A Prudent Match - Laura Matthews

A Marriage of Convenience

Desperate to settle a debt regarding his estate, Baron William Ledbetter marries Prudence Stockworth in a hasty ceremony. The wealth she inherited in the wake of her fiance's death is enough to mend his financial affairs. But even if he didn't need the money, he finds himself entranced by her innocent beauty... Prudence remains brokenhearted over the death of her fiancé, but knows the time has come to marry rather than die a spinster. Although she is aware that Ledbetter has wed her only for her money, his forward advances frighten her pure sensibilities. And it will take all of her courage to trust this man whose passion knows no bounds--and find a
love that is the greatest fortune of all...

I found A Prudent Match a very interesting story, not something extraordinary but a solid story to spend an afternoon with.

Following a quick courtship of just two week Prudence and Baron William Ledbetter are married. He needs the money her dowry brings him and Prudence feels it’s time she marries as she is 22 and had been engaged for a few years to a gentleman who, after dying in India, had left her his fortune.

When the story opens, the marriage is already happening so we don’t really get to know them before that. We do however follow them as they start to know each other. Prudence does seem to have a bit of a temper and, what surprises William even more, she is very shy about her body and in fact pretends to be unwell on her wedding night just to avoid him.

Even if this is a marriage of convenience, William is determined to have a good relationship with his wife and after confronting her about her fears proposes a plan to help her overcome her fears. They will sleep together in the same bed but nothing will happen until she is used to him and decides to do it. I thought this was an interesting plot for traditional regency because there’s usually no sex, or very little of it, and this time sex was spoken of all the time as William tried to convince Prudence that it was a very normal thing and that their bodies reactions were just what they were supposed to be.

There was also a mystery subplot about why William’s late mother had left instructions for a huge organ to be bought for the local church and about who the young organist who looked so much like William was but the main story was about William and Prudence and their relationship.

Apart her fear of the bedchamber Prudence is quite a sensible woman and in fact she seems to be able to do everything from organizing a house party, delivering a baby and solving the mysteries, I previously mentioned. My only complaints with the story was that there didn’t seem to be a particular motive for her fears and it seemed just like a convenient excuse that they had met each other at her come out 4 years ago and been attracted to each other. At least it seemed unlikely to me that four years on William would have felt compelled to look for her and offer marriage.

Grade: 4/5

The Seventh Suitor - Laura Matthews

“I fear we should not suit, sir!” said Kate.

As the fifth young man to offer for her hand that afternoon revealed his purpose and his "prospects," even Kate had to laugh at the absurd prank her brother's friends were playing. But once years ago, she remembered, she had refused such a proposal, and there had been sad consequences. Now all she had to remember that suitor by was a legacy--one, her haughty neighbor Lord Winterton felt, no lady of honor would accept.

“The Seventh Suitor” is one of the very best books I've read this year, and from what I've read by Matthews until now, my definite favorite.
Having said that, let's see how I motivate my statement :) First, the blurb is not very clear, I have read the book and I understand how anyone else could... The book begins with Kate, the heroine, receiving 5 wedding proposals, all in the same afternoon.

But why “the seventh”? Except for these 5 prank suitors, there was a first one, years ago, the brother of the Earl of Winterton, whom Kate has also refused. Nothing extraordinary about that, but the trouble was that Carl, this first suitor, did not take well the refusal and threatened to blackmail Kate into accepting him, or else she would be blamed for his joining the army and putting his life in danger. Of course the worse happened and he died. Noone blamed Kate, but Carl also left her with an inheritance (that he begged to be accepted as a sign of forgiveness for his bad behavior).
So, the presumptive seventh suitor, the Earl of Winterton, Carl's brother, who was never aware of the reason why Kate accepted the inheritance, has always been very annoyed with Kate for being so hypocrite as to accept the inheritance after refusing the marriage proposal. And these are the markings for the *best enemies* relation they develop.

I won't get into detail about how the plot develops, there have to remain a few surprises to discover :) But I have to mention a few wonderful scenes, like the one where the hero is left unclothed in his mistress's house, and the one to discover and help him is Kate. Or the lovely scene at the hero's house, in the hero's bedroom, with the hero having ... measles :) Also, there is also a nice secondary romance.

As for the characters, imagine a Kate who is a lovely mixture between Elizabeth Bennett and Emma Woodhouse (she does try to manage everyone's lives), and the hero Lord Winterton, the classical dour faced hero, with a very correct behavior and occasional glimpses of tenderness. Plus he is made fun of in a very grand way from time to time.

Grade: 5/5

The Nomad Harp - Laura Matthews

Glenna Forbes played the harp exquisitely. Which was the major reason Philip Hobart had asked her to marry him. And reassuring her aging father was Glenna's real reason for accepting. Everything changed when the naval captain became a viscount--who expected a different kind of wife than independent Miss Forbes.

This is my second read by Matthews, I had always heard of her sensible characters and when I read the first I was caught by surprise, Lord Clayborne’s Fancy is full of angst and emotional turmoil and the characters are often not very sensible. I do like angst so I was disappointed.

I approached The Nomad Harp with considerable expectation, what kind of story would this be? Well it was a very interesting one!

Glenna Forbes knew her independence would be threatened by a husband, when a naval captain asked her to marry him it seemed the answer to her problems, she could marry, and reassure her father that she would be taken care of after he died, but her husband would spend much of his time at sea and she could still organise her life as she wanted to. Unfortunately Phillip Hobart unexpectedly becomes a viscount and while he feels any woman would be happy to be socially elevated Glenna surprises him by being disappointed in the fact that he now has to give up is life at sea. At Glenna’s insistence they break the betrothal.

While Phillip goes on to devote himself to the managing of his estates Glenna is left caring for her ailing father and after his death she finds herself in a difficult situation. Knowing that Phillip decides to help her and invites her to stay at one of his estates and help him manage it. He has his hands full with the bigger property and she would be doing him a favour he tells her.

I rather liked Phillip, he was not a very conventional man, and he was used to action and was more direct and forward than your usual regency hero. He offers Glenna the position and is very surprised that she actually helps him and finds good solutions to raise money and do renovations on the property. Glenna I had more problems with, she impulsively breaks their betrothal which seemed a bit out of character when she was such a level headed and sensible woman. While they are apart Phillip becomes betrothed to another woman and Glenna renews her acquaintance with an old suitor. They all come together in the country and it’s soon obvious that the young woman that Phillip is betrothed to is highly unsuitable for him and that he and Glenna would be well matched. Social rules don’t allow him to go back on his word though and all seems lost except...

The Nomad Harp gets the name from Glenna’s harp that she carries with her when she moves and in this book they move a lot. It was an interesting change from the London and Bath settings and it gives an interesting glimpse of estate management, what jobs were offered to women and how honour and the given word bound a gentleman. My only complaint is that I wanted a bit more angst; they all seemed so proper and sensible that not only they didn’t show their feelings to the world but they also didn’t show them to the reader.

Grade: 4/5