I can’t remember when I have had such fun reading a book. The Ideal Bride is light, sweet, funny, and charming as can be. It may be late in the year, but I’ve found the best Regency romance for 2003.
Gabriel Carr is a wealthy London businessman. A methodical man, he spent several years having fun, more years amassing wealth, and now, according to his master plan, it’s time to marry and have children. Gabriel has drawn up a detailed list of the characteristics his intended must possess, and he intends to follow that list to the letter. His fun-loving mother thinks he is dull, his best friend the Duke of St. Fell thinks he is dull, and as for the dandies at White’s, they check him out through their quizzing glasses and agree: he’s dull.

When Gabriel goes to visit some of his tenants, he meets Lady Nola Grenvale. Nola is 25, the daughter of an earl, unmarried, and not worried about it. She is known as St. Nola among the ton who admire her for the work she does helping the widows of soldiers. Nola’s main ambition is to find a building where she can set up a bazaar so the widows can sell their goods and support themselves and their families. Gabriel has a perfect building.

Gabriel refuses to lease the building, thinking Nola’s scheme is foolish. He’s also a bit put out that she is not dazzled by his looks (Gabriel is devastatingly handsome, but in an interesting twist, it is he who hides his buff bod under dowdy clothing, not wanting the attention his good looks bring). Nola is dazzled by his looks, but she’s not about to let on. Instead, she tries to persuade him that her bazaar would make good business sense, and he has to admit she is intelligent, but he’s not about to let her know he thinks so.

When Gabriel mentions Nola to his friends and family, they all sing her praises as a potential bride, but Gabriel insists he must follow his list, and Nola is not on it. His mother thinks Nola is a perfect match for him, St. Fell thinks Nola is a perfect match for him and as for the dandies at White’s, they raise their quizzing glasses and agree: Nola is a perfect match. A series of events culminates in Nola, her two eccentric aunts, Gabriel’s mother, and Gabriel sharing a house while he is laid up with a broken knee. Business must go on, and Nola is the only one who can help Gabriel with his paperwork. Pretty soon, Gabriel begins to think about modifying his precious list.

The Ideal Bride was a delight from start to finish. Nola and Gabriel make a wonderful couple, and St. George surrounds them with a cast of delightfully humorous supporting characters. Special mention must go to Mrs. Carr, who loves to stay out all night and party; Nola’s aunts, who dress in the style of the Georgian era, argue all the time, and punctuate every remark by thumping their ornate walking sticks; and especially Gabriel’s chef, who likes to make dishes that are a tribute to famous battles (his homage to the siege of Badajoz had me wiping away tears of laughter).

The word used by the characters in the book to describe Nola is amiable, and that she is. Nola is a tall, skinny redhead in a society that exalts the small, dainty blonde. She is respected, but she doesn’t have a flock of suitors knocking at her door. Everyone expects her to be tempestuous because of her hair, but the amiable Nola is incapable of a temper tantrum. She’s not a doormat – she’s too intelligent for that – but there is no way she would ever flounce, stamp, and pout.

Gabriel starts out as a bit full of himself. He really is drop-dead handsome and knows it, but his mother, his friends, and even his staff puncture his vanity. When he is getting ready to receive Nola in his room after his accident, the servant who arranges him on the sofa asks “Right profile or left one, sir?” Gabriel is intelligent and kind under his stuffy veneer, and he and Nola are perfectly suited – it just takes him some time to realize the fact.

Good comedy is the most difficult thing in the world to write. Every word, every character, and every incident has to be right or it throws the whole thing off. The Ideal Bride is a practically perfect example of a good comedy, and I can recommend it to anyone who needs cheering up. I see that Nonnie St. George will have a book out in May 2004, featuring Gabriel’s best friend, the good natured but poor Duke of St. Fell. Hmm, I wonder if they’ll let me camp out in the bookstore to wait for it?