Much ado!

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The Wayward Bride (Besotted Scots #1) by Anna Bradley          

I rather felt like I was plucking daisies and reciting "he loves me he loves me not", from all sides of the gender spectrum. There was certainly plenty of confusion, a tidy sum of mayhem particularly if the dog Brute was involved, and a lot of not quite answered questions.
A plethora of persons betrothed, all to the wrong people, and that's where things became a tad confusing.
We have Isla Ramsey who was in love with Hugh Courtney, the Marquess Pierce who let her down. Isla's now betrothed to Henry Northrup, the sixth Earl of Sydney to avoid a scandal. Sydney, who's not in love with Isla, who (in modern terms) is gay and a wonderful character in love with no one thus far. Pierce whose actually. it seems, in love with Isla (against his better judgement) but engaged to Julianna for some very good reasons. We have Lucas who rescues Sydney after a bad carriage accident, and that's where things take a decidedly skewed note. In terms of romance, I found Sydney and Lucas's to be the most real.  (Anna Bradley's comment about characters taking on a life of their own in a recent edition of Romantic Intentions was fascinating.)
So sorting out all these relationships takes up a great deal of the novel before all are rewarded with their HEA.

 A NetGalley ARC

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