Kiss the Bride
Grade : C

Having just read and loved this author's Young Adult novel, Princess in Love, I was very excited to have the chance to review Kiss the Bride. I hadn't read any of Cabot's historical backlist, but based on my experience with her YA novels, I was fully prepared to glom her romance books. Unfortunately, I discovered that I prefer her young adult/contemporary voice to her historical one.

Emma Van Court Chesterton has come down in the world. Way down. A year ago she was a debutante making waves on the London scene. Her family expected her to make a brilliant match. Then she eloped with Stuart Chesterton, an Oxford-educated man of the cloth who insisted on ministering to the poorest of the poor in the British Isles. Immediately following the wedding, Stuart dragged her to the Hebrides and there died suddenly. Left with little but the cottage she was living in and knowing that her family would not take her back, Emma persuaded the small town of Faires to hire her as a teacher. She lives on the teetering edge of poverty, and her only joy is in the children she teaches.

James Marbury, the Earl of Denham comes to Faires to retrieve his cousin Stuart's body, and is shocked to find Emma still living there. A year ago, when Emma announced she was marrying Stuart, James was the match's most vocal opponent. He had a thing for Emma himself, and he couldn't understand why she would want to throw her life away on a poor curate. Now, seeing her plight, he is determined to protect and provide for her. But what is he to do with a stubborn woman who refuses to be helped and insists on staying in Faires? Especially when half the town is courting her, and seeing her with any other man enrages him?

Kiss the Bride was fairly difficult to get into. The prologue and the first several chapters were confusing because a number of characters were introduced but not much background information about them was given. Presumably, Cabot was trying to heighten the tension by keeping the reader wondering, but it wasn't very effective. Also, the concept of "Mr. O'Malley's Will" was brought up numerous times, but it isn't until chapter seven that the reader finds out what this important plot point is. Rather than being intriguing, this make-'em-guess device was irritating.

The first quarter of the book is written rather awkwardly in summary. Not much is happening because both James and Emma are remembering what happened and how they felt about it - or at least how they felt about the parts of their history the reader is privy to. Also, the style of writing is extremely complicated, Cabot having written her narrative using mostly compound-complex sentences with dashes galore. It was hard to concentrate on what the characters were really concerned about because there were so many mental asides. Additionally, many facts and thoughts were repeated frequently, so the narrative began to feel somewhat redundant. And, finally, late in the book several important mourning customs were disregarded for the sake of the story.

But at just about the two-thirds mark, when I was worried I'd have to seriously slog my way through the rest, the story really picked up. Part of this was because the plot morphed into a marriage of convenience, a plot device I truly enjoy. And, at the same time, it became clear that James was completely gone on Emma and now in pursuit, another of my personal favorite romance features.

When Emma and James began to spend more time together and Cabot switched over from summary to dialogue and action, things got better. There were touches of humor throughout the book, but the last third was definitely the most comic and enjoyable part. Both characters were further defined in this section and got to be more and more likable as the book progresses.

Even though Kiss the Bride ended on an up note, large portions of it failed to engage me. If I hadn't had to read this for review, I would have set it aside and pulled out my copy of The Princess Diaries to reread instead. I was disappointed that I didn't enjoy Cabot's historical style more, but because I've enjoyed some of her other books, I would try her again. I just hope her other historicals are more talk and action and less summary.

Reviewed by Rachel Potter
Grade : C

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : April 29, 2002

Publication Date: 2002

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