The Bad Luck Bride by Janna MacGregor

A debut regency romance novel about revenge and a curse by Janna MacGregor.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Regency Romance

Pages: 368 pages

Published May 2nd 2017 by St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Synopsis:

IS MARRIAGE A BLESSING OR A CURSE?
A man of honor, Alexander Hallworth, Marquess of Pembrooke, will not rest until he exacts revenge on the man who destroyed his family. Just one more piece must fall into place for him to succeed he needs to convince his enemy s fiancee, the tragically beautiful Lady Claire Cavensham, to marry him instead.

Lady Claire s curse has always left her one misstep away from social ruin her past three engagements have gone awry, and now her fourth is headed in the same direction. . .until Alex, a man she barely even knows, shocks the ton and Claire by announcing their engagement. What begins as a sham turns into something deeper, and more passionate, than either Claire or Alex could have imagined. But when their secrets are revealed, will the truth behind their union scandalize them both or is their love strong enough to break the curse and lead them toward their happily ever after?

My Thoughts

The Bad Luck Bride was a fairly decent debut novel by Janna MacGregor.

You have a jilted man of honor who is furious with a man he thought his friend and you have the target, the individual who he will use to get back at said friend. The premise to begin with left me scratching my head because I felt disconnected from the beginning. Alexander Hallworth, Marquess of Pembrooke, is on a mission to destroy the man he once thought was his friend because of a horrendous and cold act, because he’s out to destroy him he focuses his attention on the fiancee of said removed friend, Lady Claire Cavensham and seeks to woo her. She has endured many engagements and surely one more failed engagement will ruin her!

Ahhh, this book as a whole did not succeed in grabbing my attention or even ensnaring my affections for any of the characters right off the bat. While the book was well written [or enough so,] the characters just didn’t appeal to me, I didn’t find myself liking any of them immediately. There were some quick developments in the early chapters that also didn’t sit well with me, too fast – too soon – and without reason that left me blinking. All of these feelings were carried through the book in various situations.

However! I am extremely picky when it comes to Regency Romances, I will be the first one to admit that and it takes just the right formula in just the right way to ensnare my attention as well as my affections. So, I think by and large this is mostly a ‘me’ thing because the premise is interesting enough, the characters are [in general,] likable enough and it was a lovely enough book, too.

I think if you’re like me, and you take your Regency Romance seriously, and you demand a certain formula then you’d have the same views as me [maybe!] Generally speaking, it’s a nice read!