The Word On Romance
THE
WEDDING AFFAIR...Karen L. King
Zebra Books
Legend says there is a curse attached to the elegantly tooled Spanish dueling
pistols with handles of inlaid pearl. According to the curse, when the
pistols are used in a duel "the winner shall gain a jolly good wife; the
loser shall be leg-shackled to a horrid bride."
Major Anthony Sheridan doesn't give a fig for any curse, he simply wants to
discover who murdered Captain Jonathon Lungren. Believing the murder to be
the result of collecting a gambling debt, Tony challenges William Bedford, the
man who now holds title to Lungren's estate. The shot goes wide, and Tony
is left with not one but three unsolved murders, with the murderer poised to
strike again.
Felicity Merriwether is stunned to see Anthony Sheridan standing in the
ballroom. When he abandoned her to fight against Napoleon, Felicity was
forced to marry an older man to hide her pregnancy from the ton. Now her
husband is dead and Tony is back, evidently uncaring that young Charles is his
son, and intending to pick up exactly where they left off. In spite of
being attracted to Tony, Felicity has no intentions of taking up with Tony
again, nor of giving up her hard-won control of her life and fortunes.
Only Felicity and Tony don't count on that venerable legend, and he did
win the duel.
Karen L. King picks up the thread where she left off in her debut novel, THE
WEDDING DUEL (Zebra, Aug 2002). Readers are treated to visits with Keene
and Sophie Davies, the villainous Lord Algany, and Victor, Earl of Wedmont.
Ms. King's subtle writing style capitalizes on the dry regency wit, by injecting
humorous moments into serious scenes almost without the reader being aware until
it has passed, and you realize you've giggled. Ms. King also includes a
stellar cast of secondary characters, including Felicity's son, Charles, her
niece, Diana, Tony's pals Randleton and Beford, and the three, slightly dotty,
Lungren sisters who keep the story moving along at a jolly pace.
A thoroughly enjoyable Regency period romance, Karen L. King does not rely upon
ton entertainments or pages and pages of clothing descriptions or of regency
accouterments. Instead she offers a solid, well-paced, and engaging read
with beloved characters, and a not half-bad mystery incorporated within the
pages of THE WEDDING AFFAIR. It's a keeper. "July 2003.,
301pp., $5.99,. ISBN: 0-8217-7414-X."
Judith Rippelmeyer