The Convenient Bride
Grade : C-

This Regency Romance has a very sweet opening chapter, which had me in high hopes of a terrific read. However, the rest of the book did not live up to its promise.

The book opens with 16-year-old Briana Garland visiting her friend Emily Clearbrook. Emily's older brothers are very attractive and all of Briana's attention is on Clayton, on whom she has a major crush. In this chapter, we get lots of fun sibling interaction as Emily and Briana trick the young men into teaching them to waltz, and Briana and Clayton make a nice connection as he admires her green "fairy eyes."

Fast forward six years. Both Clayton and Briana have been disappointed in love and they will never love again. Clayton's love left him for a richer man, and Briana's "got himself killed" at Waterloo (and that's the phrase she uses, like he did it on purpose), when he'd promised he was going to sell out - the cad! Now Clayton, a younger son of a duke, also finds himself in deep financial straits due to a bad investment, but there may be a way out of his troubles.

His eccentric, hermit of a godfather has died, leaving Clayton his moldering castle, whose dungeons are filled with hoarded gold coins (I told you he was eccentric) - if Clayton marries within three weeks. Clayton needs a convenient bride, and fast.

Briana has no intention of being anyone's bride, ever. Her sole ambition is to open a shelter for unwed mothers. Her younger sister Clarice, was seduced and abandoned and, when found to be pregnant, was thrown out of the house by her father. In despair, Clarice drowned herself in the Thames. No, Briana wants nothing to do with men, they only leave you and break your heart.

A chance meeting at his sister's house puts Briana at the top of Clayton's prospective bride list. Their acquaintance is furthered during a house party, which Briana attends with her godmother, who is determined to marry her off this Season. Clayton determines he will marry Briana and is stunned and quite put out when she refuses his so generous offer of a marriage of convenience. Soon he realizes that she is the only one who will do. But how to win her now, after that disastrous proposal?

There were some nice moments in this book. There are lovely scenes of Clayton and Briana playing with his niece, moments every bit as sweet and character revealing as the opening chapter, and moments which produced the bulk of the times during which Clayton wasn't acting like a jerk. But these moments were infrequent. More often were scenes of Briana and Clayton brooding over past wrongs; Briana with her "men can't be trusted" litany, and Clayton with his "woe is me; I have to find a wife to dump in the country while I live my life in London" mantra. Added to this is an inexplicable spy subplot. Seems Briana's nice old godmother is really an English spy who has recruited the bluestocking Briana to help with research on previous missions, but now they are both on assignment at the house party trying to uncover information of a plot to assassinate the Prince Regent. What? It just didn't feel like it belonged in the same story.

This book is certainly readable, McCarthy's writing is smooth, there are some wonderfully fun scenes to be enjoyed, but in the end, there weren't enough of them for me to recommend this book.

Reviewed by Cheryl Sneed
Grade : C-
Book Type: Regency Romance

Sensuality: Kisses

Review Date : September 12, 2005

Publication Date: 2005

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Cheryl Sneed

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