The Marriage Contract (Marriage #3) by Cathy Maxwell

Summary from GoodReads

Journey with Cathy Maxwell to nineteenth-century Scotland…a land of romance and dreams. There, away from the stifling ballrooms and idle gossip of London, a debutante hopes to find a life she could only have imagined…and a noble Highlander discovers that the truest love of all awaits him in the form of an unexpected bride-to-be…

He was a man exiled from society — handsome, unpredictable, and proud. Dark rumors surrounded his name. But Anne Burnett had signed a marriage contract binding her to Aiden Black, the Earl of Tiebauld. And although she’d never met him, she’s determined to keep her word and make theirs a marriage in truth. Because a well-bred lady with little fortune to recommend her has no choice. From the moment she arrived, Anne fell in love with Kelwin Castle and its roguishly handsome laird. By day, he instills a fierce loyalty in his people with his masterful ways…and by night, he tempts Anne to surrender her innocence to him. But while he is willing to offer his body. Aiden refuses to give Anne his heart…making her wonder what prevents him from truly claiming her as his wife.

Review

Talk about inta-love at its worst! Anne is in love with Aiden after mere days. Days, you should know, that Aiden spent coming up with tasks to force his unwanted-bride back to England. He had her mucking stalls with his favorite prostitute for Pete’s sake! And apparently Anne is so beaten down she’ll accept this man as her love? Seriously?

There is so little interaction between the main characters, I think Anne falls in love out of the delirium of exhaustion. The only conversations they have revolve around the “tests” a.k.a “torture” Aiden creates. She falls dead asleep every night without kisses or conversation from the hubby. Yet, I swear to the romance gods, they fall deeply, madly, and passionately in love within 14 days.

And for all the rush when it came to emotional attachment, sex itself was (pardon the pun) frustratingly put off. The smuggler scene (which reminds Anne of her father) was a HUGE set back just as the couple was beginning to build a tenuous bond. The fact that they get over this set back just as quickly, culminating in what I’d like to call The Great Afternoon Delight session, is ridiculous. The Great Afternoon Delight includes more sex with a recent virgin than in ANY OTHER romance I’ve EVER read. And I read a lot people. After waiting 3/4 of the book for a physical commitment to underscore all that insta-love I was blown away by too much sex. Loud, obvious sex in the middle of a drama filled crisis situation where everyone can hear them. Odd. And kinda Eww.

I so wanted this story to work! Regency England and Jacobite Scotland together in one tale?! Sign me up! Too bad this was such a fail. The love happened way too fast. Felt like there were 3 days between when Anne and Aiden were total strangers to completely in love. We won’t even touch their alternate lifestyle choices…Aiden’s love of dressing the part of medieval Scottish Laird was just odd. The story left me feeling as though everything was unfounded. There was no base through the action of the story or a physical connection. Left the story feeling hollow and confused.

Rating: 2/5 Don’t be lured by the promise of a duo of mouth-watering romance eras…the story falls beyond flat. 

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A Scandalous Marriage (Marriage #2) by Cathy Maxwell

BookTalk

Leah Carrollton just wanted to find love. As a great beauty in a family struggling to maintain their ton-ish lifestyle. A bank account was more important than the love Leah sought. But a love affair found her anyway. Two love affairs to be exact.

Leah’s first love was star-crossed. Falling for Viscount Huxhold, Devon Marshall, was unfortunate. A grudge lasting a generation means that any hope Devon and Leah had for a traditional Happily Ever After was lost from the start.

After losing her great love. Leah rebounds with a less than honorable man. One who leaves her with a baby on the way. But fate expects more from Leah and Devon. Their stars and paths are to cross yet again. And the troubles they incurred during their separation may be the very things that save their love…

Review

I enjoyed this one so much more than the first. Thought starting with the baby’s delivery then flashing back to the start of Leah and Devon’s love then coming back to the delivery was really different. Really cool. I got to know the characters in a way I wasn’t expecting. Their backstory helped explain motivations and feelings…and kept the delivery from seeming too random.

Though it must be noted that no one recovers from giving birth as quickly as Leah does. Seriously?! the day after a traumatic (and premature!) birth and we’ve got our heroine throwing the baby in a drawer (yep. a dresser drawer. padded with blankets. duh.) and riding a coach to London. Leah even feels the stirring of desire for Devon. You have to ignore a lot of logic to bridge the unrealistic-ness of this situation. But if you can get past it watching Devon and Leah rebuild their love is rewarding.

What was great about this read was how much I enjoyed these characters as people. Getting to know Leah better in this novel makes such a difference…and sheds so much light on her, shall we say, sluttiness of the last novel. I actually liked her. And Devon is simply the sweetest. Even if it took them FOREVER to say the L-word. That confession was pretty obvious way before the characters admitted their feelings.

Again, the second in this series keeps the ‘drama’ to a minimum…at least in the main character’s relationships. This semi-drama-free relationship was one of the things I most like about the first book, Married in Haste. No grand displays followed by white knights to be found here. Just major issues sorted out by realistic people.

Finally, the epilogue to this book was better than the first in the series. It completed Leah and Devon’s story, giving a Happily Ever After that is the sweetest I’ve read in awhile. Well done Maxwell.

Rating: 3.5/5 A swift, sweet novel worth the hour or two of escape it provides.

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Married in Haste (Marriage #1) by Cathy Maxwell

BookTalk

The Earl of Merton can have his choice of debutantes. Sweeping in from his family home in Wales, Brenn is on the hunt for a wife.

Tess Hamlin is the belle of the Ton. She’s held the supreme position of Queen Bee for years now…so many years in fact, she’s running out of suitable men to turn down.

On the surface Brenn and Tess are perfect for each other. He is her fresh meat, and she is his wealthy wife. But neither comes to this marriage without a secret motivation. Neither is what they appear. So when the truths are revealed will the love they’ve built be enough to weather the results of their secrets…

Review

I liked that in Brenn and Tess’s relationship nothing was too “dramatic” – no one flounced off, slammed a door, left in the dead of night – even in situations where other romances would have gone there. We’ve all seen the third act escape…where one or both of the characters runs away for some flimsy reason that a simple, honest discussion would have cleared up. And while all that drama can be fun. It was refreshing to read a romance that didn’t depend on a dramatic crisis to prove character love. The key to this was that these characters kept fairly open hearts and minds through out the story. Not that they always did it for love (sometimes they were agreeable for their own gain) but they seemed to work together with understanding.

However, now that I’ve just complimented such a perfect couple, I’ll say I disliked how long Brenn and Tess kept their secrets. So many times one or the other could have unburdened themselves. Shared the secret weighing on their mind and the relationship. Maybe it would have given a bit of dramatic depth to the story to reveal…without having to involve the cliche ‘foot-stomp’.

Also, Tess’s brother was hard to swallow.He was the genesis of such a common trope – The ‘used’ daughter/sister. Tess is somehow to pay for her brother’s exorbitant debt and lifestyle.  The brother gets off without a smidge of change or shame. At least Maxwell openly states how women are used…helps watching yet another female romance character fall into the sacrificial lamp role. But seriously, Tess’s brother was a little too extreme for me to feel that Tess’s sacrifice was worth it…even if she did end up with a good man.

The ending was quick and the epilogue was long. I think the beginning of this story deserved a more fleshed out ending and a shorter ‘tacked on’ epilogue. ‘Cause that extra bit was practically another story in and of itself!

Rating: 3/5 This one had potential had the author not relied so heavily on tropes and kept her character’s secrets this one would have been stronger. 

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The silver solution was a little…”duh”…wondered that Maxwell never let the ‘battery’ investment pay off as batteries do in fact exist – and it would have been a major windfall. Could have added some historical significance to the tale.

Loved, loved the bit about Brenn wooing Tess in Wales. Again we had a situation of the townspeople falling hard and fast for Tess (uhm, totally unrealistic!). But the flowers…the priest…really really sweet. It was stuff like this that kept me reading!

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