Chasing the Bride by Erica Ridley
Lords in Love #6

When the wrong man is slated to be your husband…how do you get the right man instead? Quick, fun, easy read that left me with a smile on my face :)

What I liked:
* Tabitha: dutiful daughter, betrothed in the womb to a man old enough to be her father, skilled in arts of ton-ladies, extremely disinclined to marry Viscount Oldfield, wants her father’s love and to keep her deathbed promise to him that she will marry as he dictates
* Hudson: employed by Oldfield, observant, skilled in making investments, has a difficult backstory, hides his interest in Tabitha and has done so for years, tries to do the right thing, very aware of the societal divide between himself and Tabitha
* The return to Marywell and seeing it when the festival is not taking place
* The time that the lead characters spent together that allowed them to know one another well
* Mary Frances: Tabitha’s maid, supportive, wise, there for Tabitha
* Mr. & Mrs. Snowfeather
* That eventually both Hudson and Tabitha were willing to reach for what they truly desired
* The ending and how it all came together

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like – Oldfield and even Tabitha’s father for most of the story
* Thinking about women as pawns without rights of their own – like cattle to be sold or pawns on a chessboard to be moved about at the will of the player

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to the author for the book – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

Back in Marrywell once again in Chasing the Bride, the sixth book of the Lords in Love series. Another satisfying story from talented author Erica Ridley. Regency romances always remind us just how rigid and strict the rules were then. And how little official standing and power women had.

Lady Tabitha Kerr was promised at birth to be the Viscount Oldfield’s bride. He’s an old friend of her father’s and her father feels indebted to him from past events. That should tell you something: an old friend of her father’s? Probably not a dashing young man then. Nope. Creepy, yes. Debauched, yes. Her father is terminally ill, and his dying wish is that this marriage will heal the longstanding rift between the families. But Viscount Oldfield is not so much interested in the husband-wife thing or bringing the families together as he is in getting his hands on her dowry. Tabitha doesn’t want this. Why would she? She’s a young woman who doesn’t wants the riches and status a match with a Viscount will bring but instead longs for an ordinary life with a man who truly cares about her, However, the rules are the rules, fathers are in charge, and her father demands she honor his last wish to prove she is a dutiful daughter and earn his love.

Mr. Hudson Frampton escorted Tabitha to the Marrywell Festival in Oldfield’s absence, who had pressing matters with other young women. Hampton is his lordship’s trusted man of business, handles and fixes everything and has made his own fortune investing for himself as he invests for the Viscount. He’s also a man who has admired Lady Tabitha for a long time, and he IS a dashing young man. Handsome, strong, virile. But a common man, no right talking to a Lady, no right thinking the thoughts he does about Tabitha. Their time together at Marrywell is perfect, though. Feels right, feels natural. For him it’s a last look at what he can’t have. For her it’s a last chance to dream and live a little before life as she knows it ends.

Oldfield needs that dowry and changes his mind about the timing of the marriage ceremony. Tabitha begs her father to delay to no avail. She tries her best but she can’t go through with it and she runs away. Guess who is sent to find her? And since he’s a wizard at business and handling things and fixing things it doesn’t take him long at all to find her in – Marrywell! Under an assumed name, A Mrs. whose Mr. isn’t there right this minute. Until Hudson shows up and wants to take her back. She convinces him (not that hard, considering how he already feels) to give them two weeks to pretend to the town to be husband and wife and give her just a little bit bigger glimpse of that life she’ll never have once she and the Viscount are wed. There’s no festival happening in Marrywell right now. It’s just the two of them, and that pretending starts to feel like not pretending after all.

Of course we know where this is all going, don’t we, but it is so, so, so much fun getting there. Tabitha and Hudson are perfect together. There are many laugh-out-loud moments as well as tender, heart-pounding moments, and a view into just how reprehensible Oldfield is. This is a story you won’t want to miss.

Thanks to the author for providing an advance copy of Chasing the Bride to me as a member of Erica’s Review Crew for my reading pleasure and honest review. Everything this author writes is a pleasure to read. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. ( )

At birth, Lady Tabitha Kerr was promised to Viscount Oldfield to try and mend a generations-old family rivalry. But despite her father’s desire for peace, she dreams of a love match. Ideally, with someone not a lecherous old man who stares down the chests of women even younger than her.

Mr. Hudson Frampton is Viscount Oldfield’s man of business. After she runs away, he is tasked with finding Tabitha and bringing her back, to drag her kicking and screaming up the aisle if he must. He’s not supposed to fall in love with her, but he can’t help himself; after all, this is a Regency romance we’re talking about.

So Tabitha and Hudson make a deal; she gets to have a week of freedom, and he gets to take her back “willingly” when it’s over. But as Tabitha and Hudson spend time together, they fall in love, and going back seems harder and harder. Still, with Tabitha’s father dying, she must.

There isn’t much more to tell; after all, Chasing the Bride is a short read at 197 pages. We see Tabitha and Hudson enjoying a week of freedom and falling in love. Hudson comes from humble beginnings, and there isn’t a title waiting for him to offer her, so he doesn’t want to ruin her. Tabitha feels that after the scandal of her running away at her wedding, all of this other stuff doesn’t matter. Hudson turns out to be an intelligent guy, more than capable of taking care of himself. Tabitha turns out to be surprisingly thoughtful about the reasons behind her marriage. I love that despite the hopelessness of her circumstances she does actually take action and make her own decisions.

Of course, there is love at the end. It’s a cute little story!

What more do you need from a book? ( )