Description

This episode our Snarky Sisters take a trip down memory lane (again). . .revisiting one of the first Georgette Heyer books they ever read - The Convenient Marriage. The book was published in 1934 so we are reading a historical fiction book by an author who lived in a historical time period, which is a first for our snarky sisters. 

This book follows a very young heroine (seventeen) who offers to take her sister's place as the bride for the Earl of Rule (who apparently is only looking for a wife with a good nose?). If it is all the same to him and he can put up with all her physical faults, she asks, can he take her instead? The hero is charmed by her and quickly agrees. 

Our hero is older and wiser (at least thirty-five) and the difference in their ages is glaringly obvious as the book progresses. The new bride is immature and resorts to high school tricks to get her husband's attention. The husband, in his maturity, strives to treat his wife will all due respect and is a little too lazy in how he courts her - to the detriment of his bank account. 

A LOT of shenanigans ensue throughout this book and the biggest disappointment is that the hero/heroine have very few interactions/scenes together. 

Some interesting observations from our Snarky Sisters:

• Why is the heroine's nickname Horry? That is just . . .horrible. But Horatia is a hard name to find a nickname for. . .but it feels like almost anything would have been better than the one chosen. 
• Why does the hero agree to the marriage in the first place? It isn't ever fully explained what he gains from the union. This is a family of gamblers and the intended bride comes to the union destitute. And he ends up with a wife that gives him nothing be grief and strife. 
• Why is Pelham and other side characters (and there were a lot of them) such a large focus of this book? It seems like the author spends a lot of time describing scenes between everyone BUT our hero and heroine. Also, it feels like our hero was barely in the book at all. Which was a shame since he was the best character of them all. 
• This book read more like an Oscar Wilde play, a lot of witty dialogue and satire. But it didn't read a like a romance novel since the hero and heroine barely shared any scenes together. Their love was believable by the end but we felt cheated like we missed out on the story that should have shown it evolve. 

Overall this book was fun to read and definitely worth a reading. However, it ended up having very little actual romance. But a fun romp for a rainy day! Full disclosure. . .Amy is going to mess up most of the characters' names at some point. Good thing Beth is there to correct her when needed.