“Marry Me!”
That is what her cousin Gareth asked Delphie Carteret to do. It was just a make-believe ceremony, and, in exchange, Delphie’s ailing mother would receive an annuity for life.
Delphic was in no position to refuse. She was already losing the struggle to support herself and her mother. But Delphie soon discovered that she was bound by law to the marriage and bound by love to more lies…
Part of my recent library score, The Five Minute Marriage came recommended on several GoodReads lists. I was under the vague impression that not only would it be similar to a Heyer, this novel would also be funny, but then again that is always my deepest hope for every Reg Rom.
This book was definitely not funny. Instead, it was a twisting and turning gothic style Reg Rom…a little bit Reluctant Widow with a lot of the tone of Cousin Kate. So yea, it was similar enough to Heyer in that the writing was solid, the H/h were pretty formulaic (she’s smart, beautiful and a bit headstrong, and he is a sexy grump), and the overall tone is traditional (strong period sensibilities and no sex).
Philadelphia is gently born and bred, but with her mother cut off as a result of an unapproved marriage, she works for a living in Town as a music teacher. Her mother seems to suffer from some sort of dementia, where she either escapes or goes on gambling benders or orders up supplies for a giant ball. This creates a lot of stress for Philadelphia, who is finally driven to the point of contacting her mother’s family to see about some assistance.
Delphie is met at the family manse by three men in deep distraction, and finds her great uncle is on his death bed. In order to save the family fortune, and win her mother an annuity, Delphie agrees to a charade ceremony at Great Uncle’s bedside. Personally, I am a bit of a sucker for the convenient marriage bit and love masquerade, too, so I was looking forward to reading how this play out.
Shortly after, she returns to Town to resume her life and wait for the check in the mail.
What comes instead is her “husband.”
To my disappointment, they don’t spend much time actually living together. The H/h interactions are minimal, as propriety dictates. If you are a student of the genre will get the romance set up…but if you are new to Reg Rom, will find the HEA unbelievable.
There is lots of complicated scenery and “characters” and “Places” in this novel. We get to visit the Marshalsea, the streets of fancy and not so fancy London, and several homes in various shades of poverty. There is lots of History in this book, so that made it interesting, and I enjoy Regencies where its not the same Almacks, ball, opera chain of scenes. However, some places/storylines (like the Marshalsea) didn’t do a great job at advancing the plot or romance, so it made me wonder if they weren’t just added for the author rather than the story.
It was the historical touches and the grim details and many scenes featuring the poverty stricken heroine that veered dangerously close to depressing. However, about 1/3 of the way in, things take a turn for the gothic as a behind the scenes villain starts to make murderous attempts on everyone. There are also a couple of throwaway references to Minerva Press style novels, so I had to assume that was a subtle wink and nod at how melodramatic the novel was in parts.
Honestly, I had a hard time keeping up with the family tree and history and could’ve used a chart. I found it bad enough in several points to be distracting and cause a lot of back and forth flipping, which had I been on my e-reader would have made me super bananas.
All those criticisms aside, it was a quick and entertaining enough read with a traditional, albeit gothic, tone that hits on all the tropes and triumphs of the genre. I recommend this one if you can find it, but advise not to spend a lot of time looking as there are lots of other amazing traditionals to read first.
Fair warning, this does involve romance among cousins, once removed. I have been taken to task in the past for making comment on cousin lovin’, but I nonetheless put it out there for those who may have difficulty with the topic.
4 out of 6 Strong genre sensibilities carry this gothic toned traditional marriage of convenience story
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Some talk about children out of wedlock | |
| Intimacy | |
| Kisses | |
| Violence | |
| Murderous attempts, fight scene but not graphic | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Traditional marriage of convenience ok for older teens and above. | |
