Beginning with Covid-19, I needed a break, so I’ve been reading historical romances set in England. I stumbled across Lisa Berne’s debut romance from 2017, the first in her Penhallow Dynasty series. You May Kiss the Bride, unfortunately, will be the last I read in the series.
The Penhallow dynasty is made up of men who are required to marry so they can father children and carry on the family line. At thirty, Gabriel Penhallow agrees with his grandmother. It’s time he found a wife, had a couple children, and then they can lead their own lives. He has little interest in romance. It doesn’t matter if he loves the woman or not. Lineage is important.
Livia Stuart was orphaned young, and returned to England from India to live with her aunt and uncle who don’t bother to educate her or prepare her for anything. But, after a well-born neighbor who looks down on her, offers her cast-off clothes so she can attend the ball where Cecily hopes to announce her engagement to Gabriel Penhallow, Livia is furious. By accident, she meets Gabriel in the woods, and she becomes determined to attend the ball and make an impression.
She makes an impression all right, and she and Gabriel are caught in a compromising position. He agrees to marry her because it doesn’t really matter to him who he marries. And, then his grandmother sweeps her off to train her to be Gabriel’s wife and maintain his estate.
Frankly, I was bored with You May Kiss the Bride. I didn’t really care for Gabriel, his grandmother, or Livia. The Penhallows were stuffy, and Livia never really developed much character. And, the descriptions of landscape and countryside and estates seemed to go on forever. Too much description. Not enough romance between the main characters. In the end, it was just a story about a marriage for convenience. I really don’t care to meet the rest of the men of the Penhallow Dynasty.
Lisa Berne’s website is https://lisaberne.com/
You May Kiss the Bride by Lisa Berne. Avon Books, 2017. ISBN 978062451781 (paperback), 373p.
*****
FTC full disclosure – library book
