TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING Author: Laura Lee Guhrke ISBN: 9780061963179 1/2012 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING is the last book in the Abandoned at the Altar trilogy, though it’s unrelated to the previous two books. Unfortunately, TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING is also the weakest of the three. The plot itself is not one which puts either the hero or the heroine in the best light: Annabel is a millionairess who grew up as white trash, and now wants to marry an aristocrat just to gain respectability—even if love isn’t part of the equation. Christian is a second son who inherited the title after the former duke squandered the estate. In an effort to earn some quick cash, he agrees to plant seeds of doubt in Annabel’s head only hours before she is to be married to an earl. I never warmed up to Christian or Annabel. I found Annabel annoying, what with all of her Southern drawling and backwater sayings. While Christian was quite interested in getting Annabel into bed, I didn’t really believe that he was at all interested in marrying her, despite his claims to the contrary. Plot points that could have been interesting, such as Christian’s interest in purchasing a railroad or Annabel teaching Christian about blue chip stocks, were dropped in favor of tepid sex scenes. Part of what made WEDDING OF THE SEASON and SCANDAL OF THE YEAR stand out was the fact that they were set in a time where real change was afoot. Although TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING is set in the same time period, the setting was used to advance the story in only a minimal way. Yes, Annabel was part of the American-heiress-buys-a-title bunch, but this theme wasn’t really explored. The story could have taken place at any point in time. TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING was a miss for me. The story didn’t captivate me nearly as much as the previous two books in the trilogy, which is unfortunate, since I was really looking forward to this last book. Melissa Stratford |
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