Bad Luck Bride

De: Laura Lee Guhrke

Narrado por: Marisa Calin

In this dazzling Victorian romance from a New York Times bestselling author, one unlucky lady believes her fate is finally changing until the rake that broke her heart returns to town—perfect for fans of Julia Quinn and Amanda Quick.

Third time’s a charm? For Lady Kay Matheson, it had better be. Her first engagement was a failed elopement; the second ruined by gossip about the first. Resigned to be a disgraced spinster, no one is more surprised than Kay when an American millionaire offers for her hand. Just when she’s convinced she will finally make it down the aisle, the scoundrel who broke her heart arrives with his own fiancée.

Devlin Sharpe has finally become a success. He has wealth, connections, and a lovely bride-to-be—and he won’t let an old flame derail all his hard work. But it turns out time has not dampened his grudge toward Kay—or the desire sparking between them. And one searing kiss threatens to ruin their wedding plans and their futures, and make Kay the bad-luck bride all over again.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A captivating, delightful read, full of humorous moments and characters who feel real enough for readers to genuinely care about how their story will end."—Library Journal on Lady Scandal

"A top-notch historical romance." —Kirkus, starred review on Lady Scandal

Heroine Needed More Vindication

How galling to have heroine be so maligned & betrayed for so long by those closest to her. What terrible thoughtless friends & family to put heroine in such uncomfortable situations & to show no consideration or loyalty to her feelings. With friends & family like that, who needs enemies? BUT most oblivious friend became solution for HEA on last pages, so my low-level angry annoyance for her was ultimately assuaged.

As for the hero & heroine themselves, they were neither one my favorite. Their flip-flopping insincerity became a bit tiresome sometime 10 hrs in, I assure you. Their moments of truth & honesty with each other & others were interspersed enough to let out the pressure from their tiresome interactions, though those moments never seemed to quite lead to any direct actions or resolutions.

Overall this was a pretty good story of "destined" love and second chance reconnection despite everyone & every circumstance getting in the way. The emotional connection with the characters was tenable at best though. Jilted partners, friends, & mothers were more caricatures than characters. And the emotional logic of how heroine behaved at multiple points in the story seemed like missed opportunities to be in her moment; some just made no sense as written. Anger, action, something believably human was needed to be added for readers like me to feel anything for her.

For example, after being jilted publicly & finding out from a newspaper (he never told her), heroine calmly sits down with the jerk less than a week later to part peacably and cordially with him? While her name is plastered everywhere & she's ruined & stuck inside away from society in shame? Not a single "hold him to account" word is spoken at all. Just philosophical platitudes about it "working out for the best & I wish you both happy." What?! That was a missed opportunity for some real emotion to emerge first. Then that latter parting would've made sense. Quite a few instances like that in book.

Hero was a bit more sketchy and readers don't truly get to know him very well. Just that he's a businessman & he used to love her, then hated her, now realizes he still loves her. His thoughts are all positive toward his current fiancé & he seems more apologetic & conciliatory toward that woman rather than the supposed love of his life (heroine). He speaks passion, plans and strategies to win heroine, but rarely do we see any real connection that makes them feel like a good match.

I liked the neatly tied-up HEA so that everyone ends up ok. But I just wish that when we got there, we as readers could feel more satisfied with it.