Title: The Bride Hunt (2004)Author: Jane Feather (Bantam)
Period: European Historical-Edwardian (1906 England)
Grade: C-
The Bride Hunt is a romance in the vaguest sense. It is the romance of a deep love and affection between three society sisters. The alleged romance between the hero and heroine is considerably less interesting and less believable.
Prudence's story is the middle book in Feather's bride series about three misses of reduced circumstances. I've had it up to my ears with financially irresponsible and neglectful ton parents whose family's are kept afloat by resourceful children. The Duncan sisters publish a suffragette newsletter/scandal sheet and extort "charitable contributions" for matchmaking services because their father refuses to economize. The sisters actively hide the truth of their family finances from their detached father. I don't, as a rule, enjoy plots that operate on the basis that true affection is reflected in how much or how long you are willing to deceive someone you love rather than have an honest conversation.
When the sisters' publication is sued for libel they seek the defense services of divorced barrister/single father Gideon Malvern. He has no interest in defending a woman's magazine against what he feels are valid charges, but feels an attraction to the dowdy and circumspect Prudence. The financially strapped sisters offer to use their matchmaking skills as payment but Gideon is instead hoping to get Pru into bed. They become lovers, they quarrel over his ex-wife, they solve the secret of libel suit, the sisters are acquitted, father learns the truth and we get the HEA. The romance and the sensuality are pretty bland by Feather's standards.
The Bride Hunt spends so much time with the sisters, their relationship, and the libel plot the romance is almost ancillary. Also, I'm not a lawyer. I don't even play one on TV. But a magistrate allows a witness to testify in court veiled and with out revealing her real name? How could they plaintiff’s barrister preformed pre-trail depositions or prepared proper questioning? Shouldn't a romance with a legal setting know a bit about courtroom procedures? Maybe the American legal system has less in common with English common law than my college professors led me to believe.
Prudence's story is the middle book in Feather's bride series about three misses of reduced circumstances. I've had it up to my ears with financially irresponsible and neglectful ton parents whose family's are kept afloat by resourceful children. The Duncan sisters publish a suffragette newsletter/scandal sheet and extort "charitable contributions" for matchmaking services because their father refuses to economize. The sisters actively hide the truth of their family finances from their detached father. I don't, as a rule, enjoy plots that operate on the basis that true affection is reflected in how much or how long you are willing to deceive someone you love rather than have an honest conversation.
When the sisters' publication is sued for libel they seek the defense services of divorced barrister/single father Gideon Malvern. He has no interest in defending a woman's magazine against what he feels are valid charges, but feels an attraction to the dowdy and circumspect Prudence. The financially strapped sisters offer to use their matchmaking skills as payment but Gideon is instead hoping to get Pru into bed. They become lovers, they quarrel over his ex-wife, they solve the secret of libel suit, the sisters are acquitted, father learns the truth and we get the HEA. The romance and the sensuality are pretty bland by Feather's standards.
The Bride Hunt spends so much time with the sisters, their relationship, and the libel plot the romance is almost ancillary. Also, I'm not a lawyer. I don't even play one on TV. But a magistrate allows a witness to testify in court veiled and with out revealing her real name? How could they plaintiff’s barrister preformed pre-trail depositions or prepared proper questioning? Shouldn't a romance with a legal setting know a bit about courtroom procedures? Maybe the American legal system has less in common with English common law than my college professors led me to believe.
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