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regency romance

The Bridemaker by Rexanne Becnel

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ISBN: 0-312-98311-5

Publisher: St Martin’s Paperbacks

I  LOVED The Bridemaker!  I actually read this book first of the four and it was this book that had me searching for the others of this “Maker” series.

We are introduced to “The Bridemaker” – Hester Poitevant (don’t like the name!) who earns her living by tutoring awkward young ladies of the ton to be sophisticated prize catches for the season’s marriage mart.  She has quite a history of finding just the right clothes, just the right advice, just the right tutoring to make ugly ducklings into swans!  She hides herself in plain sight as a widow, downplaying her beauty, hoping no one remembers her past.

When her latest charge, Dulcie, sets her sights on Adrian Hawke – the disreputable American merchant, Hester is forced to interact with Adrian to try to dissuade him from courting Dulcie.  We actually met Adrian Hawke in The Matchmaker.  He was the illegitimate son of the Neville Hawke’s deceased older brother.  At the end of The Troublemaker he goes to live with Marshall and Sarah in America.

Although Hester is successful at dissuading Adrian from pursuing Dulcie, he sets his sights on un-peeling the layers that make up the facade of Hester.  What results is a wonderfully endearing love story.  It has all the glam and glitter of Regency England, that I love, and a swashbuckling hero that sets my heart to pounding.  A must read!

“A complex romance with multi-dimensional characters who possess complicated and powerful emotions.  An intricate plot with surprising twists hold the reader’s attention. A powerful love story makes this tale exceptional.” Romantic Times

The Romance Reader gives The Bridemaker 4 stars and says: “It’s a great combination of humor, romance, secrets that must finally be revealed, selfishness, confusion, and a wonderful disregard for the pretentious propriety that is the essence of the ton, as the couples sort themselves out, revealing themselves to be wonderfully well-matched, and as lives change in ways that the reader sometimes doesn’t expect.“

The Matchmaker by Rexanne Becnel

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ISBN: 0-312-97699-2

Publisher: St Martin’s Paperbacks

I must admit, the first book I read in this series is The Bridemaker.  I liked it so much that I searched out the rest of the series.  The Matchmaker is the first book in Rexanne Becnel’s latest series -“Maker” books.  Rexanne Becnel has apparently been writing books for 14 years and has produced 19 novels.  This is the first time I have read any of her books and I was impressed.  Some books I read just to pass the time; other books require effort to read, with intricate plots and many characters.  This series of books fit somewhere in the middle.

Olivia, the heroine of the story, has kept a journal of all the men that she has encountered during her three years on the marriage mart.  She prides herself in arranging many matches for her friends, but has yet to meet someone who she considers even remotely suitable for herself.  Olivia’s mother has been married and widowed three times.  As a result Olivia has a half-brother and half-sister who have different fathers. Olivia’s less than stellar memories of her drunken rake of a father seem to color her views of the opposite sex.

Lord Neville Hawke is our tortured hero. He has lost many people in his life, from friends and fellow soldiers in the war, to his parents and his brother.  He escapes the nightmares of battle memories in alcohol, insomnia and fast women.  When he meets Olivia he mistakes her for a servant in the household and tries to seduce her.  This sets the scene for the beginning of their difficult relationship!  Neville flirts with and tries to charm Olivia, but he just succeeds in reminding Olivia of her devil-may-care father.  Gradually Olivia discovers that Neville’s scoundrel facade hides a sensitive and lonely man who, of course, is waiting for the right woman to take him in hand!

Upon reading the back of this novel, one would anticipate a light and breezy story, but this is not found to be true.  Neville is a tortured hero with problems that justifiably give Olivia pause, but the story ends in a “love conquers all ending”. I feel that the pacing of the story is good until the end where I feel that it is a bit rushed.  Overall, a nice, pure romance with enough meat to keep your mind busy and enough believability to keep you turning the pages and looking forward to the next book in the series.

“If you like your heroes dark and flawed, then run, don’t walk, to buy The Matchmaker….Becnel gives us true insight into the human spirit and does not stint on creating the ideal atmosphere and recreating the era to near perfection.  A powerful love story.” Romantic Times

The Romance Reader gives this book 4 hearts and says: “In Lord Neville Hawke, Rexanne Becnel has created the perfect tortured hero. She has also created a heroine who is strong enough and wise enough to provide the healing the hero needs.“

The Troublemaker by Rexanne Becnel

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ISBN: 0-312-97755-7

Publisher: St Martin’s Paperback

The Troublemaker, the second in Rexanne Becnel’s “Maker” series introduces us to Marshall MacDougal and Sarah Palmer.  Sarah, the youngest of the 3 half-siblings we were introduced to in The Matchmaker.  I should admit up front that I had trouble warming up to this book!

Sarah is a conflicted, spoiled girl who seems to attract trouble.  She tries to elope with a fortune hunter at the beginning of the book.  Her brother stops the elopement and her family send her to Scotland to spend some time with her sister and wait out the scandal.  When she arrives in Scotland she discovers that her sister and family are away for a month but she decides to stay by herself at the house.  The long-time servants apparently decide to do nothing about this situation.

Marshall (Marsh) MacDougal was born in American and grows up thinking that his father is dead. He finds out upon his mother’s death that he may have a father alive and well in Kelso, Scotland and he heads off to find him.  Marsh is determined to make his father pay for all the years of abandonment.  When he arrives in Scotland, he discovers his father is long dead and turns his anger to trying to prove he is the true heir.

Although I liked the end of this story there were too many problems with the actual story line.  Sarah starts the story as a spoiled little brat, but quickly does an about face and decides to put her family first and protect them against Marsh’s efforts.  Marsh is too full of angst.  He is rude and overbearing.  Not a particularly appealing hero.  The conflict between Marsh and Sarah seem to just go away when he discovers that he really is the true heir and he isn’t going to tell anyone.  Maybe Sarah just saw positive things in Marsh that the rest of us didn’t!  In future books he is an appealing character, I just didn’t find him to be so in this book – too conflicted.

Not a total loss of a book!  Just not my cup of tea!

RT Reviews give this book 4 stars and says the following: “…it is Ms. Becnels gift for searching her characters hearts and souls that brings her romances
to a new level and earns her readers admiration.”