Monday, February 13, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: Trouble at the Wedding by Laura Lee Guhrke


Avon Romance    December 27 2011

384 pages    By Laura Lee Guhrke

BLURB ON BACK OF BOOK:


Annabel is about to marry the perfect man . . .
The last thing Miss Annabel Wheaton desires is true love. She learned the hard way that love makes a woman foolish and leads only to heartache. That’s why she agreed to marry an earl who needs her money. He’s got a pedigree and a country estate, and he won’t ever break her heart. There’s only one problem . . .
Christian isn’t about to let her marry that pompous prig . . .
Christian Du Quesne, Duke of Scarborough, thinks the stubborn heiress is about to make the biggest mistake of her life, and he’s determined to stop her. Tempting beautiful women is Christian’s forte, after all. When her family offers him a nice sum of money to stop the wedding, he’s happy to accept.
Falling in love with Annabel was never supposed to be part of the bargain . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will admit I am not a fan of a book that starts off in flashbacks. Also, I read this a while back from net galley and kind of forget what happens which also doesn't bode well. I do know I did not enjoy this installment quite as much as the other two books in this series.

This story focuses on an American heiress who is basically hillbilly trash who struck it rich with an inheritance. It's the turn of the 20th century when a lot of American heiresses toddled off to the UK to marry into the peerage. A lot of titles were under threat of insolvency and what better way to fill the coffers than to marry a brainless American girl. Sounds like a great premise as it has basis in fact. But once the heroine Annabel Wheaton reaches Britain's shores, the story is not quite as interesting.

The hero is Christian Du Quesne, Duke of Scarborough who is a reluctant Duke thanks to an older brother's demise. He's a womanizing rogue of a gambler in need of funds, pronto. There is a lot of convoluted sub plotting and some deviousness On Christian's part to garner Annabel's attention. Also complicating matters, he falls for her-hard.

There is some fine banter and humor but there was something lacking between the couple, real sizzle.
A satisfactory read that could have been more.

3 out of 5 stars

2 comments:

Lover Of Romance said...

I do love this author and I just need to read this since its the only book that I haven't read of her. Too bad it wasn't quite up to your expectations though I guess I will find out how good it is when I do read it! Thanks for sharing the great review though!

Karyn Gerrard said...

Thanks so much, I liked the book, the H/H could have been so much more though. JMO, of course.:D Hope you do enjoy it!