"Delightful, witty romp"

Victoria Malvey's MERRY CHASE and FORTUNE'S BRIDE sit atop my keeper shelves and WEDDING OF THE YEAR will be joining them.

Malvey's trademark sparkling dialogue is present here in abundance as the mesalliances of the two Everly sisters and brothers Richard, Lord Vernon and John, Lord Wykham occur. The couples unite to try to find a kidnapped man, but the hunt never gets in the way of the romance.

Elizabeth is a lovely blue-stocking who is much happier in her workshop doing experiments then mingling with the Ton. She always manages to put her foot-in-her-mouth when she attempts polite conversation. Her sister Catherine is her opposite: adept with the ton, adventurous and impulsive with beaus falling all over themselves for her attentions.

Richard Vernon is a reformed rake who has a secret that would scandalize the Ton, but gives him a great deal of satisfaction. John at first appears to be an overly responsible stick-in-the mud, but Catherine quickly discovers that there is more to him then meets the eye--but will he let her uncover it?

With the meddling help of a loving ghost and over-anxious parents on both sides this foursome mixes and matches in ways that cause great curiousity among the Ton.

One of the things I have always liked about Malvey's characters is that they talk to each other. When there are misunderstandings they are short-lived with the offending party always showing up to explain and soothe--no dreaded long separations or misunderstandings that last chapters and are cleared in a sentence late in the book. These people TALK to each other and often quite wittily.

WEDDING OF THE YEAR is not the farsical romp of FORTUNE'S BRIDE, but the heroines are every bit as intelligent as Laurel in MERRY CHASE and those who like a regency romp with some meat on it's bones should love this one.

Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Posted January 11, 2002