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I love those angst-y stories in which dark, tortured heroes and heroines burdened with equally dark secrets grimly battle genuine adversity. Definitely, count me in.
But there is also a real pleasure to be found in another type of novel – one featuring bright, cheerful, nice people who, while facing their own genuine adversity, manage to do it in a nice
Brady, Earl of Singleton, has many reasons to be less than cheerful. In a horrific incident, Brady is abducted while walking alone on a London street, and, as if that weren’t bad enough, is beaten up, knocked out, and stuffed in a burlap bag that is subsequently dropped in the Thames. Narrowly escaping a watery grave, Brady decides that the best way to recover from his injuries and develop a strategy for discovering the identity of his attackers is to let society believe that he is dead while he hides out for a few months at his country estate.
Regina Bliss, too, has her own reasons to be a bit down. Rescued from the streets a few months earlier by Abby, the heroine of Michaels’s Someone To Love, Regina has a mysterious past – a questionable past that, for reasons he can’t even define for himself, drives Brady nuts. In fact, before the story begins, Brady has already visited a small village connected to Regina to sniff out what he is certain will be the nefarious truth. Based on the conversational rumblings he overhears during his abduction, it is that trip that led to his attack. Clearly, Regina is the key to the mystery.
Regina does, indeed, have a few secrets. And while I don’t want to give away the whole story, I will say that she is a young woman who has lost her parents, her livelihood, and her friends. Forced to survive any way she can, she is more than grateful for the job and the assistance provided by Brady’s close friends, Kipp and Abby. So she accepts the assignment to assist Brady into his re-entry into society (he plans to pose as his cousin, the “new” Earl) and to do whatever she can to help locate his attackers. And, if receiving double her present salary has something to do with her happy acceptance, well, so be it.
Understandably suspicious of each other, Brady and Regina approach their new relationship with a degree of wariness that borders on dislike. To make matters worse, Brady is having persistent nightmares (who wouldn’t after being dumped in the Thames?) and Regina doesn’t always tell the exact truth about everything. Then Regina persuades Brady to re-enter society, not as the macho adventurer-type he had envisioned, but as the kind of purple vest-wearing fop whom no one could possibly perceive as a threat. The ingredients for a romance with just a touch of farce are complete.
Then Comes Marriage is a well-crafted, fun story about very likable characters. Brady, a charming presence in Someone to Love, is more than capable of taking center stage as an adorable and resourceful hero. Regina, a working actress before the events that precipitated her fall into poverty, is strong, funny, and seems to have an instinctive grasp on exactly what to do to bring Brady to his knees.
While Then Comes Marriage is nothing less than a great ride, Michaels also manages to make it something more. Brady and Regina are both fully realized, adult characters who have had to face great challenges. The growing love between them is both movingly and realistically depicted.
Most of all, though, these people are incredibly nice and I, for one, was happy to spend a few pleasant hours in their company. Which leads me to my final point. Some time ago I gave up all those happy books as just too insubstantial and predictable. But Kasey Michaels is one of those rare writers who brings a delightfully adult sensibility to the genre. In her skilled hands, I can take a walk on the lighter side and still respect myself in the morning.
Grade: B+
Book Type: European Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 05/02/02
Publication Date: 2002
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.