At the Bride Hunt Ball

Author: Olivia Parker
Published: May 2008 (Avon)
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 5/10

I picked up At the Bride Hunt Ball after Julia Quinn recommended it on her website. The premise sounded interesting, a sort of regency twist on The Bachelor. I'm always amused by the ridiculousness of reality shows that promise romance and happy endings, and I like Julia Quinn, so this book should be good, right? Not really.

Gabriel Devine, Duke of Wolverest (odd name for a duchy, more of an excuse for the females to liken the Devine men to wolves), doesn't want to marry because his parents didn't have a love match, so he dumps the responsibility on his rakehell younger brother Tristan. He's pretty much forcing Tristan to marry, setting up a private ball/house party with invitations to seven perfect specimens for Tristan to choose from. However, one of the candidates has caught the eye of Gabriel.

Madelyn doesn't want anything to do with any of the Devine men because they are awful, awful rakes! She's only going to the ball because her scheming stepmother is making her go and she wants to protect her best friend Charlotte, who's been in love with Tristan for so long, ever since he helped her family out of a carriage accident. Madelyn's stepmother thinks she should aim for the duke, and has promised Madelyn the little cottage where she grew up if she makes a decent effort in chasing Gabriel.

I thought the book was sloppy. There are all these clues of a side romance between Charlotte and Tristan, but that was yanked away at the very end, without even a hint for Charlotte's happy ending. If Parker was intending to leave Charlotte's story open ended for a future book, it was a terrible way to do so. Madelyn's horrid stepmother never got her comeuppance, just a buttload of money from Gabriel when he anonymously purchased the cottage that Madelyn wanted so much. I was waiting for Madelyn or Gabriel to put the wicked stepmother in her place, but no, nothing of the sort. The "bride hunt" wasn't featured very well, just mentioned briefly in the background, when it could've been so much more amusing. The book turned out poorly balanced as a result.