book review

as part of the previously mentioned Bookishly Attentive Romance Reading challenge

The Accidental Wedding - Anne Gracie

Maddy Woodford has too much on her plate. The granddaughter of a french comtesse, and daughter of English gentry on her father's side, she should not be penniless, living hand to mouth or caring for her 5 orphaned half brothers and sisters. Thanks, however, to her father's debts, she is doing just that. The family estate is entailed for her young brother and run by an elderly neighbor who has designs on making Maddy his wife - with or against her will - which is why she is hiding with the children in the English Countryside in a ramshackle cottage.

Nash Renfrew, younger brother of the Earl of Alverleigh, is a diplomat to the
Russian Empire. Returning home to England to assume possession of Whitethorn Manor, which was left to him by his uncle Jasper, he unwittingly becomes Maddy's landlord. The two would never cross paths had two little boys not have created a slide out of mud beneath a nearby wall. In an attempt to clear the wall in a rain storm, Renfrew's mount slips and he is thrown headlong into the wall and injured. Maddy, seeing the incident, takes him into her small and (and her bed) to nurse his injuries. Waking days later, Renfrew has no memory of his past, of who he is or where he was headed... but definitely remembers he is a man who is drawn to a beautiful woman. Does he regain his memory? Does Maddy stay hidden from the nefarious Mr. Hulme? Does the obvious attraction between Maddy and Nash bubble over into passion?

Anne Gracie tells their story with humor and enough twists and turns for the read to wonder whether Maddy and Nash will ever wind up together -which they... I won't give it away.

My first Anne Gracie novel was fun and frothy and finished too soon. I like her "voice" and the backstory she created for her characters - i will read more!