with Aaron and in the very next sentence is yelling at him because he wants to have a real marriage? Then, she is constantly trusting the wrong people several times! Hasn't this girl ever heard the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...?" Spoiler alert: When her evil ex-father-in-law tracks her down where she's hiding from him, she agrees to go into a room with him and his thugs and tells her protectors to stay back, she'll be fine. Come on! As I said, I liked the premise of the book and in the end, it was a decent read, but I won't be picking it up again.

Ms. Krahn has the potential of being an outstanding romance writer. This book has everything necessary to make an excellent story...and yet everything just misses. The story has too many incongruities to make it truly enjoyable.

Brien is another one of those silly heroines who acts first and never bothers thinking, or only thinks along absolutely crazy lines. After her father's outrage at her firing the head of the stables in his absence, she fears for her independence. She meets the man anyway and is smitten with the frenchman until she hears of his past and future plans for escapade and takes off. One of her servants finds a man in a tavern who is willing to make a quick 1000 gbp. They marry and withdraw to have one night (or hour) of glorious passion so that she will not be forced to marry against her will. Can anyone follow this train of logic? I couldn't.

Anyway, the shipbuilding errant misunderstood son of an earl, does the deed so he can finish his ship. After that he doesn't believe he'll ever see her again. In the meantime, Brien's plan is foiled due to a fire at the chapel where she was married and her inevitability in proving she's married. Her father's plan to marry her off to the frenchman goes forward and after her being imprisoned and him dying in a fire, Brien moves back to her fathers place and they begin to have a real relationship.

I couldn't keep up with the wayward storylines or the believability of the characters; and I truly couldn't stand Brien. A worthless character when she could have been much more personable.

Long story short...they end up happily ever after in America.