The Wedding Game is the third in a series revolving around the Duncan sisters and readers will enjoy catching up with the three women and their current excursions. Just as with the previous two books, Feather writes a detailed story with an inviting plot and with charming women, yet with romance still a bit lacking in the sizzle department.

With Con and Pru Duncan married Chastity is left all alone to deal with her melancholy and her father’s growing depression at losing the family fortune. Fortunately, Chastity still has their matchmaking business and their paper, The Mayfair Lady, to keep her occupied. It is when she receives a letter from a certain doctor who wishes to get married that her boredom and melancholy change into a whirlwind of new, confusing emotions.

Dr. Douglas Farrell grew up in a household full of women, and because of this his ideas on the female specimen have become rather jaded. He also grew up with a house full of male doctors and so he had no desire to do anything else but carry on that tradition. Yet, instead of having a practice where he helps the rich, Dr. Farrell has made it his mission to move from Scotland to the London slums to help the poor. The poor, though, can pay little and so to help the needy he must make money by being a doctor to the rich as well. What better way to procure rich patients than to marry a wife who not only could bring money into the marriage, but who could also bring the wealthy to his practice? And so he writes to The Mayfair Lady stating his needs for a wife quite clearly.

Chastity meets with Douglas dressed in disguise. She is hidden behind a veil and does nothing to disguise her contempt when he explains that he wants a wife only for her money and social standing. Douglas wonders what she could possibly understand about the needs of the poor when it is obvious that she comes from wealth. For her part, Chastity is immediately put off by the cold man. What kind of a person would marry just for money? Yet, business is business, as her sisters would say, and so she agrees, albeit reluctantly, to help the man find a wife. Douglas visits the Duncan household in order to meet his intended and is introduced to a woman who meets his needs perfectly, and yet he also meets Chastity, a woman who intrigues him with her wit, her charm and her slight antagonistic attitude.

As much as he is attracted to Chastity, Douglas tries to fight his growing interest in the woman for she is not exactly the ideal wife for him. The Mayfair Lady is correct when she introduces him to Laura; she is perfect for what he thinks he wants in a woman. But the more time he spends with Chastity the more his ideas of what he thinks he wants change. When they end up together over Christmas, that attraction reaches its peak. Yet each has a secret that they do not want the other to know, a secret that may ruin the relationship. Chastity knows that if Douglas finds out about her newspaper and her real identity, he will feel betrayed. And Douglas has no desire for Chastity to find out about his medical practice in the slums, nor his need for a rich wife.

The story hops along well enough, yet there is the same lack of sizzle and romance between the two characters that are found in the series’ previous books. Not until we are into the second half of the story do we see any real physical signs of attraction between Douglas and Chastity. Again, as in many romance novels, there is that almost intense dislike that the characters have for each other at the beginning that has become rather predictable. As much as I like the sisters, their reason for wanting to lose their virginity continues to grate. And though I liked Douglas and his compassion to help the poor was undeniably honorable, his hostile attitude toward women seemed a bit unfounded.

There is not as much interaction between the sisters as there was in the first of the three books, yet what interaction there is makes the book enjoyable and the characters high-spirited and fun-loving. Chastity is probably the most appealing and affable of the three – intelligent without being pushy. I have always liked the way Feather describes scenes, doing so with intimate detail yet without overpowering the plot. Although there’s a lack of sizzle in the first half of the book, the charming characters, the detailed descriptions of scenes, and the story itself make up for that lack. The Wedding Game ends this trilogy on a strong note.