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When Catherine is ten and suffering at the hands of her father, she and her three friends decide they are never getting married; thus the Spinster Club is born. They’ve all watched the bad behavior of men toward their wives, and have decided that marriage is not for them. Given the things they’ve seen, the decision makes perfect sense. Catie, as her friends call her, is the scapegoat of her family, while her more beautiful younger sister is spoiled because their father sees her as an asset that will eventually bring money and prestige to the family (read: HIM) through her marriage. Catie's sister Elizabeth is especially mean in the way of truly vicious older siblings–think "Home Alone" only meaner. (The villains here possess that universal meanness inherent in the sociopathically selfish, and we recognize them instantly–unfortunately–from life.) Her father’s locking her in the closet as a child has given her a fear of enclosed spaces, and his abuse has made Catie afraid of people, men especially. Quint Valentine is looking to marry because he’s after a cabinet post. He’s a political reformer, and wants the post so he can further the reforms England so desperately needs in its treatment of the poor. His main opponent for the post is married to a Duke’s daughter, whose poise and political soirees have done much to further the man’s career, giving him an edge over Valentine in their competition. As an Earl’s daughter, Valentine sees Elizabeth’s blonde beauty and breeding as the solution to his career needs. Elizabeth is all for the marriage (the greedy cat). Catie doesn’t care either, until her father makes it clear that, as the eldest daughter, he expects her to marry first. And since Elizabeth is already betrothed to Valentine, Catie’s father tells her she better work fast, or he’ll choose for her. When she makes no efforts to find a husband (instead she chooses to try to delay Elizabeth’s wedding to Valentine), her father (with a little help from the bottle) comes up with a plan worthy of the biblical Laban (who basically did the same thing to Jacob). He substitutes Catie for Elizabeth at the altar, figuring he’s been too quick to settle for Valentine, when he could probably get at least a Duke for Elizabeth–and a lot more money with two daughters married successfully. What her father does to get Catie to go along with this is truly scurrilous; you’ll really wanna deck this guy. However she does end up married to Valentine, and the story just gets better from there. (And already, it’s good.) No Man’s Bride took me back to the days when I first started reading historical romances, and why I enjoyed them so much. O.K., some persnickety types might find a few gripes; the last part may seem a bit implausible, given human nature, but I think the author makes it work, and I enjoyed this book so much I flat didn’t care. The author seems more concerned with the feel of the book, and the story itself, than lacing that corset just so, and she leaves the reader plenty of breathing room as she loosens those strings–aah *G*. I have no complaints whatsoever, and a bucket full of praise for this one, with one proviso: more please, SOON. (Yes, I grovel for good writing.*L*) This is the kind of read that is thoroughly enjoyable on the emotional level. The characters are sweetly human, with nary a cloying trait in sight; my teeth didn’t ache once. The girls in the Spinsters Club are archetypish, but so much fun to read you won’t care (in fact, I wondered why more authors don’t use these kinds of characters; they seem far more true to the relative idealism of the times). I enjoyed reading about them much more than the ever present willful hoyden or fiery heroine. What we have here is a bunch of smart and spirited young ladies on the cusp of womanhood, and the author has such a fine time with them that we can’t help having a fine time, too. For me, reading this story was a bit like revisiting the feeling you had when you first read Little Women–only a lot more spicy. Just when you think the author’s going one way with her innocent portrayal of Catie, and Valentine’s slow-and sneaky (he IS a politician *G*)-seduction of Catie, she throws in a decadent twist, in a scene that’ll shock the stockings clean OFF a speechless dowager. It takes place in an inn; that’s ALL I’m tellin’ ya. But–whoowee! And yeah boy, too. *G* Another love scene, which takes place on the other side of a door from a ballroom full of people, is equally hot. And I guess to sum up the appeal of this book, I’d say that the author has so skillfully captured that universality of the state of being human, at its most innocent AND self-centered points that you fall right into this book like a warm bubble bath. I can’t think of a better way to relax and de-stress while thoroughly enjoying yourself (well, o.k.; maybe one–you’ll read about IT in the inn scene and others, though, so–there ya go *G*). I recommend it wholeheartedly, and I’m putting this author on my Gotta Read list. Oh-just gotta say it: love that name. (Valentine.) And the double entendre about the reporter and his pebbles~!Reviewed by Lee M
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No Man’s Bride
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