Three Times a Bride Book

Bad, better, decent. The theme running through each of these stories is that the hero and heroine don't know each other when they're pushed into marriage. Frankly I think it's a terrible trope that limits the direction each of these stories can go in: the speed of the marriages is downright laughable, which gives each story a farcical tone that they all fail or refuse to negotiate with the serious demand of convincingly portraying a successful marriage.

Fancy Free by Catherine Anderson

This is the dumbest thing I've ever read in my life. Rachel Constantine tries to trick Matt Rafferty into a humiliating situation as payback (for something it turns out he didn't do), only shenanigans occur and she ends up in a compromising situation with his older and sexier brother Clint, whom she then has to marry. She's a terrible housewife but a regular fountain of wholesome love, and Clint and his eight brothers are all healed of their various tribulations once she comes to live with then. Then we're treated to the most PG sex scene of all time. I can't remember why but one day the lack of communication gets too much for her and she hightails it back to her dad's house; Clint decides he won't go after her because… pride? Obviously things go to shit emotionally at the ranch, which now lacks her nurturing presence, and it takes a month for Clint to summon up the will to beg for her back. There's a grand gesture and they kiss. The end, thank God.

Why does Clint have to do all the apologising? Isn't it Rachel's fault for running away based not on any real evidence of issues in her marriage, but on her own specific paranoia and cowardice? Really this plays into a bigger thing of 'the man is the provider', by which Anderson apparently means he must provide everything, emotional maturity included.

Also there is no way that these people have great sex.

The Mad Earl's Bride by Loretta Chase

This is fine, though I think it spends too much creating a mythology for Dorian's illness that only gets refuted by the end. Probably novellas just aren't Loretta Chase's thing: there isn't a lot of space in a novella for the characters to move from their first impressions of each other, but this is what (I think) Chase is great at. In The Lion's Daughter or Mr. Impossible the big thrill is in watching the hero and heroine go from dislike/superiority to love. In this, Dorian and Gwen simply fall in love. The drama comes from outside the romance, and that's not as satisfying or immersive.

It goes without saying of everything Chase writes that there is strong characterisation, steady wit and quotable dialogue. I guess this lacks the magnetic passion that's in the very best of her work, so it's a hesitant three stars from moi.

Scandal's Bride by Samantha James

I liked this. I could have done with more repression and more of an explosion of feelings at the end, but it's fine. 2.5 stars? I've never read any Samantha James before but now I'm tempted, because I really liked the vivid hatred between Miles and Victoria simmering down into repressed desire and genuine interest. Also Victoria is assertive and brilliant whilst also retaining remnants of a pampered society lady vibe ' and any writer who can put those things together without irritating the reader is worth their salt.