The Substitute Bridegroom is another regency romance by Charlotte Louisa Dolan. Since I enjoyed Fallen Angel so much, I thought I'd read another of hers. This one was pretty good but it had some aspects that didn't quite work for me. Overall though, I enjoyed it.
Elisabeth Gainsborough is engaged to be married to the handsomest man on the London marriage market. She's very pretty and has had a very successful season. Unfortunately, she runs out into the road to save a child from a regency era drag race between two carriages. The carriages crash trying to avoid the child and a piece of shrapnel strikes Elisabeth in the face. The injury disfigures her face and now her handsome, vain fiancee can't look her in the eye. She breaks off the engagement prepared to live the life of an old maid, even though all she's ever wanted was to be a wife and mother.
One of the men racing, the one who wound up carrying her into the house after her injury, is Captain Darius, a hard man, wary of women and used the hard ways of soldiering. He's just back from Spain and is awaiting further orders so he can go out and fight Bonie again. Informed by Elisabeth's brother that she is no longer engaged, Darius, out of a sense of duty, offers to marry her. Elisabeth really doesn't want to be an old maid and besides there is something about Captain Darius' bluntness and honesty that sparks her interest. And he, unlike others, doesn't seem to be bothered in the least by her scar.
So they get married and start to get to know each other. While the physical part of the relationship works just fine, it takes them a long time to get to know each other. For one thing, Darius has to leave almost immediately for war and they go very long periods without seeing each other. Elisabeth tries her best but doesn't know how to read him. And on his part, he must fight his own very jaded view of women.
The story dragged a bit here and there and some of the characters were more like caricatures. Some of the strain between Beth and Darius seemed unduly prolonged to almost a silly level, especially towards the very end. But, like I said before, it was a quick and enjoyable read. If you want something light and with a happy ending, this is your book!
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This looks like a possibility for me. I do like Regency novels, as long as they are not horrible. At least this one looks a lot better than the last one *I* read! o.O
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