Review of Wedding of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke

ABANDONED AT THE ALTAR SERIES BOOK 1

The duke may have returned, but she has no intention of falling back into his arms…

Abandoned at the altar…

Lady Beatrix Danbury had always known she would marry William Mallory. She’d loved him forever, and she’d never doubted he loved her, too. But when she made him choose between their life together or his lifelong dream, Will chose the latter…and left two weeks before their wedding.

Return of the duke…

Will has no illusions that Beatrix would welcome him back with open arms, but six years did not dim his love or desire for her. The only problem is, she’s about to marry someone else. Someone safe and predictable…the complete opposite of Will. But can he stop the wedding of the season and win Beatrix back, or is it just too late?

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WEDDING OF THE SEASON, the first book in Laura Lee Guhrke’s ‘Abandoned at the Altar’ series,  is a charming ‘second chance on love’ story.

I love the early Edwardian setting for this book. It’s a time of far-reaching social and economic changes when the role of women in society is evolving and the balance of power is moving away from the landed aristocracy to the nouveau riche industrialists. Ms Guhrke captures this changing world perfectly and having the story set in the picturesque village of Babbacombe, South Devon, rather than the hurly-burly of London, is so refreshing.

Six years ago, Trix and Will had conflicting dreams that drove them apart. Will wanted adventure and travel and not the life he was born to:

“Yes, there was my whole life laid out before me before I was even out of short pants. Can you blame me when a life I’d only dreamed of opened up?”

while Trix wanted security and stability:

“I want marriage and a home of my own. That precious excavation site of yours didn’t even include a house. I wanted children. Just where was I supposed to have them? In a tent?”

Neither was willing to compromise on their dreams, and when they meet again, this conflict still proves to be a stumbling block.

At first, Will’s determination to go to Egypt seems selfish and irresponsible.  But in reality he realises the British aristocracy is in decline and, in order to keep his estate solvent,  he needs to either earn money or marry into money.  So he invests his inheritance in finding Tutankhamen’s tomb knowing success will bring a secured income for life. He considers this preferable to leading a life of pointless duties and silly social rituals. Even though it’s risky, I can’t help but admire his forward thinking.

He’s honest in admitting he’s never stopped loving Trix and in his determination to win her back – “I want to win you back. I want you in my arms, in my bed, in my life.” Even if he doesn’t succeed this time, he’s determined to keep coming back in the hope of changing her mind.

Trix’s reluctance to venture beyond the realm of duty and tradition can be laid squarely at her father’s door. Her mother ran away to Paris when Trix was very young, and her father became became overprotective in an effort to ensure she never left him. After her father’s death, she does show a little more independence but only after encouragement from her scandalous cousin, Julia, Baroness Yardley.

She’s determined not to let Will back into her life. After all he broke her heart and left her with only shattered dreams. In her new fiancé, Aidan, Trix sees someone who is the total opposite of Will, dependable and considerate and able to provide her with the kind of stable life she wants. It may be a passionless marriage, but she’s more than willing to accept a marriage based on affection, mutual respect and shared aspirations for their future.

I love the whole idea of Will persuading Trix to go on a series of adventures with him, just as they did when they were children, in order to regain her trust. These childhood reminiscences really provide a wonderful background to the story and add depth to the characters. These adventures certainly heighten the sexual tension between the two.  I love the scene where Will suddenly turns up at Pixy Cove, where Trix is drawing, and starts to strip to go bathing and Trix can’t stop staring at his body!

His shoulders and chest were wide, tanned by the hot Egyptian sun and shaped by years of hard excavation into a bronze wall of muscle and sinew. His chest tapered down to an absolutely flat stomach, and his trousers were slung low on his lean hips, revealing the deep indent of his navel and the shadowy hint of dark hair below it. Her gaze dropped another notch, she gave a choked sound and hastily forced her gaze back up, but only managed to get as far as the flat brown disks of his nipples.

I know there are varying opinions about the ending but it really worked for me. Of course, the happy-ever-after is never in any doubt but I loved the wonderful will they/won’t they moment and finally closed the book with a satisfied sigh.

If you are looking for a charming love story with a more unusual setting, then look no further than WEDDING OF THE SEASON.

RATING: ★★★★½