Wedding Books

19 Stars: 5 each for Layton, Metzger and Kelly; 2 each for Lane and Kerstan. However, if you are fans of the first three, buy the book and ignore or skim the other two offerings.

Layton, Metzger and Kelly are auto-buys for me but, please, Signet, spare us from Alison Lane's efforts in these eagerly awaited anthologies. It was forgettable - I could not be bothered to finish this tepid and ill-written story of a girl fleeing a wicked guardian into the arms of a rake without much cash. It's part of a series but I won't be tempted to read any of the other stories. It's intended to be an "action" type of story with evid-doers chasing the heroine but it's just too shallow and written in such stilted prose that, well, I just didn't care at all.

Lynn Kerstan can, and has done, better. Her story is about a penniless ward who is given the opportunity to choose between three sons of a Duke. The three brothers are OK but Julia is immature, silly, acts like a spolit child (which she is) and the story drags on and on until the final resolution. Why, please does the author let the heroine refer to a clergyman (not a nice one we gather) as "Pawson Ribble"? Does she have a speech defect? What's wrong with Parson Ribble? The only thing of any interest (and it stretched credulity) was the heir to the dukedom has asthma and his middle brother applies 21st century techniques to get it under control. Oh botheration, nothing more to be said here.

Layton's offering was cleverly written and it had a definite theme: love across class divisions and it was written with grace and humour. It was not her best effort but her characters include a cast of characters from an aristocratic family and one of the city type abhored by the ton. It's a farcical type of tale of two people trying to prevent the marriage of their siblings and, in due course, they fall in love seeing for themselves that love can transcend many obstacles.

Metzger, as always, writes with a light hand and spins a fairy tale about good versus evil by having the devil and St Peter fight for the soul of a Marquis who has been a bad boy back in London and now lies near death on a Spanish battlefield. As always, her prose is light, sparkling and funny and her characters act out a cleverly plotted tale on their way to a happy and romantic conclusion.

Kelly, always an admired favourite has a very unusual offering. Her story of a widowed American sea captain who falls in love with a prickly and unhappy Englishwoman was well written as always with this author and it was charming to read a story of a 40 year old widower falling in love despite himself with a 32 year old spinster. A background of the press gangs and President Jefferson's imminent Embargo Act of 1807 gave the story a very interesting setting.

Buy the book if you like Signet anthologies as much as I do and enjoy the three best stories. Maybe some readers will enjoy Lane and Kerstan but I'm certain everyone will enjoy Layton, Metzger and Kelly!

Book Description: Workaholic attorney Richard Anderson's life was turned upside down when he became guardian to his orphaned nephew. He tried his best, but it was up to Molly Soderling, the boy's beautiful nurse, to make this a very special Christmas, In Richard's mansion Molly could pretend to have the family Christmas she'd always craved. She already loved the boy, but his broodingly handsome uncle was downright dangerous! Molly resisted temptation--till she made one mistake: she got caught under mistletoe....

Very likeable story. From all indications I expected Richard to be cold and somewhat cruel with Molly being the kind, patient, saving angel. It was suprising to find how wrong first impressions and assumptions can be; who worked through horrible issues while growing up and came out suprisingly well adjusted; and who still had demons to face and work through.

Molly Soderling can't help feeling for the little boy in the hospital where she works. Like herself, years before, he was orphaned at a young age. Unlike her, he does have family and won't have to go into the foster care system, but his uncle, sexy Richard Anderson, is cool and arrogant and his grandmother seems distant as well. She doesn't know exactly how to respond when Richard suggests that she take a month off from her job--at an outrageous pay increase--and help little Toby adjust. Then again, Richard isn't the kind who takes no for an answer and before she knows it, Molly is living in Richard's mansion--and feeling as if she is part of a family for the first time since she was a child.

Giving that up, returning to her real-life job as a nurse in Florida, is going to be the most difficult thing she's ever done. As sexy Richard thaws, becoming more approachable, she feels the loss even more strongly.

Since the death of his father, Richard Anderson has buried himself in his law firm and in taking care of his mother. Having a little boy around--the orphaned son of his estranged sister--opens up feelings he's thought he'd buried forever. But while the little boy changes his life, that at least makes sense. What doesn't make sense is the way he feels about the pretty nurse. When mistletoe gets hung around his house, it only makes sense that he put it to use. What he doesn't realize is that kissing can quickly turn into an addiction he'll want to stick with a long time after the mistletoe season is over.

In author Judy Christenberry's HER CHRISTMAS WEDDING WISH, Molly and Toby combine to warm the heart of the beastly Richard and transform him into a new person. For both of them, the reward is the family they each so badly need. For Richard, the reward is even larger--both a family and the return of the humanity that his father had long ago forced him to shed--and that he had found it so difficult to recover.

With a host of matchmaking servants and Richard's matchmaking mother, Richard never really stands a chance.

This well-organized book is inexpensive, easy to read, practical and direct. There are few anecdotes throughout the book, just solid guidelines for courteous behavior at work, in restaurants, when traveling, and in various everyday situations. Well worth the investment!

This book is lovely (it reminds me of something the publishers of "Victoria" magazine would print) and would make a nice keepsake for after your wedding. It's akin to a baby book, but for your wedding. However, it is not an effective wedding planning book, so look elsewhere if you need a good planner.

"Two Become One" is a helpful wedding planner, though it did not fully meet my expectations. I was expecting helpful tips on how to incorporate faith and Christ into my ceremony, but I did not find any. As a wedding planner, it met my expectations, but as a "Christian" wedding planner, I was hoping for more than just verses from the Bible. This is the first wedding planner I have read, so I'm not sure how it compares to others. I did think the blank spaces for pictures and memories of the wedding were unique, and I plan on using this as I continue to plan my wedding.

I acquired this book involuntarily some time ago and decided to look through it tonight. It is completely and utterly useless. It pretends to give advice on giving toasts both generally and in a number of specific occasions. Suffice to say that the advice is shallow and not very useful and that the specific toasts given for a variety of special occasions are mostly mildly ridiculous.

I think that anyone would be better off writing their own toast off the top of their head.