Customer Reviews

The Wedding

5 star:		(99)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Garwood is one of my favorite romance authors. I'm absolutely devastated that she wandered from the path of historical romance. (Killjoy and the rest are still great, but every once in a while, would it kill ya to return to the past, Julie? Puh-Leaze?)

Anyway, The Wedding is, in my opinion, the weakest of her historical triumphs. I figured this out upon a second read. Why do I dislike it? Connor - the hero - is a jerk. Plain and simple. Normally I can deal with the dark brooding male . . . by the end of the book, he becomes attached to the heroine and the ice melts, forcing us (as readers) to fall in love with him as he realizes the extent of his feelings for his wife/lover/mistress.

Never happened with this one . . . at least for me. I thought Connor treated Brenna like a piece of luggage. I was actually furious with the character on occasion, and that's not good. I don't read romance to get angry. I read it for a nice vacation from my brain.

Garwood's romances have always followed a formula: she creates a heroine who is strong but flawed. The Wedding is no different. There is humor and a sense of sweetness to the English Lady Brenna. She finds herself saddled with a brute of a husband (a 'barbarian' Highlander)and mystically melts in his arms. I just can't figure out why. Connor's self absorbed, obsessed with revenge, and an all around miserable man. Course, by the end of the book he's as soft as milktoast for his wife, but I just didn't feel that he deserved her - even though he realizes the prize he has in his wife.

For great Garwood, there are other places to turn. If you want romance set in the Highlands, look at The Secret or Ransom. I also really liked The Bride. If you're looking for London victorian style stuff, Guardian Angel, Castles, and Lion's Lady are excellent.

Happy Reading!

This is the second book in a series. It can be read on it's own without leaving the reader feeling one step behind. It does visit the couple from the previous book.

Lady Brenna and Connor MacAlister met long ago, when she was a little girl. He rescued her from pigs, she proposed. Years later she is on her way from England to Scotland to marry a man she has never met.

Connor is a Laird and a man seeking revenge for his father's death. He knows that his enemy's bride is on her way and he decides to take the bride for himself. He has no idea it's the woman who as a little girl proposed to him.

Brenna is not happy about either choice for marriage. She chooses to marry Connor in order to save her father's men who were guarding her.

This is one of my favorite Julie Garwood books. What should seem like an unbelievable and ridiculous start to a relationship instead seems not only plausible but even romantic. Connor and Brenna have a wonderful chemistry and their characters seem very tangible.

Brenna is a mischievous, warm, caring heroine. She is eager to please her husband, his staff, his men and even his stepmother.

Connor is a strong leading male with a heart he is determined not to give away. He tries to keep Brenna `in line' but in the end always relents.

There are some wonderful supporting characters. Connor's two most trusted men Quinlan and Crispin. They offer some comic relief and there is a real brotherhood between the three. Father Sinclair marries Brenna and Connor, and then becomes Brenna's friend and Priest. Connor's stepmother adds some conflict to the story. She runs Brenna and the staff ragged. Alec and Jamie, from The Bride, also make appearances in this story.

This story is about Connors quest for revenge and his search for his father traitor. Brenna's longing for love and her efforts to please her husband. It's a believable, wonderful historical romance.

I absoluetly loved this book. Brenna was fresh and cute andConner steals your heart. The character developmant was excellent.Ms. Garwood sure knows how to get your attention. Brenna and Conner were perfectly written for each other and they definatly had a hot romance. I loved that the men were awed by the fact that she ate so much. Finally, a heroine who isn't afraid to pig out. Scottland is my all time favorite setting, and Ms. Garwood describes it beautifully. Now I want to visit it for myself! The plot is fast paced and the pages basically turn themselves. Plus, the return of Alec and Jamie was perfect. It was wonderful to hear about how they turned out. If you've read any of Julie Garwood's books, this is definately for you. Brenna's end description of her wedding is truly the icing on the cake. Please, read this superb, fabulous classic from the magic pen of Julie Garwood.

This was the first book of Julie Garwood that I read and was totally hooked by the first chapter. Julie Garwood has a great talent for getting you to care about the characters and creating the perfect setting/scene. The Wedding got me totally hooked on her books and found other great treasures in her collection. If you're looking for unforgettable romantic adventures of clan wars, powerful lairds and strong-willed ladies set in the Highlands of Scotland, then look no further beyond Julie Garwood's collections. I highly recommend The Bride, The Secret, Ransom and Saving Grace.

I listened to this audio book and couldn't stop until it was done. Part of the charm was the wonderful naration, with the accent and differnt voices for different characters.

The story starts when Brenna first is little, and decides who she will marry, as well as with Conner who is full of vengance. It is a wonderful romance seeing them grow together, and it is also wonderful how JG takes the character of Brenna and shows all her faults (boy can she jump to a conclusion) and how this changes Conners fate.

If you like Scottish Romances this one is for you!

Lady Brenna's father has decided she is to marry a Scottish Highlander and quickly packs her up to marry her betrothed. During her trip from England to Scotland, her party is waylaid by a war-painted band of warriors, who insist Lady Brenna marry their laird, Conner MacAlister. Brenna remembers how, as a child, she proposed to Conner while he visited her family's home. Conner was raised and taught by Alec Kincaid (from "The Bride") after his father and family were ambushed and killed while he was a child. Brenna is unaware their marriage is merely one step in the revenge plot against her betrothed. She has many obstacles to deal with once she reaches her Scottish Highland home. She must learn their customs in order to fit in & she has to deal with her controlling mother-in-law, a lecherous brother-in-law, and her rather aloof husband who doesn't plan on sticking around much.

The prequel, "The Bride", was the first book I had read by Julie Garwood and I read this one right after. While "The Bride" was wonderful, this novel just didn't measure up. I found the character of Brenna rather annoying with her losing things all the time, and letting her mother-in-law continually run over her. I mean I can understand initially how she would want to fit in with her new family, and try to please the old battle-axe, but enough is enough! What woman would really believe her mother-in-law when she tells her it's okay to allow her husband's stepbrother's sexual advances?!! This would be weird in most cultures & especially in a culture where the men are so possessive of their women.

Overall the story wasn't bad, but too much of it was similar to "The Bride", and it's rather lackluster in comparison. I liked some of the secondary characters- Quinlan comes to mind, and there were some humorous moments. My actual rating would have been 2 1/2 stars if that were possible, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt and 3 stars for: the overall writing which was good, the characters other than Brenna, a decent mystery plot, and the humor. My recommendation though would be to read "The Bride" and skip this one. You won't be missing much.

The WEDDING is such a good book, it's a great story that you just get carried away with. I will admit that at first I didn't want to read it because of the title, I thought it was going to be some sad love story, but I was taken by surprise. It is a love story, but a very twisted love story. The way the husband and the wife talk to each other and how they react to one another's words is pretty funny. It really was hard to put that book down. I read over 200 pages in one night because it just grabs you and you just don't want it to end. I highly recommend this book to anyone, trust me, you won't be dissapointed.

The Wedding is a pretty standard medieval romance, with a quirky heroine, an emotionally clueless hero, a feud, and an evil stepmother. Connor abducts and marries Brenna while she's on her way to marry his enemy, using as his justification the fact that she'd asked him to marry her... when she was a small child.

Despite her tendency to get herself in trouble, Brenna's also eminently practical, and she determines to make the best of her marriage, frequently informing Connor that they're "starting over" whenever things go awry.

The good:

The interactions between Brenna and Connor. Each is clueless about the other's motives, but they both want to make things work. I never wanted to smack either of them upside the head.

The pacing. The Wedding was hard to put down. There was something happening on every page.

The humor. I laughed aloud several times.

The characters. Both the main characters and the secondary ones are entertaining and likeable. Well, except for the villains. They were just entertaining.

The bad:

The tone feels a bit modern.

There are a couple of dropped plot threads.

The heroine describes herself as having breasts that are too large and hips that are too narrow. I admit this is a pet peeve of mine.

The verdict:

A cookie read. A fun, sweet, entertaining way to spend a few hours.

I read my first Julie Garwood novel about a year ago and just loved it. I read a few other books, from different authors, since and they seemed to be missing something. I read "The Wedding" and was immediately lost in this wonderful story. I didn't want this novel to end. Conner and Brenna keep pulling at your heart strings through the entire book. You laugh and cry, and feel every emotion, and felt apart of there lives. You will not be disappointed.

I read this book shortly after reading "The Bride" which I thoroughly enjoyed and read straight through until the wee hours of the morning. This one left me sorely disapointed. I must whole heartedly agree with the other reviewer who couldn't feel sorry for Brenna's looks. "She was entirely aware of her flaws. Her legs, were too long, her hips too narrow, and her breasts too large" Give me a break. She was the most unsympathetic heroine of any book I've ever read. I truly wanted to slap her through most of the book. Unlike the romance of Alec and Jamie in "the Bride", I never felt any love between Brenna and Connor. He was a jerk, who treated her like garbage throughout the book, on up to the very last scene where he still expects HER to come to HIM. Which she does, like the blond nit-wit that she is. Although, I was intrigued by the budding little romance between her sister and Quinlan, and could just picture him winking at her at the Church steps. That was probably my favorite scene in the book. I give it two stars instead of one because I did find myself reading it, and got some entertainment out of watching what a complete air-head Brenna was.