The Bridemaker

I LOVED The Bridemaker! I actually read this book first of the four and it was this book that had me searching for the others of this “Maker” series.

We are introduced to “The Bridemaker” - Hester Poitevant (don’t like the name!) who earns her living by tutoring awkward young ladies of the ton to be sophisticated prize catches for the season’s marriage mart. She has quite a history of finding just the right clothes, just the right advice, just the right tutoring to make ugly ducklings into swans! She hides herself in plain sight as a widow, downplaying her beauty, hoping no one remembers her past.

When her latest charge, Dulcie, sets her sights on Adrian Hawke - the disreputable American merchant, Hester is forced to interact show more with Adrian to try to dissuade him from courting Dulcie. We actually met Adrian Hawke in The Matchmaker. He was the illegitimate son of the Neville Hawke’s deceased older brother. At the end of The Troublemaker he goes to live with Marshall and Sarah in America.

Although Hester is successful at dissuading Adrian from pursuing Dulcie, he sets his sights on un-peeling the layers that make up the facade of Hester. What results is a wonderfully endearing love story. It has all the glam and glitter of Regency England, that I love, and a swashbuckling hero that sets my heart to pounding. A must read! show less

If you enjoyed Rexanne's other Regency-set book (see above), you'll love these, too. They're not your average family series. The heroines of the first and second books are half-sisters. The hero of the third book is the illegitimate nephew of the hero of the first book. And the upcoming fourth book features the two half-sisters' half-brother. It's less complicated than it sounds, and oh, are these books delicious!

From BackCover:
THE BRIDEMAKER'S RULES:
1) TEACH YOUNG LADIES HOW TO ATTRACT THE BEST POSSIBLE HUSBAND 2) DRESS CONSERVATIVELY, SO YOU WILL NEVER OUTSHINE YOUR STUDENT
3) NEVER, EVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR STAR PUPIL'S BEAU...

She's called "the Bridemaker," but Hester Poitevant prefers to think of herself as the gentle facilitator of marital unions. Hester's popular Mayfair Academy has helped teach many the awkward society miss how to find her way to the altar with the eligible bachelor of her choice. But while her students flirt and mingle, Hester poses as a prim widow--rather than reveal herself as the never-been-married beauty she truly is...

He made his fortune in America. Now the dashing, scandalously sired Adrian Hawke is in show more London, determined to fight off the season's most wily debutantes. Adrian isn't fooled by Hester's thin disguise--for she possesses the soft, womanly curves no somber gown can hide. The question is, why does she dress like a schoolmarm when she could easily make a better match than any of her students? Adrian vows to reveal Hester's most precious secrets. But what he discovers is a woman with a past more complicated than he could ever imagine--and whose beauty is not just skin-deep... show less