A fun little novella, which drew me in by the plot device of an arranged marriage with switched brides. I’m always fascinated by the legalities of Regency marriage so I was keen to see how the author would tackle this.
Here’s the premise: Rupert Iverson is a well-established solicitor who arranges a marriage to a demure, biddable wife. What he doesn’t know is that the proposed wife is in love with someone else (an apothecary’s apprentice – good luck with that!) and so her identical twin sister takes her place, and she’s not at all the biddable sort. Hoyden would be a more apt description. For her part, Ruby Galeheart hasn’t thought much about the marriage beyond saving her sister, so it’s a surprise to discover that her husband is rather an agreeable sort, who doesn’t seem to mind when she creates all sorts of chaos.
Now, this is a wonderful premise for a book, and of course the reader is on tenterhooks wondering what will happen when Rupert realises that he’s been duped. And then there’s the even more intriguing question – is the marriage even legal? Happily, the author doesn’t attempt to whitewash over the consequences, and since Rupert is a solicitor who knows the law, he has no hesitation over the legality or otherwise of the situation, and what needs to be done about it.
The book is too short to have much depth beyond the basic plot, but even so, the characters are not mere cardboard cutouts, and the story is an engaging and amusing read. I have one or two historical quibbles, namely, Rupert would be an attorney at this date, not a solicitor (which was a much more specific and unusual sort of lawyer), and there would only be one wedding ring at the ceremony, not two (husbands didn’t wear wedding rings until well into the twentieth century). None of that mattered much, though. This is a fun little read, short but sweet. Four stars.
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