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BOOK REVIEW: 'The Husband Trap' by Tracy Anne Warren
Wednesday, February 01, 2012 | Posted by
Laura
Title: The Husband Trap (The Trap Trilogy #1)
Author: Tracy Anne Warren
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: March 2006
Format: Ebook, 384 Pages
Genre: Historical Romance
Reviewed by Laura
Here comes the substitute bride... Violet Brantford has always longed for the passionate embrace of Adrian Winter, the wealthy Duke of Raeburn. Problem is, he’s set to marry Violet’s vivacious, more socially polished look-alike twin sister, Jeannette. But when Jeannette refuses to go through with the ceremony mere minutes before it is to begin, soft-spoken Violet finds herself walking down the aisle and taking vows in her sister’s place.
Soon shy Violet is a high-society wife, trying to keep her real identity a secret while living out the fantasies of her wildest dreams.
Adrian thinks he knows exactly what he’s gotten himself into: Jeannette may be flighty and, well, a bit self-involved, but she’s the picture-perfect wife to carry on the Winter name.
Yet this marriage of convenience brings the groom more than he bargained for when he finds his sweet, innocent wife surprising him at every turn. And though he never planned on true love, Adrian is definitely in danger of losing his heart.
REVIEW:
Twin identity swapping stories always seem to make me think of Disney's 'The Parent Trap' (the original is so much better) or Pascal's Sweet Valley High series which I so loved as a girl. There is of course nothing new about the concept, I find I sometimes like the stories, and other times not so much. 'The Husband Trap' thankfully fell into the first camp.
It begins with a wedding. Adrian, Duke of Raeburn waits for his bride, however it is not the woman he thinks it is walking down the aisle, it's in fact her twin sister Violet. In love with her sister Jeanette's fiancé, when Jeanette refuses to go through with the wedding, to avoid the terrible scandal Violet agrees to marry Adrian in her sister's place. The problem is Jeanette is a society princess and party lover and Violet is a shy, retiring bookworm.
This book is a sweet, easy-reading romance. I immediately endeared to Violet, maybe it was her love of books! But I enjoyed the fact that she was clever and shunned society norms. By contrast Jeanette is a spoiled brat who was guaranteed to set my teeth on edge.
The love story between Violet and Adrian is warm and cosy like a lovely winter duvet. It builds nicely throughout the book, making it believable. You of course get the ultimate revelation and subsequent fall out, but you always knew that was coming and it just adds to the tension and glow of the romance.
Adrian isn't your typical alpha romance hero, in fact he's not that much alpha, more gentlemanly. But still dreamy enough to pull off the title of hero. I also became very fond of Adrian's brother Kit and the secondary plot and friendship that developed between him and Violet. It added a fun undertone to the story.
I did have a bit of an issue with the twins names in the book. Violet's full name was Janette Violet and of course the sister she swapped places with is Jeanette. Now ok, I get that the spelling and pronunciation is slightly different, but essentially they both have the same name. Would anyone really ever do this to their children? This felt like a very obvious and unbelievable plot device to get around the legality of the swapped marriage.
VERDICT:
A really nice, well written regency romance that paces the love story nicely, with characters you love, and characters you love to hate.
RATING: 7/10 - Very good, would definitely recommend
Books in Series Order:
2. The Wife Trap
3. The Wedding Trap
This book counts towards the following BCC Reading Challenges:
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4 comments:
I enjoyed this one, as well. I love the new cover! Mine is the pink one - it's ok but the new one is so much better!!
Great review! I'm looking for romances to read this month and this one sounds like a good one. Thanks for posting!!!
This sounds really cute. While I'm not a huge Regency/Victorian fan, the plot and characters sound quirk enough to catch my attention.
Smiles!
Lori
@Regina I have this as an ebook, so I guess technically it doesn't have a cover, but I think I prefer the pink one though
@Amy thank you :) I hope you enjoy it
@LoriStrongin it is a cute read :)