A Bride by Morning by Katrina KendrickRating: ✩✩✩✩✩
A Bride by Morning was my first read from Katrina Kendrick and while it was a solid classic historical romance, it wasn't a super strong book in total. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, fiction relies on suspension of disbelief and I am 100% here for it, but I do have a few quibbles with the novel.
I really liked:
- The espionage subplot- Romance plus mystery/thriller is a super fun combination.
- The smart protagonist- Lydia is unapologetically, and without fanfare, smarter than Gabriel and her ability to keep up instead of being a damsel in distress was a subtle twist that I appreciated despite the overall lack of character depth
- Marriage of Convenience is a trope I adore and when combined with a Second Chance at Love, you bet I am going enjoy that!
I didn't really like:
- The trope that a damaged man will be saved by the emotional and physical labor of the right woman while doing no work for personal growth himself is not my bag
- The cast of supporting characters felt flat- This may be because I am not familiar with the larger world of the series, but the friends and family did not add much for me
- I didn't really feel the chemistry, possibly because Lydia and Gabriel has no personalities beyond "tragically changed boy swanning about being tragic" and "bookworm who cancelled her entire life for a boy." This also made the spice feel kind of bland and the attempts at mild kink didn't really hit because it was all just a foil for Tragic Boy to be tragic.
This one was a genre classic with an enjoyable subplot that despite it not being 100% my jam would still be a super fun summer read.
Published on 03 August 2023 by Aria and Ares
Book #57 of 2023
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