Kiss the Bride

Rating:
Summary: "Kiss the Bride" is outstanding!
Review: I read this book because I was a fan of the author's books for teens, and I was not disappointed. Emma Van Court is an orphan raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle. At eighteen, she elopes with Stuart Chesterton, a well-meaning but impractical man who takes his new wife to live with him on a small Scottish island village, much to the anger of Stuart's cousin, James Marbury, the Earl of Denham. Within a year, Stuart is dead, and Emma is struggling to survive on her meager salary as a schoolteacher. Without marrying, she cannot claim her inheritance. So when James comes to the island, he proposes a marriage of convenience. Having always loved Emma, he hopes she will come to love him, and wish to stay married. This book was written in the same clever, funny style as the author's other books. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a romantic and funny historical read.

Rating:
Summary: A clever and funny historical romance.
Review: I read this book because I was a fan of the author's books for teens, and I was not dissapointed. Emma Van Court is an orphan raised by her welathy aunt and uncle. At eighteen, she elopes with Stuart Chesterton, a well-meaning but impractical man who takes his new wife to live with him on a small Scottish island village, much to the anger of Stuart's cousin, James Marbury, the Earl of Denham. Within a year, Stuart is dead, and Emma is struggling to survive on her meager salary as a schoolteacher. Without marrying, she cannot claim her inheiritance. So when James comes to the island, he proposes a marriage of conveniance. Having always loved Emma, he hopes she will come to love him, and wish to stay married. This book was written in the same clever, funny style as the author's other books. I highly reccomend it to anyone looking for a romantic and funny historical read.

Rating:
Summary: KISS THE BRIDE is a sheer delight
Review: Patricia Cabot wields her magic again in Kiss the Bride, a fluffy romance between the ninth earl of Denham, James Marbury and Emma Van Court who married his sacrilegious cousin Stuart. When James receives the news from Emma that she planned to elope with the impoverished Stuart against the wishes of her relations, his concealed adoration for Emma propelled him to foil the plan. Yet Emma manages to escape and cross over to Scotland Hebrides with the religious Stuart to start life as a curator's wife. When news of Stuart's demise after a manslaughter complicated by the typhus epidemic, James decides to claim Stuart's body to bury in the ancestral hall and is unprepared for the wretched life Emma is subjected to.

He finds himself intrigued by the independent widow who teaches the underprivileged kids, who fends off eager suitors trying to hook her up with a marriage proposal with eyes set on the bequeathed money that is attached to her marriage. James is tenacious to put a stop and marries her in her utmost reluctance. He decides to convince Emma that he intends to secure her to him this time round with wooing and passion....

While Ms. Cabot has a penchance for creating wonderful sub-characters like Lady Denham, Judge Reardon and the meddlesome peasants, her humour in this outing falls short and less furious than her previous efforts. It is nonetheless an enchanting treat when Ms. Cabot imbues a fairy-tale mood and languid sensuality in her narration. The protagonists are as usual captivating in their own rights - a reformed rake and a resilient widow. Kiss The Bride may not be her best effort, but it is a sheer delight.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read but not her best!
Review: Perhaps I should preface this review by saying that I have very much enjoyed some of Ms.Cabot's previous novels. Portrait of my Heart and Lady of Skye are among my favorite romance novels. This novel, however, was not among one of my favorites.
The story begins in London, 1832. A young lady, Miss Emma Van Court (our heroine), intends to elope with her long time infatuation, the religious and missionary minded, Mr. Stuart Chesterton. Due to a long-running friendship between the two families, Emma plans to alert the head of Stuart's family, James Marbury, Earl of Denham. James is horrified at the idea of Emma marrying his cousin. He warns her that life as the wife of an impoverished curate in the Scottish Hebrides will not be the romantic adventure she imagines. James even goes so far as to physically assault Stuart to prevent the marriage. His efforts prove futile, however, and the marriage proceeds.
We resume the story a year later in the Scottish Hebrides. Stuart has died six months previously and James, Earl of Denham, has come to retrieve the body to return it to the family tomb. He never expects to find Emma still there, still trying to help those not much worse off than she is and still mad as hell at him. His feelings, however, have undergone a transformation. He realizes quite quickly that he has always loved her and that that is what irked him the most about her marrying Stuart.
Without giving too much more of the story away, for the events mentioned previously happen quite quickly, I would just like to outline a few more points. I find that Ms.Cabot can usually write a good love scene. This time, while the scenes themselves seem well written, I didn't really enjoy their place in the novel. The first love scene came up so abruptly it was over before I even noticed. There hadn't been any of those really good `awareness' scenes to lay the foundation. Unfortunately it made the scene feel less like a sudden flare up of passion than the author realizing that she's made it to page one hundred and something without a proper love scene. Despite this problem, the book is still an enjoyable read. There are no major conflicts between our hero and heroine and we get to enjoy a rather odd assemblage of secondary characters. Emma is being courted by an assortment of village gentlemen including the slightly daft neighboring farmer, encouraged by his mother, and the eccentric Baron who lives on the hill. Emma also shows some spunk as our heroine in her determined pursuit for the happiness and betterment of others. James I felt could have been a little more developed as a character. There is some talk of him having been a bit of a rake in London, yet we see little evidence of it. Overall I would deem this a good though not great book. The main characters converse well together and the story, while containing some typical ideas, on a whole proves to be quite original. Unfortunately the sense of humor that Ms. Cabot has demonstrated to such overwhelming success in previous novels, here, seems to have taken a bit of a back seat.
If you enjoy this novel, I would recommend her other novel set in the Scottish Hebrides, Lady of Skye. It is a good example of the aforementioned humor. You might also try her two-part set, Where Roses Grow Wild and Portrait of my Heart. The latter is my favorite book by Patricia Cabot and again displays the humor I enjoy to wondrous effect.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read but not her best!
Review: Perhaps I should preface this review by saying that I have very much enjoyed some of Ms.Cabot's previous novels. Portrait of my Heart and Lady of Skye are among my favorite romance novels. This novel, however, was not among one of my favorites.
The story begins in London, 1832. A young lady, Miss Emma Van Court (our heroine), intends to elope with her long time infatuation, the religious and missionary minded, Mr. Stuart Chesterton. Due to a long-running friendship between the two families, Emma plans to alert the head of Stuart's family, James Marbury, Earl of Denham. James is horrified at the idea of Emma marrying his cousin. He warns her that life as the wife of an impoverished curate in the Scottish Hebrides will not be the romantic adventure she imagines. James even goes so far as to physically assault Stuart to prevent the marriage. His efforts prove futile, however, and the marriage proceeds.
We resume the story a year later in the Scottish Hebrides. Stuart has died six months previously and James, Earl of Denham, has come to retrieve the body to return it to the family tomb. He never expects to find Emma still there, still trying to help those not much worse off than she is and still mad as hell at him. His feelings, however, have undergone a transformation. He realizes quite quickly that he has always loved her and that that is what irked him the most about her marrying Stuart.
Without giving too much more of the story away, for the events mentioned previously happen quite quickly, I would just like to outline a few more points. I find that Ms.Cabot can usually write a good love scene. This time, while the scenes themselves seem well written, I didn't really enjoy their place in the novel. The first love scene came up so abruptly it was over before I even noticed. There hadn't been any of those really good 'awareness' scenes to lay the foundation. Unfortunately it made the scene feel less like a sudden flare up of passion than the author realizing that she's made it to page one hundred and something without a proper love scene. Despite this problem, the book is still an enjoyable read. There are no major conflicts between our hero and heroine and we get to enjoy a rather odd assemblage of secondary characters. Emma is being courted by an assortment of village gentlemen including the slightly daft neighboring farmer, encouraged by his mother, and the eccentric Baron who lives on the hill. Emma also shows some spunk as our heroine in her determined pursuit for the happiness and betterment of others. James I felt could have been a little more developed as a character. There is some talk of him having been a bit of a rake in London, yet we see little evidence of it. Overall I would deem this a good though not great book. The main characters converse well together and the story, while containing some typical ideas, on a whole proves to be quite original. Unfortunately the sense of humor that Ms. Cabot has demonstrated to such overwhelming success in previous novels, here, seems to have taken a bit of a back seat.
If you enjoy this novel, I would recommend her other novel set in the Scottish Hebrides, Lady of Skye. It is a good example of the aforementioned humor. You might also try her two-part set, Where Roses Grow Wild and Portrait of my Heart. The latter is my favorite book by Patricia Cabot and again displays the humor I enjoy to wondrous effect.

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars This is the second patricia cabot book I read!
Review: The toast of the Ton just last year, Emma Van Court married Stuart Chesterton because of his compassion and sense of community activism. Stuart needed to help the poor so he accepted a curate's job in Scotland. His cousin Earl James Marbury angrily cut Stuart off with no money. However, neither James nor his bride cared as they knew he was doing the right thing. Six months later Stuart died leaving his widow without funds residing in a dilapidated Scottish hut.

When James learns that Stuart died, he performs his duty as the head of the family and visits the widow. He is appalled by Emma's living conditions and feels guilty that he not just allowed that to happen, he enabled it to occur. He also realizes that the locals are courting Emma because she inherits a fortune if she marries soon. Trying to correct his error and protect Emma, James realizes he loves her, but wonders how to prove it to his skeptical beloved. Though she loves him too, Emma also feels guilt over the memory of Stuart and struggles with forgiving James for his maltreatment of her deceased spouse.

KISS THE BRIDE is an engaging Regency romance that uses humor to ease the tension of a sensitive character driven tale that focuses on a romantic triangle of sorts. The lead couple is a delight and their insight into Stuart makes the deceased man seem as if he is still alive. Though the concept has been often told before, Patricia Cabot shows her talent by providing the audience with an enthrallingly vigorous historical romance.

Harriet Klausner