Review: The Fortunate Marriage by Meriol Trevor

Fortunate Marriage by Meriol Trevor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really like these old-fashioned style novels, so just a warning that if you don't like this type of writing style, this book will probably not be as enjoyable.

First off, the back cover copy, which is from the Fawcett Crest reprinting, is VERY misleading. It is not actually a romance--more a Regency historical fiction with strong romantic elements, and the two characters in the back cover copy--Dynham and Louisa--are not the only main characters. There are actually 4 main characters as well as Caroline, and it is not structured like a romance novel. I felt a bit betrayed because the back cover copy is so misleading. If I had known ahead of time that it was not a romance, I would have been fine with it, but I felt betrayed because I was expecting a romance.

Louisa as a main character is quiet and insightful for the first half of the story, if a bit weak, but it's understandable considering she's a poor relation and has a tenuous place in the household. But in the second half of the book, she devolves into a bit of a milksop.

Dynham is a strong character with weaknesses and strengths. I also liked Henrietta quite a bit, and wish there had been more page time devoted to her. Hilary also develops as a better character by the end of the book.

My biggest gripe is that the first half of the book, with a very gothic romance feeling, seems to go on for too long. I think it could have been cut in half, and I would have liked the second half of the book to be expanded more.

However, the story was interesting enough for me to keep reading and wanting to know what happened to each of the characters. I enjoyed the book a lot.

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What are you crafting today?

I always have multiple knitting projects, and over Christmas I started a new one. I’m working on developing a pattern for the arm-warmers (called muffatees or manchettes in Regency and Victorian England) that are mentioned a few times in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 4: Betrayer and Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 5: Prisoner . My character, Phoebe, has a rather deadly pointy thing hidden in hers. :) The pattern is based off of antique knitting books which are scanned by Archive.org. (You can download .pdfs of the books, which I think is really rather cool.) The book the pattern is from was published after the Regency era, but I’m reasonably sure the pattern was in use in the Regency, just passed down by word of mouth. Are you crafting anything today?

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Camille Elliot's January newsletter

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「ひとり寿司」をブログに連載します！ひとり寿司寿司シリーズの第一作キャミー・タング西島美幸訳スポーツ狂のレックス・坂井 —— いとこのマリコが数ヶ月後に結婚することにより、「いとこの中で一番年上の独身女性」という内輪の肩書を「勝ち取る」ことについては、あまり気にしていない。コントロールフリークの祖母を無視するのは容易だ —— しかし、祖母は最終通告を出した —— マリコの結婚式までにデート相手を見つけなければ、無慈悲な祖母は、レックスがコーチをしている女子バレーボールチームへの資金供給を切ると言う。ダグアウトにいる選手全員とデートに出かけるほど絶望的なわけではない。レックスは、バイブルスタディで読んだ「エペソの手紙」をもとに「最高の男性」の条件の厳しいリストを作った。バレーボールではいつも勝つ —— ゲームを有利に進めれば、必ず成功するはずだ。そのとき兄は、クリスチャンではなく、アスリートでもなく、一見何の魅力もないエイデンを彼女に引き合わせる。エイデンは、クリスチャンではないという理由で離れていったトリッシュという女の子から受けた痛手から立ち直ろうとしている。そして、レックスが（１）彼に全く興味がないこと、（２）クリスチャンであること、（３）トリッシュのいとこであることを知る。あの狂った家族とまた付き合うのはごめんだ。まして、偽善的なクリスチャンの女の子など、お断り。彼はマゾヒストじゃない。レックスは時間がなくなってきた。いくら頑張っても、いい人は現れない。それに、どこへ行ってもエイデンに遭遇する。あのリストはどんどん長くなっていくばかり —— 過去に掲載済みのストーリーのリンクはこちらです。 *** 28 「ねえビーナス、お願い」装具をもっとしっかり脚に巻きつけようともがきながら、レックスは肩で携帯を持とうとした。「ごめん、すごく仕事が忙しいの。トリッシュに行ってもらうように電話したから」「トリッシュ？いつから彼女が私のお気に入りになったの？」立ち上がり、段ボール箱の間を通って、トイレにたどり着いた。「ジェン、今週末は出かけてるの——ほんと、都合がいいわよね。だから、トリッシュかマリコのどっちかなのよ」（うわっ）「分かった。何時に来てくれるの？」「あの子

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