REVIEW: At the Bride Hunt Ball by Olivia Parker

My first book by Olivia Parker. I read this because several bloggers had recommended it, and when an author whose books I love also recommended it, I knew I had to pick it up. I bought the ebook version from Fictionwise.

Summary:

The Bride Hunt ball is for the Duke of Wolverest's younger brother to find a bride. Madelyn Haywood is the only one who doesn't want to be included in this scandalous bride-to-be elimination ball, but the duke finds himself very interested in her.

Comments:

I love historicals. I don't know why I'm addicted to them, but I just love them and I've read a lot. A few stand out in my mind and others are forgettable. This one is somewhere in between.

I like the author's voice, which is light and fun. The heroine is refreshing and her actions are true to her words. I don't remember any laugh out loud moments, but my impression of the book was good, overall.

However, there were a few typos, but this is a minor point. I don't know if this is because I read an ebook version rather than the print one, but in my opinion, this shouldn't be the case. I mean, if a publisher would put out an ebook version, it should have the same quality as the print one.

There were also some parts in the story wherein I didn't understand what was happening, when the action wasn't fully described or explained. Like, after dinner, the duke suddenly left his guests and walked out of the music room. This came after he and the heroine spent a lovely time together. There also arrived a "rival" who had asked for the heroine's hand the Season before. One would've thought the duke would want to stay in the music room to keep an eye on this rival. But no, he left, all the while ruminating about how he didn't want to leave. Huh?

There was another scene toward the end, when the duke declared his love to her and offered marriage. But she wouldn't accept because he wanted to change her to fit Society's convention of a duchess. Then, miraculously, this wasn't a problem at all. During the night of the ball, we saw the duke thinking as to why he had said those words in the first place, when he hadn't meant them at all. I mean, hello! If he didn't mean them, why did he say them in the first place? To test her? And he should've told her right there and then, tell her he was joking or what, instead of acting all offended and waiting a few nights later until the ball before he thought to tell her.

These are just some things that marred my enjoyment of the book.

Book Rating: 3 stars