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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Trouble at the Wedding, December 27, 2011
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
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cash-for-title theme had a lot of promise., January 5, 2012
This review is from: Trouble at the Wedding: Abandoned at the Altar (Kindle Edition)
The premise of this HR, that of American heiresses marrying into the British peerage at the turn of the century, has always interested me. Edith Wharton's unfinished novel was made into a pretty decent miniseries The Buccaneers. The Earl of Grantham of Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey has an American wife whom he married to shore up his estate and happily found true love with her. Daisy Goodwin has an OK novel about the same theme: The American Heiress: A Novel. So I was all settled in with this Guhrke book to enjoy some Edwardian romance. Heroine and heiress Annabel Wheaton grew up dirt poor in Mississippi but unexpectedly came into a fortune when her father (long divorced from her mother) dies in Alaska, leaving her his gold mines. Very nice! Unfortunately, she learns that money does not necessarily buy acceptance in society, as the upper-class snobs of New York City still do not want to associate with her. What to do? How about buying herself a title and a place in British society? It's all the rage, after all. Annabel finds Bernard, who's an impoverished earl. They're to be married shipboard on the way to England but her uncle Arthur doesn't like Bernard and offers an impoverished British duke, our hero Christian DuQuesne, lots of money to talk Annabel out of getting married. Christian agrees because his estate is badly in need of funds but he has vowed never to marry for money again. His first marriage ended badly and that's the reason for his vow. There you are. You know what will happen. Annabel and Christian meet on board the ship and feel an instant, lustful attraction but Annabel is set on marrying Bernard and, anyway, Christian isn't offering her any alternative. He does make her doubt her plans but they're the best she's got. Things go awry in her plans and she has to rework her ideas for the future. That's what the rest of the book is about and it takes place in England, where Annabel is thrown into high society. This part of the book should have been interesting. An American interloper trying to be accepted in the peerage? But everything seems to work pretty smoothly in that department with Annabel's easy admission into society and that's pretty unrealistic. So the "American in London society" theme becomes rather bland and uninteresting. As for the romance between Annabel and Christian? Well, the lust is pretty high but after the initial buildup, this romance just turned into another one of those "I can't marry you because you don't love me" HRs that so irritate me and it could have been set in any time period. A bit of a waste of that Edwardian cash-for-title setup.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
exciting Edwardian Era romance, December 27, 2011
In 1904 on board the Atlantic Ocean liner, nouveau riche American heiress Annabel Wheaton knows she still has Mississippi mud running through her veins as the New York Knickerbocker snobs reminded her, but will marry into respectability. Her wedding to impoverished womanizing Lord Bernard Rumsford will give her what she craves. Bernard with one dance in Saratoga after three years of ostracizing made the redneck relevant and now they will marry on the ship at sea. A week earlier, her Uncle Arthur wanted the fortune-hunter Rumsford out of his niece's life as he wants better for her. He hired the Duke Christian Du Quesne to prevent the wedding. Christian succeeds in his task, but now covets being the groom to the affluent steel magnolia. However, a raging Annabelle rejects his proposal as the ducal rake, unsure why he feels the way he does, has fallen in love with the American from Goosebend. Although the premise of competing rakes chasing after the money of an affluent country bumpkin is not new (see Bedtime Story), talented Laura Lee Guhrke provides a fresh exciting Edwardian Era romance. Filled with humor and heart, fans will root for the heroine who as a rebel with a cause fights for what she wants; though her choice seems between two Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Trouble At The Wedding is a delightful romantic comedic historical. Harriet Klausner
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