Book Reviews | Once Upon a Wedding Night, by Sophie Jordan
Once Upon a Wedding Night, by Sophie Jordan
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ISBN: 0061122203
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: August 2006
List Price: $5.99
Reviewed by Alyssa Goodnight
Lady Meredith Brookshire
may be a virgin, but she’s no
shrinking violet. Married to a
neglectful husband for seven
years, she’s now a widow who
knows exactly what she wants
and precisely what she doesn’t—a man. The rightful heir to
the Earl of Brookshire will likely
send her packing, and a new
husband will either keep her
under his thumb or break her
heart and hurt her pride just as
surely as the last. The only male
she is willing to welcome is a
babe, who will eventually grow
to become the rightful heir of
Brookshire. The only trouble is
that she’s not pregnant. And so
begins her deception.
As a small boy, Nick Caulfield was banished from Oak Run with his mother, and he has lived a hard life on London streets, far from the privileged ballrooms of the ton. Nick has no use for his old life or the vagaries of fate that have made him an earl, and he is content that Meredith’s child should inherit. His feelings for Meredith are somewhat more tumultuous: he is determined to dislike her simply for her connection to the family that abandoned him, and yet he can’t help but grudgingly admire her. The emotional tug-of-war is driving him crazy, prompting his efforts to crack her composure just as thoroughly as she’s cracked his.
When Meredith’s deception is revealed, Nick is furious, but he agrees to provide her with a Season so that she can find another husband and he will be free to relinquish guardianship. Two strong and stubborn wills immediately collide on subjects as varied as hair dye and acceptable flirtation techniques. And all the while, the pair can’t keep their hands off each other. Meredith is discovering her own lust for a man she dislikes with a vengeance, and Nick sees in her a fiery, passionate nature that sparks his ire as easily as his desire.
So as Meredith attempts to snare a husband before the Season’s end, desperate to rid herself of Nick’s oppressive and distractingly sexy presence, Nick conspires to thwart her at every turn, even going so far as to compromise her and then confess the deed during a suitor’s proposal of marriage. Society’s rules may compel them to marry, but in order for the match to be anything more than a scandal avoidance technique (with occasional bedroom visitations), the two must look to the future instead of the past, swallowing pride and squelching prejudice in order to find true love.
In her eloquently penned debut, Once Upon A Wedding Night, Sophie Jordan adds another level to Regency romance. This is not simply a story of a lady who must find a husband; it is a tender portrayal of two wounded individuals whose lives become more intricately woven with each meeting. The writing style is confident and sure, the prose, lush and seductive, and the dialogue, peppered with wit. Once Upon A Wedding Night is a divine debut, and Sophie Jordan is a wonderful discovery.
