The Wedding Challenge (Matchmakers)

*shaking head* HOW can I be the only one to spot such rediculous writing? Writing that makes me laugh at the most innapropriate times! I should not be laughing during sex scenes!

So, first, as usual, since I am not the first (by far) to review this book, I will save the plot recap.

Second, I will say that I agree with the other reviewer that mentioned that the sex scenes were disjointed and seemed thrown in there for the sake of having them. There was also a LOT of repetition in the descriptions. Almost as if the second scene was written first and then when she went back to add the first scene she just cut and pasted and re-worded it.

Thirdly... well, let me just cull some phrases from the book, shall I?

"And when she remembered the way he had kissed her, her loins were flooded again with heat."

"She found it difficult to think of anything but the soft, swollen tingling of her lips or the heavy achy feel of her breasts...or the insistent throbbing deep within her loins."

"Her own body was a stranger to her - her loins throbbing, and a hot damp ache growing between her legs..."

"It geysered up, shooting throughout her body, turning her skin to flame, and settled in a hot, aching mass deep in her abdomen"

"Callie thought of sleeping in one of Brom's shirts, and her loins prickled with desire."

"His body was pulsatingly aware of her hand upon his arm, now burning where it touched."

"Callie quivered beneath his touch, a soft moan escaping her lips."

"With each movement Callie felt desire curl and knot within her, her loins melting, turning her hot and liquid."

"She could feel the moisture gathering between her legs, the tender flesh throbbing."

"Callie felt as if every part of her was on fire, and the molten center of that flame lay deep in her abdomen, where she pulsed and burned with desperate need."

Maybe I object to the use of the word "loins" so much, as it makes me think of beef. Maybe all the quivering, throbbing and pulsating just makes me picture them doing a jig or being shocked or something. Maybe all the flames and liquifying type descriptions make me think of the Simpson's ("all I wanted was some time with my wife, and now the floor is made of lava"). I don't know. But the scenes are so filled with descriptions like these that I find myself laughing when I should be most interested.

I've read a few of her books. They're not usually this bad. There's always some quivering going on there, but this book was just over the top. Also, Callie was whiny, immature, and threw WAAAaay too many tantrums. Brom wasn't so bad except in his determined belief to not see the obvious (c'mon, I have siblings. No matter how much you love them you would never assume that they were telling the truth when their story didn't make any sense).

The only things that kept this from being 1 star was that there was no force (a la Catherine Coulter), and the secondary characters were pretty decent.

Please, people! Is this really what books have come to? Where are all the good authors? I'd love to find some that don't make me slap my forehead so much that I give myself a bruise.

I must say that this is the first book I have read in the series and by this author. So I came into this not knowing the characters. I felt it started off a bit slow and that I initially did not get to know the characters and their personalities well enough...perhaps they have been introduced previously in this series and other readers familiar with it may know them already. They grew on me though and this was an enjoyable read. I'm not sure there was anything very memorable about it...just a fun, engaging read. I felt the Bromwell and Callie's pain as they struggled to find their way to one another. I also plan to buy Francesca's story and I may read the others in the series as well.

As usual, Candace Camp has given us another great Matchmaker adventure. I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the next book.

I believe that this is the third book in the Matchmakers series by Candace Camp. The Matchmakers series revolves around Lady Francesca, a widow whose husband died leaving her almost nothing. To survive she plays matchmaker and in return people gift her with token of their esteem (jewelery) and she pawns them to pay the bills. And its obvious that she and the Duke of Rochford are meant to be together but... they never have.

Ms. Camp has a talent for writing beautiful historical romances, and this book was a delight. It deals with the Duke of Rochford sister and the earl of Bromwell who hates the Duke, after all its rumored that the Earl's sister was the Duke's mistress at one point. But things are not always as they seem.

A highly enjoyable read, but even more important is that the next book is FINALLY about Lady Francesca and the Duke of Rochford!

I've read some really good books by this author, but I didn't enjoy this one. The story was driven mainly by the heroine's childishness, foolishness and naiveté. Personally I prefer characters that I would want to be like -- smart, sophisticated and sassy! I thought this would have been an appropriate read for a pre-teen if it weren't for the sex scenes, which were a bit jarring and out-of-place, almost as if added after the story was written. Fortunately the villainess got what was coming to her at the end, saving the book from being a total loss. Other Candace Camp books I would recommend instead are A Stolen Heart and No Other Love.