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L'errore di Caroline
Inghilterra, 1821 -Tutto ciò che voleva John, Visconte Welford, era una giovane amabile e innocente da sposare prima della partenza per l'ambasciata di Vienna, così da portarla con sé. E Caroline, la figlia del saggio vescovo di Essex, sembrava proprio la scelta migliore. Invece la prima notte di nozze, dopo aver consumato il matrimonio, lei è fuggita per incontrare un altro uomo. Benché John sia riuscito a fermarla evitando che commettesse adulterio, deluso e ferito ha deciso di partire da solo per l'Austria. Ora, dopo cinque anni di lontananza e silenzio, Caroline lo supplica di tornare per accompagnarla dal padre morente, e fingere che il loro matrimonio sia felice e pieno d'amore. La farsa, però, obbliga per la prima volta John a starle vicino, ascoltarla, conoscerla... e forse scoprire che in fondo lei è esattamente la donna che desiderava.
251 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 27, 2015
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About the author
Alyssa Everett
9 books103 followersAlyssa Everett grew up in Florida, where from an early age her favorite books typically had dukes in them. As a teen she worked in an amusement park, doing just about every kind of odd job a person can do, from collecting garbage to captaining an African boat cruise.
She met her husband, a darkly handsome doctor with a wicked sense of humor, at Harvard University. They currently live with their three children and a springer spaniel in small-town Pennsylvania.
She met her husband, a darkly handsome doctor with a wicked sense of humor, at Harvard University. They currently live with their three children and a springer spaniel in small-town Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 54 reviews
September 13, 2016
I've given this a B+ at AAR.
Alyssa Everett is one of my favourite authors, one I know I can rely upon to provide me with a well –written and engaging story, well-developed characters and a satisfying romance. She describes her latest book, The Marriage Act as being somewhat “edgier” than her previous ones, and I can see why, because the two protagonists are imperfect characters who sometimes do and say things that are unpalatable. That is not to say that they are unpleasant characters; just that their imperfections make them seem that much more human and the way Ms Everett has written them makes their sometimes less than perfect behaviour easy to understand and even (on occasion) to sympathise with, which is not something many authors can successfully pull off.
The story opens with John, Viscount Welford, in the middle of proposing to the beautiful seventeen year old Caroline Fleetwood, daughter of the Bishop of Essex. A former pupil of the bishop’s, John is an intelligent and rather serious young man who is poised to take up a career in the diplomatic service. He fell for Caroline more or less at first sight, and had hoped to court her at length so that they could get to know each other, but he is shortly to travel to his first posting, and wants things between them were settled sooner rather than later. He is thrilled when his proposal is accepted, and arrangements are made for a speedy wedding so that they can be married before leaving to take up residence in Vienna.
What John does not know is that Caroline has accepted him only because she is desperately in love with someone else, and on the morning of the proposal received a letter from him refusing to elope with her. In her selfish naiveté, she believes that the news of her engagement will make him jealous and bring him around, and she gives no thought to how such actions will affect anyone else. At the time, all she sees is that John is too old for her (he’s twenty-six) and that he’s cold and stiff-necked. She doesn’t intend to actually go through with the wedding – but time flies, she is swept up in all the preparations and before she knows it, it’s her wedding night.
Caroline finds pleasure in her new husband’s lovemaking, but after the consummation - confused, upset and perhaps a little tipsy - she runs away intending to meet the man she loves. Fortunately for her safety and her reputation, John catches up with her and brings her back. Utterly furious and not a little sad and disappointed, he takes Caroline back to his Surrey estate and then leaves for Austria. Alone.
Shortly following his return to England five years later, John is approached by Caroline, whom he has not seen in all that time. She has received news that her father is seriously ill and may not have long to live, and she wants to go to visit him. But she can’t go alone – because she couldn’t bear to tell the father she loves so dearly that she had made a mess of her marriage, she has led him to believe she has been living in Vienna with her husband for the past five years. So she asks John if he will accompany her - and to act as though they are happy and very much in love. The idea of deceiving the bishop, of whom he is very fond, doesn’t sit at all well with John, but he nonetheless agrees to Caroline’s request.
If ever there was a story that proved the adage “what a tangled web we weave/ when first we practice to deceive”, this is it, as the consequences of Caroline’s – admittedly massive – initial falsehood come home to roost. The first interactions between her and John are difficult; recrimination hangs in the air like the Sword of Damocles, they are both resentful and angry and can’t stop themselves saying the hurtful things they are thinking. In Caroline’s eyes, John is just as cold and inflexible as she had believed him to be five years earlier, although she is rather surprised to realise that he is not as old as she had thought and that he’s also a very attractive man. And even though he thinks Caroline is even more beautiful now than she was before, John still sees her as dishonest, flighty and irresponsible, with no concern for whom she might hurt with her lies and incapable of admitting her faults.
As the couple begins to spend more time with each other, they gradually come to see that they were wrong in their initial assessments of one another, and that perhaps it’s time to attempt to repair their relationship. The thing that impressed me most about the story is the fact that Ms Everett doesn’t take the easy way out and have them bury the hatchet straight away or hit the big red reset button. Too much has happened between them for them to be able to go back and start again; they need to pick up where they are now, and make things work from there - and it’s hard. In the early days, John and Caroline take one step towards each other and two steps back; they are still nursing hurts and grievances and still find it difficult to stop needling each other and assigning blame. I will admit that, as a hero-centric reader, I was more inclined to John’s point of view, and actually, couldn’t quite see how it was that Caroline gained her impression of him as being so uncompromising and tyrannical. A man whose bride runs away on their wedding night is entitled to be mad as hell, and it seemed to me that Caroline had formed almost all her opinions of him based on that one event.
In fact, I wanted to smack some sense into her more than once because she so often jumps to the wrong conclusion and does it deliberately, even as she realises she is cutting off her nose to spite her face. However, speaking as someone who has, regrettably, been guilty of such a thing, I completely understood where she was coming from even as I wanted to scream at her to stop doing it! And that’s another impressive thing about the book – even when I hated what one or other of the characters did or said, the author was showing me exactly why they were doing or saying it, so that even as I was thinking “ouch!” I understood their motivations. Their reactions and responses feel so real precisely because they’re messy and not always the right thing to say or do – and it’s a brave author who is prepared to have her characters come across as less than perfect.
So – having heaped all that praise upon the book, why isn’t it a DIK? It came very close, but ultimately, Caroline’s initial selfishness and her unpleasantness towards John – who had done nothing to deserve it – went a little too far for my taste.
That said, don’t let it put you off reading it, because it’s very well written and there is plenty of heat between the protagonists. In fact, the sex scenes are a bit steamier than in Ms Everett’s other books; they’re not overly explicit, but these two could set fire to the sheets, and I do like a slightly uptight hero with a naughty streak where it counts ;)
I really enjoyed The Marriage Act even though it’s not always an easy read. There is a strongly drawn cast of secondary characters and a very well-done secondary storyline featuring John’s younger half-brother; and I liked the way John’s backstory is drip-fed through the book so that the reader gets to know him at the same time Caroline does. I’m a sucker for a good second-chance romance, and this is one of the best I’ve read.
Alyssa Everett is one of my favourite authors, one I know I can rely upon to provide me with a well –written and engaging story, well-developed characters and a satisfying romance. She describes her latest book, The Marriage Act as being somewhat “edgier” than her previous ones, and I can see why, because the two protagonists are imperfect characters who sometimes do and say things that are unpalatable. That is not to say that they are unpleasant characters; just that their imperfections make them seem that much more human and the way Ms Everett has written them makes their sometimes less than perfect behaviour easy to understand and even (on occasion) to sympathise with, which is not something many authors can successfully pull off.
The story opens with John, Viscount Welford, in the middle of proposing to the beautiful seventeen year old Caroline Fleetwood, daughter of the Bishop of Essex. A former pupil of the bishop’s, John is an intelligent and rather serious young man who is poised to take up a career in the diplomatic service. He fell for Caroline more or less at first sight, and had hoped to court her at length so that they could get to know each other, but he is shortly to travel to his first posting, and wants things between them were settled sooner rather than later. He is thrilled when his proposal is accepted, and arrangements are made for a speedy wedding so that they can be married before leaving to take up residence in Vienna.
What John does not know is that Caroline has accepted him only because she is desperately in love with someone else, and on the morning of the proposal received a letter from him refusing to elope with her. In her selfish naiveté, she believes that the news of her engagement will make him jealous and bring him around, and she gives no thought to how such actions will affect anyone else. At the time, all she sees is that John is too old for her (he’s twenty-six) and that he’s cold and stiff-necked. She doesn’t intend to actually go through with the wedding – but time flies, she is swept up in all the preparations and before she knows it, it’s her wedding night.
Caroline finds pleasure in her new husband’s lovemaking, but after the consummation - confused, upset and perhaps a little tipsy - she runs away intending to meet the man she loves. Fortunately for her safety and her reputation, John catches up with her and brings her back. Utterly furious and not a little sad and disappointed, he takes Caroline back to his Surrey estate and then leaves for Austria. Alone.
Shortly following his return to England five years later, John is approached by Caroline, whom he has not seen in all that time. She has received news that her father is seriously ill and may not have long to live, and she wants to go to visit him. But she can’t go alone – because she couldn’t bear to tell the father she loves so dearly that she had made a mess of her marriage, she has led him to believe she has been living in Vienna with her husband for the past five years. So she asks John if he will accompany her - and to act as though they are happy and very much in love. The idea of deceiving the bishop, of whom he is very fond, doesn’t sit at all well with John, but he nonetheless agrees to Caroline’s request.
If ever there was a story that proved the adage “what a tangled web we weave/ when first we practice to deceive”, this is it, as the consequences of Caroline’s – admittedly massive – initial falsehood come home to roost. The first interactions between her and John are difficult; recrimination hangs in the air like the Sword of Damocles, they are both resentful and angry and can’t stop themselves saying the hurtful things they are thinking. In Caroline’s eyes, John is just as cold and inflexible as she had believed him to be five years earlier, although she is rather surprised to realise that he is not as old as she had thought and that he’s also a very attractive man. And even though he thinks Caroline is even more beautiful now than she was before, John still sees her as dishonest, flighty and irresponsible, with no concern for whom she might hurt with her lies and incapable of admitting her faults.
As the couple begins to spend more time with each other, they gradually come to see that they were wrong in their initial assessments of one another, and that perhaps it’s time to attempt to repair their relationship. The thing that impressed me most about the story is the fact that Ms Everett doesn’t take the easy way out and have them bury the hatchet straight away or hit the big red reset button. Too much has happened between them for them to be able to go back and start again; they need to pick up where they are now, and make things work from there - and it’s hard. In the early days, John and Caroline take one step towards each other and two steps back; they are still nursing hurts and grievances and still find it difficult to stop needling each other and assigning blame. I will admit that, as a hero-centric reader, I was more inclined to John’s point of view, and actually, couldn’t quite see how it was that Caroline gained her impression of him as being so uncompromising and tyrannical. A man whose bride runs away on their wedding night is entitled to be mad as hell, and it seemed to me that Caroline had formed almost all her opinions of him based on that one event.
In fact, I wanted to smack some sense into her more than once because she so often jumps to the wrong conclusion and does it deliberately, even as she realises she is cutting off her nose to spite her face. However, speaking as someone who has, regrettably, been guilty of such a thing, I completely understood where she was coming from even as I wanted to scream at her to stop doing it! And that’s another impressive thing about the book – even when I hated what one or other of the characters did or said, the author was showing me exactly why they were doing or saying it, so that even as I was thinking “ouch!” I understood their motivations. Their reactions and responses feel so real precisely because they’re messy and not always the right thing to say or do – and it’s a brave author who is prepared to have her characters come across as less than perfect.
So – having heaped all that praise upon the book, why isn’t it a DIK? It came very close, but ultimately, Caroline’s initial selfishness and her unpleasantness towards John – who had done nothing to deserve it – went a little too far for my taste.
That said, don’t let it put you off reading it, because it’s very well written and there is plenty of heat between the protagonists. In fact, the sex scenes are a bit steamier than in Ms Everett’s other books; they’re not overly explicit, but these two could set fire to the sheets, and I do like a slightly uptight hero with a naughty streak where it counts ;)
I really enjoyed The Marriage Act even though it’s not always an easy read. There is a strongly drawn cast of secondary characters and a very well-done secondary storyline featuring John’s younger half-brother; and I liked the way John’s backstory is drip-fed through the book so that the reader gets to know him at the same time Caroline does. I’m a sucker for a good second-chance romance, and this is one of the best I’ve read.
October 3, 2015
I was looking forward to this because I really like the second-chance romance trope. The author even kept it to my liking, having the hero NOT go sleep with everything that moves while the heroine remains untouched. Instead, she has the both of them remain celibate, so THANK YOU for that!
For that alone, I was planning on giving this book a three, but I really didn't like Caroline. At all. I get that she was immature when they got married, but she remained that way even five years later. Near the end, she even said "I’m not a girl of seventeen anymore," but I saw no difference in how she was at seventeen and how she is at twenty-two. She shows this to the reader when she decides to keep secrets from John, even after they vowed "no secrets" to one another. This girl learned nothing! Even at the hunting box when she goads him into sex, then makes him feel like shit afterwards, was her being immature as hell and not at all like someone who's grown up and learned.
I also hated that John got equal blame for their marriage troubles. Sorry, but no. He wasn't at fault in the least, imo. He went to ask for Caroline's hand in good faith, in love. She accepted him to try and make Lawrence jealous. She didn't call it off before they got married, instead going through with the wedding. Then, she ran off after their wedding night, leaving an insulting note for John to read! Then, when he caught up with her, she proceeded to give him a couple different stories behind what she did and why. I didn't blame John one bit for his anger and resentment, nor did I blame him for leaving her behind in England while he went to Austria. However, John is made to take partial blame for their marriage imploding, even though all he did was react to her stupidity! I don't blame him at all for not wanting to hear more of her lies, not wanting to deal with her any longer. He could've left her completely destitute, but he didn't. Instead, he sent her to live in his estate, giving her more than enough of a stipend to live on.
She says to him at one point that he "should've tried harder to forgive [her]," making him take a part of the blame. Yeah...no. He didn't really owe her anything after she ran off after another man and then told lie upon lie afterwards. It should've been her making the effort when he left for Austria, but she didn't. She puts the ball in his court, saying he should've been more patient, tried harder, but that's not at all fair to John. I didn't like that the author split the blame between them.
Even after they have their "no secrets" talk, she still doesn't change her ways. He tells her that "keeping secrets, not trusting me to handle mistakes and disappointments like a reasonable man--that's a large part of what spoiled out marriage in the first place." This is something he specifically tells her. Yet, she keeps secrets, worried of what he "might do." Again, she didn't trust him. How has she grown up? Where is the proof? There is none, because she hasn't. She always thinks the worst of John, even four-fifths of the way in, constantly referring to him as "cold, disapproving John" whenever she does something wrong and he reacts. He has a right to his anger, his feelings, yet she starts to roll her eyes, sigh and refer to him condescendingly.
Why is it that John has to change for her, but she doesn't change herself at all? It's John who's boring and needs to be more exciting, who needs to be patient and understanding, who has to take the first step in everything, not her. I liked John and would've gladly given him a way better rating if he were paired with someone else. He was a good character and I liked him and felt he deserved far better than the likes of Caroline.
For that alone, I was planning on giving this book a three, but I really didn't like Caroline. At all. I get that she was immature when they got married, but she remained that way even five years later. Near the end, she even said "I’m not a girl of seventeen anymore," but I saw no difference in how she was at seventeen and how she is at twenty-two. She shows this to the reader when she decides to keep secrets from John, even after they vowed "no secrets" to one another. This girl learned nothing! Even at the hunting box when she goads him into sex, then makes him feel like shit afterwards, was her being immature as hell and not at all like someone who's grown up and learned.
I also hated that John got equal blame for their marriage troubles. Sorry, but no. He wasn't at fault in the least, imo. He went to ask for Caroline's hand in good faith, in love. She accepted him to try and make Lawrence jealous. She didn't call it off before they got married, instead going through with the wedding. Then, she ran off after their wedding night, leaving an insulting note for John to read! Then, when he caught up with her, she proceeded to give him a couple different stories behind what she did and why. I didn't blame John one bit for his anger and resentment, nor did I blame him for leaving her behind in England while he went to Austria. However, John is made to take partial blame for their marriage imploding, even though all he did was react to her stupidity! I don't blame him at all for not wanting to hear more of her lies, not wanting to deal with her any longer. He could've left her completely destitute, but he didn't. Instead, he sent her to live in his estate, giving her more than enough of a stipend to live on.
She says to him at one point that he "should've tried harder to forgive [her]," making him take a part of the blame. Yeah...no. He didn't really owe her anything after she ran off after another man and then told lie upon lie afterwards. It should've been her making the effort when he left for Austria, but she didn't. She puts the ball in his court, saying he should've been more patient, tried harder, but that's not at all fair to John. I didn't like that the author split the blame between them.
Even after they have their "no secrets" talk, she still doesn't change her ways. He tells her that "keeping secrets, not trusting me to handle mistakes and disappointments like a reasonable man--that's a large part of what spoiled out marriage in the first place." This is something he specifically tells her. Yet, she keeps secrets, worried of what he "might do." Again, she didn't trust him. How has she grown up? Where is the proof? There is none, because she hasn't. She always thinks the worst of John, even four-fifths of the way in, constantly referring to him as "cold, disapproving John" whenever she does something wrong and he reacts. He has a right to his anger, his feelings, yet she starts to roll her eyes, sigh and refer to him condescendingly.
Why is it that John has to change for her, but she doesn't change herself at all? It's John who's boring and needs to be more exciting, who needs to be patient and understanding, who has to take the first step in everything, not her. I liked John and would've gladly given him a way better rating if he were paired with someone else. He was a good character and I liked him and felt he deserved far better than the likes of Caroline.
June 9, 2016
This is my second book by Everett. Although I enjoyed this one, the interactions between the H and h were quite exhausting. I can get behind misunderstanding and deliberate miscommunication to a point, but it was a little too much for me here. I appreciated that Caro wasn't your typical HR heroine, what with her confusion about lies and acting how people expected her to act, but the way her deceptions compounded was a bit painful to read about (which may have been the intention, as keeping up lie after lie is painful). And although I've only read two of her books, I think like the way Everett writes her heros.
I like how sweet this got at the end and that the two finally learned to communicate. Although I didn't enjoy this as much as Ruined by Rumor, it was still well-written and entertaining in parts. I'm interested to read more of Everett's work.
2.5 stars
I like how sweet this got at the end and that the two finally learned to communicate. Although I didn't enjoy this as much as Ruined by Rumor, it was still well-written and entertaining in parts. I'm interested to read more of Everett's work.
2.5 stars
April 12, 2017
An engaging tale of how one should never start bad habits such as lying. Caroline was a naive and flirty young lady when she got married, she only accepted in rebound, unknowing to her beau, because the one she thought she loved rejected her proposal and this caused years of separation which could have otherwise be avoided. This story is filled with tender loving and yes harsh cutting insults and even some risque moments, but true love prevails. I especially liked the gentle loving hero John, though he was gentle and considerate he was a man filled with deep principles and morality and deep desires as all men do.
January 11, 2020
I like Alyssa Everett's books on principle. They are literate, thoughtful, and entertaining. So I'm not sure why TMA uncharacteristically failed to engage me. There were certainly things about it I appreciated: it's a relief to come across a non-standard plot, with H & h estranged for apparently deal-breaking reasons. And Everett's ability to write fluently is still very much in evidence. This wasn't a book I regretted reading - more that it didn't, for me, meet the standards of its predecessors.
I think some of this was down to the slow reveal of exactly what happened on John & Caroline's wedding night. We get the barebones first, then over the course of the book more and more detail is filled in. However, when the whole was made plain, I'm afraid my reaction was "was that all?" Neither H nor h behaves intelligently, and from that shaky start the rest of the book flows. Caroline is perhaps Everett's version of "a heroine whom no one but [her author] will much like" for a good portion of the book, and she compounds her original silliness with some questionable decisions thereafter. I didn't want to identify with her. John, on the face of it, is a more engaging character, but I grew a little weary of his inability to see how his decision to marry a girl of whom he knew nothing had contributed to the breakdown of his marriage.
This really isn't a bad book, and there were patches towards the end, where the emotional temperature rose above squabbling and back-biting, that reminded me why I like Everett's writing, and why I'll continue to look out her new work. If you haven't read any other books by her, I wouldn't recommed starting here; try the delightful light-hearted A Tryst with Trouble instead.
I think some of this was down to the slow reveal of exactly what happened on John & Caroline's wedding night. We get the barebones first, then over the course of the book more and more detail is filled in. However, when the whole was made plain, I'm afraid my reaction was "was that all?" Neither H nor h behaves intelligently, and from that shaky start the rest of the book flows. Caroline is perhaps Everett's version of "a heroine whom no one but [her author] will much like" for a good portion of the book, and she compounds her original silliness with some questionable decisions thereafter. I didn't want to identify with her. John, on the face of it, is a more engaging character, but I grew a little weary of his inability to see how his decision to marry a girl of whom he knew nothing had contributed to the breakdown of his marriage.
This really isn't a bad book, and there were patches towards the end, where the emotional temperature rose above squabbling and back-biting, that reminded me why I like Everett's writing, and why I'll continue to look out her new work. If you haven't read any other books by her, I wouldn't recommed starting here; try the delightful light-hearted A Tryst with Trouble instead.
June 26, 2016
3.75 stars
I received an eARC of this book from Carina Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a difficult book to get my head around. Overall, I enjoyed it and stayed up way too late one night to finish it which is usually a good sign. There were just nagging things that kept popping up in my head while I was reading it that I couldn't ignore. But, I guess that is also a sign of a well-written story that has me thinking about it long after completion.
The Marriage Act starts off with John, Viscount Welford asking Miss Caroline Fleetwood, the daughter of an esteemed bishop, to marry him. John has fallen in love with her and is desperate to marry her in time to travel off to Vienna where he has been assigned in a diplomacy post. Things unravel after the wedding night when Caro runs off to meet up with the man she is really in love with and is brought back by her heartbroken husband. They live separate lives for the next five years, but are brought back together when Caro's father's health comes into question and she asks John to act like a loving husband in order to keep their marriage troubles a secret.
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely adored John! He is so desperate for affection yet feels like he will never find it. His heart was broken by Caro's betrayal and he reacted in anger as one could understand. So, when Caro asks him to help her out, he can't say no to her and decides to just make the best of the situation. What I really liked about his character was the growth that he achieved through this journey. He learned how his actions are perceived by others and that he can often appear judgmental without meaning to.
Caro is a character who also had an emotional journey to take. While I ended up liking her more by the end, she made it difficult for most of the book. Her youthful folly was pretty egregious and she did take the "punishment" for it. But, I had issues with her constant flip-flopping when it came to John and their marriage. She claims to have grown up yet, every time John tried to explain his feelings, she pushed them aside. I also did not appreciate her constant lying to John, her father, etc. which she finally admitted to at the last possible moment.
I do have to admit some admiration for the author for this story. It is obvious that she intended for both John and Caro to have some major personality flaws that they needed to learn to overcome. I also thought she did a good job of showcasing their character growth. I guess I just wish that Caro's redemption hadn't come so late in the game especially since it was a source of frustration for me throughout the story.
The plot of this book could be divided into two parts. The first section deals with Caro's reveal to John of her plan and their trip to her uncle's home (where her father is staying). As with most road trips, there are plenty of hazards to deal with...physical and emotional. The later half of the book has the couple arriving to visit Caro's father and pretending to be a happy couple. I found myself liking the second part much more since that is when the characters made the most progress and learned to think of other people's feelings. Though I could have done without Caro's annoying cousin, Sophia, who provided an interesting insight for Caro to see how foolish youthful declarations could be yet just spent most of her page time irritating the tar out of me.
After thinking about it, I can say that I would recommend Alyssa Everett's The Marriage Act due to the wonderful writing and the refreshing tone. I do still have reservations regarding Caro's character, but it is possible that other readers may not see the same issues that I do. I did find the story (as a whole) entertaining and will keep checking out more of Ms. Everett's books.
I received an eARC of this book from Carina Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a difficult book to get my head around. Overall, I enjoyed it and stayed up way too late one night to finish it which is usually a good sign. There were just nagging things that kept popping up in my head while I was reading it that I couldn't ignore. But, I guess that is also a sign of a well-written story that has me thinking about it long after completion.
The Marriage Act starts off with John, Viscount Welford asking Miss Caroline Fleetwood, the daughter of an esteemed bishop, to marry him. John has fallen in love with her and is desperate to marry her in time to travel off to Vienna where he has been assigned in a diplomacy post. Things unravel after the wedding night when Caro runs off to meet up with the man she is really in love with and is brought back by her heartbroken husband. They live separate lives for the next five years, but are brought back together when Caro's father's health comes into question and she asks John to act like a loving husband in order to keep their marriage troubles a secret.
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely adored John! He is so desperate for affection yet feels like he will never find it. His heart was broken by Caro's betrayal and he reacted in anger as one could understand. So, when Caro asks him to help her out, he can't say no to her and decides to just make the best of the situation. What I really liked about his character was the growth that he achieved through this journey. He learned how his actions are perceived by others and that he can often appear judgmental without meaning to.
Caro is a character who also had an emotional journey to take. While I ended up liking her more by the end, she made it difficult for most of the book. Her youthful folly was pretty egregious and she did take the "punishment" for it. But, I had issues with her constant flip-flopping when it came to John and their marriage. She claims to have grown up yet, every time John tried to explain his feelings, she pushed them aside. I also did not appreciate her constant lying to John, her father, etc. which she finally admitted to at the last possible moment.
I do have to admit some admiration for the author for this story. It is obvious that she intended for both John and Caro to have some major personality flaws that they needed to learn to overcome. I also thought she did a good job of showcasing their character growth. I guess I just wish that Caro's redemption hadn't come so late in the game especially since it was a source of frustration for me throughout the story.
The plot of this book could be divided into two parts. The first section deals with Caro's reveal to John of her plan and their trip to her uncle's home (where her father is staying). As with most road trips, there are plenty of hazards to deal with...physical and emotional. The later half of the book has the couple arriving to visit Caro's father and pretending to be a happy couple. I found myself liking the second part much more since that is when the characters made the most progress and learned to think of other people's feelings. Though I could have done without Caro's annoying cousin, Sophia, who provided an interesting insight for Caro to see how foolish youthful declarations could be yet just spent most of her page time irritating the tar out of me.
After thinking about it, I can say that I would recommend Alyssa Everett's The Marriage Act due to the wonderful writing and the refreshing tone. I do still have reservations regarding Caro's character, but it is possible that other readers may not see the same issues that I do. I did find the story (as a whole) entertaining and will keep checking out more of Ms. Everett's books.
July 21, 2015
Wed in haste, repent at leisure. That's been the theme of John Welford's life for the past five years. He'd only been nursing a tendre for the gorgeous daughter of his mentor, Bishop Fleetwood, for a few short weeks, but when he was abruptly appointed to a diplomatic post in Vienna, he couldn't stomach the idea of losing the girl to another. So he proposed, and the seventeen-year-old accepted. But when she fled his bed on their wedding night, attempting to run off with another man, John brought her back to his ancestral home, leaving her there to rusticate when he took up his diplomatic post.
Now, Welford is back in London, and his estranged wife comes to his rooms, begging him to travel with her to her uncle's home, where her father has taken alarmingly ill. It seems that Caroline has never admitted to her father how wrong her marriage has turned out; she's been pretending all this time that she's been in Vienna, too. Since he admires the bishop, John agrees to accompany her, and pretend that he and Caro are happily wed.
As the two travel together for several days, we see that their estrangement is not due to a simple misunderstanding, but real differences in personality and beliefs. Yet their differences may be just why they are actually quite suited to one another, something that they gradually begin to understand as they come to know one another as individuals, rather than as terrifying older husband and scheming immature wife. A real character-based story, with interesting things to say about duty to family, the value of storytelling/lying, and the need to get to know another before passing judgment. My favorite Everett novel to date.
Now, Welford is back in London, and his estranged wife comes to his rooms, begging him to travel with her to her uncle's home, where her father has taken alarmingly ill. It seems that Caroline has never admitted to her father how wrong her marriage has turned out; she's been pretending all this time that she's been in Vienna, too. Since he admires the bishop, John agrees to accompany her, and pretend that he and Caro are happily wed.
As the two travel together for several days, we see that their estrangement is not due to a simple misunderstanding, but real differences in personality and beliefs. Yet their differences may be just why they are actually quite suited to one another, something that they gradually begin to understand as they come to know one another as individuals, rather than as terrifying older husband and scheming immature wife. A real character-based story, with interesting things to say about duty to family, the value of storytelling/lying, and the need to get to know another before passing judgment. My favorite Everett novel to date.
August 14, 2017
This was a solid book. Everett's writing is consistently strong. She sets up an unusual premise, an historically estranged couple for genuinely plausible reasons and then brings them back together for a road trip followed by a charade that they are, in fact, happy. There's the potential for a fair amount of tumult, but it's all handled with skill and control.
I really liked Caro. She was a self-possessed heroine, who recognised her youthful folly and the problems it had caused and she takes responsibility for the mess. All the same, she doesn't let John push her around and she calls him out on his priggish unwillingness to forgive her. On which note: John. Bit of an ass. I understand that he was hurt by what happened to his marriage, but good grief, he was an asshole for a prolonged period of time about it. I think that could have been handled with a bit more subtly.
That said, Caro and John's romance is nice and well-developed. It didn't rock my world or anything, but it was solid.
My major criticism is that the conflict just lasts a bit too long. Caro thinks she'll never get John to forgive her and John thinks Caro isn't worth forgiving. The resolution could have been better, and the last big act of drama with Caro's ridiculous stereotype of a cousin, Sophie, felt very artificial.
This is not a five star book, and for some it's probably not a four star book, but I thought it was so consistent, well-written and entertaining so that's the rating I have opted for.
I really liked Caro. She was a self-possessed heroine, who recognised her youthful folly and the problems it had caused and she takes responsibility for the mess. All the same, she doesn't let John push her around and she calls him out on his priggish unwillingness to forgive her. On which note: John. Bit of an ass. I understand that he was hurt by what happened to his marriage, but good grief, he was an asshole for a prolonged period of time about it. I think that could have been handled with a bit more subtly.
That said, Caro and John's romance is nice and well-developed. It didn't rock my world or anything, but it was solid.
My major criticism is that the conflict just lasts a bit too long. Caro thinks she'll never get John to forgive her and John thinks Caro isn't worth forgiving. The resolution could have been better, and the last big act of drama with Caro's ridiculous stereotype of a cousin, Sophie, felt very artificial.
This is not a five star book, and for some it's probably not a four star book, but I thought it was so consistent, well-written and entertaining so that's the rating I have opted for.
July 28, 2015
Another winner from Alyssa Everett! If you enjoy beautifully written, nuanced, and original plots with fully-developed characters, you cannot go wrong with an Alyssa Everett title. This one involves an unhappily married couple pretending to be happy for her dying father's sake. It reminded me of a slogan used in AA: "fake it 'till you make it."
Heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for an advanced review copy.
Heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for an advanced review copy.
December 13, 2017
I enjoy estranged-marriage romances. And I also like to read rational conversations between H and h, with them trying to work things out by speaking, not just by having sex. So it's perverse of me not to like this book more. However, in spite of all the H-h conversation, sometimes they still were not really communicating and that ultimately became frustrating to me. Add to this the fact that the plot moved slowly and that the H and h weren't the most appealing and interesting people I've ever encountered in an HR.
I don't want to spoil anything by telling much plot, but suffice it to say that the very young and immature h does something rather unforgivable and extremely stupid on their wedding night. The H, understandably upset, leaves her at his estate and takes off for 5 years on a diplomatic mission abroad. The h, daughter of a bigwig church bishop, doesn't want daddy to know about the marital problem and sends letters to her father pretending she's living abroad with the H.
When H finally arrives back in England, still understandably upset with the h (really, what she did was rather horrible), he doesn't want anything to do with her. But the h had just received news that her father is dying and wants to visit the father with the H and have them pretend that their marriage is all hunky-dory. He agrees and off they go.
Since it is a romance an HEA is expected, so the pretend will have to turn into real. That's the main story. Working out their problems: His distrust and hurt at her betrayal and her resentment of his coldness and disregard (but really, what on earth did she expect?) There will be side issues with a silly cousin of the h and a troubled half-brother of the H, but the author skillfully works this into the main issue of the H-h relationship and how they see each other.
This has some excellent moments when the couple are trying to work through their problems but also some very exasperating moments when they, after taking a step or two forward, manage to take a step or two back again. Pretending, lying, little white lies, and misinterpretation of behavior become a very important relationship issue and theme of the story.
One of the best things to be found here, besides the competent writing, is the chapter headers, which are quotes on marriage and love from Samuel Johnson.
I don't want to spoil anything by telling much plot, but suffice it to say that the very young and immature h does something rather unforgivable and extremely stupid on their wedding night. The H, understandably upset, leaves her at his estate and takes off for 5 years on a diplomatic mission abroad. The h, daughter of a bigwig church bishop, doesn't want daddy to know about the marital problem and sends letters to her father pretending she's living abroad with the H.
When H finally arrives back in England, still understandably upset with the h (really, what she did was rather horrible), he doesn't want anything to do with her. But the h had just received news that her father is dying and wants to visit the father with the H and have them pretend that their marriage is all hunky-dory. He agrees and off they go.
Since it is a romance an HEA is expected, so the pretend will have to turn into real. That's the main story. Working out their problems: His distrust and hurt at her betrayal and her resentment of his coldness and disregard (but really, what on earth did she expect?) There will be side issues with a silly cousin of the h and a troubled half-brother of the H, but the author skillfully works this into the main issue of the H-h relationship and how they see each other.
This has some excellent moments when the couple are trying to work through their problems but also some very exasperating moments when they, after taking a step or two forward, manage to take a step or two back again. Pretending, lying, little white lies, and misinterpretation of behavior become a very important relationship issue and theme of the story.
One of the best things to be found here, besides the competent writing, is the chapter headers, which are quotes on marriage and love from Samuel Johnson.
September 13, 2015
3.5 stars
November 10, 2017
I very rarely leave very negative reviews, but the way consent/appropriate behavior was handled in this book made me so fucking uncomfortable, I feel to not comment would be even more inappropriate.
The story's premise was pretty catnip-y for me (I am a forgiving sort, I like the assholes), whereas 17-year-old Caro runs away from John, her older, very serious new husband on their wedding night because she is infatuated with the much more dashing officer her just broke her heart (& didn't even have the decency to get jealous when she accepted another man's proposal right after). A few years older & theoretically wiser, the couple reunites since Caro's father is dying & she can't bear to break his heart with the visual proof that that his daughter's marriage is a failure (she's been fibbing to him in letters about her marital bliss). John, reluctantly, agrees to help and begins to see his young wife in a new light...
Catnip, yes?
YEP WAIT NOPE NOT AFTER CERTAIN DETAILS CAME TO LIGHT. The best part of this trope is when both side's realize their mistakes & work to rectify - in this case, John's mistakes were...abhorrant and I needed a helluva a lot more grovel from him. After much discourse & debate, it's revealed Caro's wedding night fiasco was spurred because John plied her with alcohol until she was too drunk to a) consent to have sex with him and then b) rightly panic & try to leave to be with someone she thought she had feelings for. Do I care that John didn't realize how drunk she was? Not really. Fucker still fucked up & should have felt like the miserable fucking twerp he was after that because his moral high ground was a ditch.
This was not helped by John interpreting Caro's invitation to share a bed while they were RAIN-DRENCHED IN A FREEZING CABIN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE as an invitation to SEXY-TIMES and then getting indignant/implying she had a "bad girl/good girl" complex when she denied him the vajayjay.
Should I have DNFed there? Probably.
But I held out hope for redemption.
Let me spoil you. There is none. John has the moral high ground by the end because Caro is a lying, manipulative little hussy who was asking for the sexing & John maybe should have been more understanding, but gosh darn it, how could he resist Caro & her prettiness, and that is pretty much it.
And now I need to go wash my eyes because I am still steaming mad about this, 24 hours later.
The story's premise was pretty catnip-y for me (I am a forgiving sort, I like the assholes), whereas 17-year-old Caro runs away from John, her older, very serious new husband on their wedding night because she is infatuated with the much more dashing officer her just broke her heart (& didn't even have the decency to get jealous when she accepted another man's proposal right after). A few years older & theoretically wiser, the couple reunites since Caro's father is dying & she can't bear to break his heart with the visual proof that that his daughter's marriage is a failure (she's been fibbing to him in letters about her marital bliss). John, reluctantly, agrees to help and begins to see his young wife in a new light...
Catnip, yes?
YEP WAIT NOPE NOT AFTER CERTAIN DETAILS CAME TO LIGHT. The best part of this trope is when both side's realize their mistakes & work to rectify - in this case, John's mistakes were...abhorrant and I needed a helluva a lot more grovel from him. After much discourse & debate, it's revealed Caro's wedding night fiasco was spurred because John plied her with alcohol until she was too drunk to a) consent to have sex with him and then b) rightly panic & try to leave to be with someone she thought she had feelings for. Do I care that John didn't realize how drunk she was? Not really. Fucker still fucked up & should have felt like the miserable fucking twerp he was after that because his moral high ground was a ditch.
This was not helped by John interpreting Caro's invitation to share a bed while they were RAIN-DRENCHED IN A FREEZING CABIN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE as an invitation to SEXY-TIMES and then getting indignant/implying she had a "bad girl/good girl" complex when she denied him the vajayjay.
Should I have DNFed there? Probably.
But I held out hope for redemption.
Let me spoil you. There is none. John has the moral high ground by the end because Caro is a lying, manipulative little hussy who was asking for the sexing & John maybe should have been more understanding, but gosh darn it, how could he resist Caro & her prettiness, and that is pretty much it.
And now I need to go wash my eyes because I am still steaming mad about this, 24 hours later.
June 23, 2018
Scene 1: A 26 year old man falls in love with a 16-17 year old girl after watching her from afar (and only talking to her twice) and since he's one of her father's favorite students he procures an approval to proceed with a wedding after his love interest rashly agrees to wed, even though the nuptials have to be done ASAP since said man is taking a diplomatic post in Vienna.
Scene 2: It's five years later and the young girl, perhaps a little older and wiser, has been banished all this time to the estate in Surrey (after a disastrous wedding night), keeping company with her husband's 19 year old step brother (who has failed his finals at Oxford).
Scene 3: The "diplomatic" husband has returned and is coerced by his "wife" into visiting his ailing father-in-law, all while pretending he's a doting spouse.
This is the premise of The Marriage Act by Alyssa Everett. Since this is a Regency Romance, the ending is a foregone conclusion, although it's the path the author takes which determines the level of reader enjoyment.
I have mixed feeling about this book. Some parts were brilliant, especially any scenes featuring Caroline's father, Reverend Matthew Fleetwood, the Bishop of Essex Other sections, often featuring Caroline and John (Viscount Welford), tended to be repetitive. My advice - the reader only needs to hear the backstory once. In this book, first the characters dwelled on past events, then they discussed them (on more than one occasion). Maybe discussed isn't a strong enough word, perhaps it's more accurate to say that they dissected past behaviors.
For a diplomat, John was kind of dense. He was pig headed, judgmental, and just plain mean on more than one occasion, often incorrectly interpreting Caro's (and half brother Ronnie's) reactions. While he also blamed himself for the situation, this didn't stop him from berating Caroline on far too many occasions. For a gentleman, it bordered on emotional battering. Caroline reacted like an abused wife, afraid to confide in her husband for fear of verbal retribution or a cold shoulder. Her main fault (after her youthful indiscretion of running away on her wedding night) was in trying to maintain an image of perfection to her father through elaborate machinations so she would not disappoint him. Wisdom won out over foolishness - but there were two hundred + pages of nonsense to wade through prior to the final resolution.
So my main complaint is the leading characters weren't very likable. However the surrounding characters bolstered the story and made it more readable. The villain, Sophia, went a little too much over the top in her actions, but she was a necessary evil to advance the plot. In the end, it was easy to transfer our dislike of the protagonists onto her when everything ended happily despite her ministrations.
To wrap up, my advice is to have the basic premise of the book a little more believable (five years is a little too long to carry a grudge), create protagonists who are likable, show don't tell, don't belabor the same point in thoughts, words, and deeds, and give your readers some credit that they can figure things out without you explicitly explaining all in repetitive detail. FYI - I like to guess what is going to happen next or figure out various motivations with just a few clues from the author along the way prior to the big reveal at the climax of the story. I'm sure others agree.
Still, this novel was not without it's charm and I'm glad I spent some time "getting to know" Caro and John. Perhaps there's a future story for the impetuous, self-centered cousin Sophia and the lovable but childish half brother Ronnie. I definitely want to hear more from Bishop Fleetwood and his twin brother Geoffrey. Three stars.
A thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Gotta Read:
ellenk59.wordpress.com
Scene 2: It's five years later and the young girl, perhaps a little older and wiser, has been banished all this time to the estate in Surrey (after a disastrous wedding night), keeping company with her husband's 19 year old step brother (who has failed his finals at Oxford).
Scene 3: The "diplomatic" husband has returned and is coerced by his "wife" into visiting his ailing father-in-law, all while pretending he's a doting spouse.
This is the premise of The Marriage Act by Alyssa Everett. Since this is a Regency Romance, the ending is a foregone conclusion, although it's the path the author takes which determines the level of reader enjoyment.
I have mixed feeling about this book. Some parts were brilliant, especially any scenes featuring Caroline's father, Reverend Matthew Fleetwood, the Bishop of Essex Other sections, often featuring Caroline and John (Viscount Welford), tended to be repetitive. My advice - the reader only needs to hear the backstory once. In this book, first the characters dwelled on past events, then they discussed them (on more than one occasion). Maybe discussed isn't a strong enough word, perhaps it's more accurate to say that they dissected past behaviors.
For a diplomat, John was kind of dense. He was pig headed, judgmental, and just plain mean on more than one occasion, often incorrectly interpreting Caro's (and half brother Ronnie's) reactions. While he also blamed himself for the situation, this didn't stop him from berating Caroline on far too many occasions. For a gentleman, it bordered on emotional battering. Caroline reacted like an abused wife, afraid to confide in her husband for fear of verbal retribution or a cold shoulder. Her main fault (after her youthful indiscretion of running away on her wedding night) was in trying to maintain an image of perfection to her father through elaborate machinations so she would not disappoint him. Wisdom won out over foolishness - but there were two hundred + pages of nonsense to wade through prior to the final resolution.
So my main complaint is the leading characters weren't very likable. However the surrounding characters bolstered the story and made it more readable. The villain, Sophia, went a little too much over the top in her actions, but she was a necessary evil to advance the plot. In the end, it was easy to transfer our dislike of the protagonists onto her when everything ended happily despite her ministrations.
To wrap up, my advice is to have the basic premise of the book a little more believable (five years is a little too long to carry a grudge), create protagonists who are likable, show don't tell, don't belabor the same point in thoughts, words, and deeds, and give your readers some credit that they can figure things out without you explicitly explaining all in repetitive detail. FYI - I like to guess what is going to happen next or figure out various motivations with just a few clues from the author along the way prior to the big reveal at the climax of the story. I'm sure others agree.
Still, this novel was not without it's charm and I'm glad I spent some time "getting to know" Caro and John. Perhaps there's a future story for the impetuous, self-centered cousin Sophia and the lovable but childish half brother Ronnie. I definitely want to hear more from Bishop Fleetwood and his twin brother Geoffrey. Three stars.
A thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Gotta Read:
ellenk59.wordpress.com
July 31, 2015
I have been a fan of Alyssa Everett since her first book. I like the fact that she writes books that have an unusual twist. The Marriage Act has that and more.
There is a marriage that ended almost before it began. Caroline Fleetwood and John, Viscount Welford, have been apart for 5 years. Now they have to pretend to be happy. Both Caroline and John are very well developed characters. As the story progresses we see why each reacted as they have and how those reactions have shaped how they have arrived at the 5 year separation. Thinks have to change and there are some very good secondary characters that play a part in that change.
The story line does follow a familiar pattern for a romance but the small twists and turns kept my attention and added to my enjoyment of the story. I had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. Pick this one up for a enjoyable read during this very hot summer.
There is a marriage that ended almost before it began. Caroline Fleetwood and John, Viscount Welford, have been apart for 5 years. Now they have to pretend to be happy. Both Caroline and John are very well developed characters. As the story progresses we see why each reacted as they have and how those reactions have shaped how they have arrived at the 5 year separation. Thinks have to change and there are some very good secondary characters that play a part in that change.
The story line does follow a familiar pattern for a romance but the small twists and turns kept my attention and added to my enjoyment of the story. I had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. Pick this one up for a enjoyable read during this very hot summer.
May 12, 2016
I've Discovered a New Author
This was an excellent Regency by an author who is new to me. The plot was different and interesting. It's not often that the hero and heroine long time married when the story begins and if they are the story is told in flashback . They were and it wasn't and that's one of the reasons I enjoyed it. While this plot carried "the big lie" to extremes, it worked.
I've found a new autobuy.
This was an excellent Regency by an author who is new to me. The plot was different and interesting. It's not often that the hero and heroine long time married when the story begins and if they are the story is told in flashback . They were and it wasn't and that's one of the reasons I enjoyed it. While this plot carried "the big lie" to extremes, it worked.
I've found a new autobuy.
July 23, 2015
This is a really great romance that can also be a challenging read. Challenging because the hero and heroine come with a really charged past, looming over them from the first pages of the story. Some readers may not want to give John and Caroline a chance. That's too bad because this is a really interesting romance that also shows characters growing up, growing wiser and growing together.
Marry in haste is what John and Caroline did, years before the story takes up. She's a teenager, beautiful and cloistered. He's a young diplomat, poised to go off on his first appointment. Her father consents to his suit, Caroline consents as well but, oh, she really wanted someone else. Running away on her wedding night to be with another man causes an enormous breach that separates them for years: she in seclusion in England, he at work abroad.
The story picks up all those years later when Caroline and John have to work together. Of course, they are destined for true love but the road isn't smooth because he believes she's innately unfaithful and she believes that he's impossibly rule-bound and unforgiving. So there's a lot of hurt, a lot of mistrust and a lot of problems to resolve before these two can find their happily ever after. Add in other worries: her ailing father, his young and misbehaving brother, and it's a lot of difficulties.
This is not a lighthearted, simple and easy romance. It's more nuanced but still a great read. The connections between John and Caroline appear genuine and build slowly over time as they work at finding each other after years apart. If you're seeking a genuine and heartfelt romance with young but maturing leads, The Marriage Act is a perfect choice.
ARC provided via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Marry in haste is what John and Caroline did, years before the story takes up. She's a teenager, beautiful and cloistered. He's a young diplomat, poised to go off on his first appointment. Her father consents to his suit, Caroline consents as well but, oh, she really wanted someone else. Running away on her wedding night to be with another man causes an enormous breach that separates them for years: she in seclusion in England, he at work abroad.
The story picks up all those years later when Caroline and John have to work together. Of course, they are destined for true love but the road isn't smooth because he believes she's innately unfaithful and she believes that he's impossibly rule-bound and unforgiving. So there's a lot of hurt, a lot of mistrust and a lot of problems to resolve before these two can find their happily ever after. Add in other worries: her ailing father, his young and misbehaving brother, and it's a lot of difficulties.
This is not a lighthearted, simple and easy romance. It's more nuanced but still a great read. The connections between John and Caroline appear genuine and build slowly over time as they work at finding each other after years apart. If you're seeking a genuine and heartfelt romance with young but maturing leads, The Marriage Act is a perfect choice.
ARC provided via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
July 7, 2015
*I got this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
On Netgalley the book was listed under the title “The Marriage Act Galley” which isn’t the correct title. It should simply be “The Marriage Act” by Alyssa Everett.
In the beginning I wasn’t sure if I will like the book but I really liked it in the end. The first pages are about John, Viscount Welford, and how he got married to Caroline Fleetwood, the only daughter of the Bishop of Essex. They didn’t know each other well and got married quickly. But he left without her for Vienna to be a diplomat because of what happened in their wedding night.
Now five years later he is back and she is still where he had left her, at his family’s house on the countryside with his half-brother. She’s 25 now and wiser but she hasn’t forgotten what she did. Her family thinks her in Vienna, happily married. Nobody knows that she stayed behind, was left behind.
She got a letter from her uncle telling her that her father isn’t doing well. So she asks John for help to see him for a last time but they have to play the married couple.
Of course, there have to be troubles. And they are adorable. It isn’t overdone like in so many other books and you really have to like John, Caro and John’s brother. Slowly, piece by piece the story from 5 years ago is told and slowly you understand why John did what he did and everything about Caro.
It’s an easy read and exactly what I needed after a horrible year at work. Smooth character development, sympatric characters and easy but sexy story – you’ve to like it.
The only small minus is the beginning. It just didn’t work for me. It was too blunt, to 0815 for a really good book.
Rating: 4****
On Netgalley the book was listed under the title “The Marriage Act Galley” which isn’t the correct title. It should simply be “The Marriage Act” by Alyssa Everett.
In the beginning I wasn’t sure if I will like the book but I really liked it in the end. The first pages are about John, Viscount Welford, and how he got married to Caroline Fleetwood, the only daughter of the Bishop of Essex. They didn’t know each other well and got married quickly. But he left without her for Vienna to be a diplomat because of what happened in their wedding night.
Now five years later he is back and she is still where he had left her, at his family’s house on the countryside with his half-brother. She’s 25 now and wiser but she hasn’t forgotten what she did. Her family thinks her in Vienna, happily married. Nobody knows that she stayed behind, was left behind.
She got a letter from her uncle telling her that her father isn’t doing well. So she asks John for help to see him for a last time but they have to play the married couple.
Of course, there have to be troubles. And they are adorable. It isn’t overdone like in so many other books and you really have to like John, Caro and John’s brother. Slowly, piece by piece the story from 5 years ago is told and slowly you understand why John did what he did and everything about Caro.
It’s an easy read and exactly what I needed after a horrible year at work. Smooth character development, sympatric characters and easy but sexy story – you’ve to like it.
The only small minus is the beginning. It just didn’t work for me. It was too blunt, to 0815 for a really good book.
Rating: 4****
May 23, 2015
The best thing about this book is definitely the plot, finally no blushing virgin and no rogue to be redeemed, eventually! Caro and John definitely start on the wrong foot in their marriage, and we find them almost five years later, when for reasons beyond their will they are forced to pretend to have a great marriage. Their interactions I usually liked, but sometimes I found them a bit repetitive, mostly because she was a pathological liar and he did not know what to think. All in all a good book.
La cosa migliore di questo libro é sicuramente la trama, finalmente nessuna timida vergine e nessuno scapolo redento, era ora! Caro e John partono decisamente con il piede sbagliato nel loro matrimonio e li ritroviamo praticamente 5 anni dopo, quando per cause di forza maggiore sono costretti a fare finta di avere un ottimo matrimonio. Le loro interazioni mi sono piaciute, ma a volte le ho trovate un pochino ripetitive, sia perché lei era patologicamente bugiarda, sia perché lui non sapeva più cosa pensare. Tutto sommato un buon libro.
THANKS TO ALYSSA EVERETT FOR THE ARC!
La cosa migliore di questo libro é sicuramente la trama, finalmente nessuna timida vergine e nessuno scapolo redento, era ora! Caro e John partono decisamente con il piede sbagliato nel loro matrimonio e li ritroviamo praticamente 5 anni dopo, quando per cause di forza maggiore sono costretti a fare finta di avere un ottimo matrimonio. Le loro interazioni mi sono piaciute, ma a volte le ho trovate un pochino ripetitive, sia perché lei era patologicamente bugiarda, sia perché lui non sapeva più cosa pensare. Tutto sommato un buon libro.
THANKS TO ALYSSA EVERETT FOR THE ARC!
March 20, 2024
A compelling marriage-in-crisis and second chance romance, with really strong writing, well-drawn, multi-dimensional characters, and cracking chemistry between the two leads. The plotting and pace kept me turning the pages. In the course of pretending-a-happy-marriage to genuinely-happily-married, they believably transition from bringing out the worst in each other to bringing out the best. The hot sexual chemistry between Caroline and John was a welcome surprise. Caroline is fairly inexperienced but she’s not at all missish about sex and is an enthusiastic partner. John is my favourite type of hero: a buttoned-up gentleman who can’t help but lose his starchy control with the heroine. When John lets loose in the bedroom, it’s as though he never been aware of this side of himself, and I loved that this fervent (kinda dirty) passion is unlocked when he realizes it’s what Caro needs from him. I also believed that Caro is the only woman who can elicit this response from John, and likewise only John can see and fulfill the desires she harbours beneath her surface. The sex is expression of their larger relationship dynamic and compatibility.
There’s so much miscommunication, resentment and wounded pride between these two, I wasn’t sure how they’d come together in a believable way, but Alyssa Everett mostly pulled it off. The rhythm of two steps forward, one step back was skillfully handled and well-controlled. Their reconciliation begins with a mutual desire to see if they can make the marriage work, and comes about through honest communication, a willingness to set aside their previous opinions and listening with open minds. These two work for a truly fulfilling marriage. The brief flashbacks to the events surrounding their terrible separation were skillfully woven into the narrative.
I might be in the minority, but I felt that Caroline was made to shoulder too much of the blame for the rupture in the marriage—she was freaking seventeen years old when they married! She was selfish and naive, but she was SEVENTEEN. There’s much emphasis placed on her dishonesty but John was so intractable, I felt more of the onus was on him for freezing out his (very young) wife.
Throughout the book John maintains a lingering mistrust of Caroline, even after he receives the full picture of her story, and that doubt leads to a frustrating third act rupture. Yes, Caro’s lies come home to roost, but in this particular instance it’s a mistake born of fear and manufactured poor timing. The author casts John as the wronged party in the scenario; the author also wants to center this conflict around Caro’s lack of trust in John, but his outsized reaction and refusal to give her the benefit of the doubt made me think John hadn’t changed at all—so maybe her fear of John’s recriminations was justified? Instead, Caro is entirely at fault and John’s reaction is entirely justified. This stumble at the end prevented me from giving a higher rating. Aside from this, I believed in this couple and in their second-chance marriage.
There’s so much miscommunication, resentment and wounded pride between these two, I wasn’t sure how they’d come together in a believable way, but Alyssa Everett mostly pulled it off. The rhythm of two steps forward, one step back was skillfully handled and well-controlled. Their reconciliation begins with a mutual desire to see if they can make the marriage work, and comes about through honest communication, a willingness to set aside their previous opinions and listening with open minds. These two work for a truly fulfilling marriage. The brief flashbacks to the events surrounding their terrible separation were skillfully woven into the narrative.
I might be in the minority, but I felt that Caroline was made to shoulder too much of the blame for the rupture in the marriage—she was freaking seventeen years old when they married! She was selfish and naive, but she was SEVENTEEN. There’s much emphasis placed on her dishonesty but John was so intractable, I felt more of the onus was on him for freezing out his (very young) wife.
Throughout the book John maintains a lingering mistrust of Caroline, even after he receives the full picture of her story, and that doubt leads to a frustrating third act rupture. Yes, Caro’s lies come home to roost, but in this particular instance it’s a mistake born of fear and manufactured poor timing. The author casts John as the wronged party in the scenario; the author also wants to center this conflict around Caro’s lack of trust in John, but his outsized reaction and refusal to give her the benefit of the doubt made me think John hadn’t changed at all—so maybe her fear of John’s recriminations was justified? Instead, Caro is entirely at fault and John’s reaction is entirely justified. This stumble at the end prevented me from giving a higher rating. Aside from this, I believed in this couple and in their second-chance marriage.
November 6, 2023
Yikes??? 1/3 in it was enjoyable, but the rest remained repetitive in thoughts & actions til the end. Why? Why, oh, why? Why so boring?
Ok, the main characters were dull, in my opinion. Their relationship was lukewarm, no passion. I guess that’s a given, hence the huge misunderstanding between them but why does it seem like there was no progress in their relationship even towards happily ever after? Everything remained as passionless as it was since the beginning. Also, a lot of dialogues here, it literally makes the plot, but why? They weren’t very fun to read! Just straight up boring family talks, like one visiting a long lost relation or something & trying to be polite to pass time…there was no excitement or real action. All that yapping ran like page fillers, although they weren’t. I presumed the family tête-à-tête were supposed to benefit MCs, to get them to know each other better, but honestly in reality reading it made a tedious pastime. When she played the piano & he sung, that was a bit cringey. Her family clapped & clapped, eagerly giving great praises but isn’t that to be expected? Sounded superficial, a typical reaction. No?
Basically this plot follows one main formula, MCs either banter or make polite talks to pass time, sometimes the talking is done between them or in a group discussion, then they moved on to bed, making sure they keep to their own side as they certainly do through the night. And don’t forget to wake up & repeat. So much fun! ;)
Ok, the main characters were dull, in my opinion. Their relationship was lukewarm, no passion. I guess that’s a given, hence the huge misunderstanding between them but why does it seem like there was no progress in their relationship even towards happily ever after? Everything remained as passionless as it was since the beginning. Also, a lot of dialogues here, it literally makes the plot, but why? They weren’t very fun to read! Just straight up boring family talks, like one visiting a long lost relation or something & trying to be polite to pass time…there was no excitement or real action. All that yapping ran like page fillers, although they weren’t. I presumed the family tête-à-tête were supposed to benefit MCs, to get them to know each other better, but honestly in reality reading it made a tedious pastime. When she played the piano & he sung, that was a bit cringey. Her family clapped & clapped, eagerly giving great praises but isn’t that to be expected? Sounded superficial, a typical reaction. No?
Basically this plot follows one main formula, MCs either banter or make polite talks to pass time, sometimes the talking is done between them or in a group discussion, then they moved on to bed, making sure they keep to their own side as they certainly do through the night. And don’t forget to wake up & repeat. So much fun! ;)
May 24, 2023
2.5 stars
I wanted to give it 3 but i couldn't get past the h's immaturity ,selfishness and the way she expected the H to help her as if he owned her any gratitude and i didn't get why did she feel she had any reasons to be resentful against the H.
Agreed they both made mistakes but i feel the h is the one who is in wrong, she lied to him, was rude and insulting and never in five years did she try to apologise or even own her mistakes.
I really liked the hero who was i should say slightly more uptight but then was amazing, intelligent, responsible and had empathy in spite of his bad childhood, his mess of a marriage,who was celibate even when he would have been justified in taking up someone(this is a VALID point as we have seen majority of our alpha heroes completely opposite).
I just wanted a big love declaration kind of thing of our H here but meh he is happy so....
Alyssa Everett writes great H but i feel her Hero's get raw deals most of the time.
I wanted to give it 3 but i couldn't get past the h's immaturity ,selfishness and the way she expected the H to help her as if he owned her any gratitude and i didn't get why did she feel she had any reasons to be resentful against the H.
Agreed they both made mistakes but i feel the h is the one who is in wrong, she lied to him, was rude and insulting and never in five years did she try to apologise or even own her mistakes.
I really liked the hero who was i should say slightly more uptight but then was amazing, intelligent, responsible and had empathy in spite of his bad childhood, his mess of a marriage,who was celibate even when he would have been justified in taking up someone(this is a VALID point as we have seen majority of our alpha heroes completely opposite).
I just wanted a big love declaration kind of thing of our H here but meh he is happy so....
Alyssa Everett writes great H but i feel her Hero's get raw deals most of the time.
July 5, 2023
4 stars. Maybe 3.5? Loved the first half, but my interest kinda flagged in the last half, especially the last couple chapters.
I appreciated the realism of their miscommunication/misunderstandings and the way they both had to confront the ways their behavior hurt the other. Good “relationship conflict isn’t black and white” complexity.
Love a starchy character who’s been in love the whole time.
I wish the reconciliation took longer than one week, especially since they had such a slight acquaintance before their marriage.
I appreciated the realism of their miscommunication/misunderstandings and the way they both had to confront the ways their behavior hurt the other. Good “relationship conflict isn’t black and white” complexity.
Love a starchy character who’s been in love the whole time.
I wish the reconciliation took longer than one week, especially since they had such a slight acquaintance before their marriage.
February 23, 2025
Would be a total 5 if not for the heroine - she was definitely more at fault and she should have grovelled way harder. But still a 4.5 stars cause this 2nd chance romance was done WELL. The banter was on point, the anger was justified and you could visibly see their efforts to change from contempt to understanding. The author did not shy away from imperfect characters, and the background characters were actually interesting, both of which I must applaud her massively for. Spice was amazing, the coaxing scene is seared into my head.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2018
I liked this much more than I thought I would. A nice, quiet romance. The characterizations, even of minor characters, are really strong, and while there's a little too much "oh, I've changed my mind about having a useful conversation with my spouse" over and over and over again - but I really enjoyed reading this and thought the resolution and many little interpersonal moments were great.
October 24, 2020
Everett writes heroes that are tightly wound nerds (though handsome), and they really are delicious. For some reasons I expected to be annoyed by the plot here, but found it worked well instead. Sweet story, great characters
March 23, 2023
2.5 ⭐️ generously rounded up. Honestly, these were the two stupidest MCs who basically purposely refused to do anything logical for five years. The spice was okay.
Is there any historical romance out there that doesn’t hinge on flimsy miscommunication?
Is there any historical romance out there that doesn’t hinge on flimsy miscommunication?
May 8, 2020
2.5 stars
It was ok. The characters were sweet, I just couldn’t get invested in them.
It was ok. The characters were sweet, I just couldn’t get invested in them.
December 23, 2021
Le livre est très bien écrit et les situations sont parfois... pittoresques ! Ce qui fait que j'ai ri parfois sans m'y attendre !
February 22, 2022
I enjoyed the originality of the plot but the development was too predictable.
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