Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat Endearing, but Overall a Clumsy Effort
Review: THEN COMES MARRIAGE is a sequel of sorts to Ridgway's FIRST COMES LOVE.Honor Witherspoon, jet-setting heiress extraordinaire and recent kidnapping survivor, wants to settle into "normal" small town life in Hot Water, California. So apparently Daddy Witherspoon pretty much *buys* the town for her. Whether it's the whole town, or just the historic district (which was troubled financially in the first book) and hero Bram Bennett's company Enigma, is never made clear. Daddy also buys Honor a husband, because, even though she's survived under his benign neglect for years, she's his baby girl and he doesn't want to leave the country with her unprotected - his theory being that even a purchased husband will protect his bride. How he does this is never made clear, one of the biggest beefs I have with this book - just vague threats of financially ruining the town or something. The husband of choice is Bram Bennett, rich technogeek extraordinaire, who simply wants to be left alone - he shut himself off from everyone after the tragic death of this first wife. But there's your setup: Bram's saddled with a bride he doesn't want and knows she won't stick around b/c she's a spoiled little rich girl who will want to go back to Beverly Hills soon anyway. Honor, who apparently doesn't have the backbone to stand up to Daddy's wishes despite being a grown woman determined to get her way in every other arena, also views the marriage as temporary. The whole town, on the other hand, thinks they are in love and gushes about the newlyweds and how Honor will change solitary Bram's life for the better. Even Dylan, the tough-as-nails hero from FIRST COMES LOVE, waxes sappy about the "true love" Bram and Honor share to a nauseating degree.
How these two fall in love is actually kind of believable - kind of. Both Honor and Bram are pretty psychologically scarred, so they're kindred spirits in a sense, and grow closer by supporting each other. It was believable enough to keep me from hurling the book against the wall. Well, that and one really hot love scene involving surveillance equipment. There's also some cute paranormal type elements - apparently *something* about Honor just doesn't jibe well with electronic equipment, and as a consequence, Bram's "Fortress" (which is reminiscent of the automated house in Jayne Ann Krentz's ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY) suffers from her presence, especially Bram's robotic dog, Fifo. Secondary to the plot is the arrival of Daddy's assistant, suave Josh McCool, and his relationship with the full-figured and sweetly shy Mia Caruso, Bram's housekeeper. These two were actually nice to read about, and I wish they had more air time, so to speak. There was a dopey subplot involving Mia's dad claiming he'd been abducted by aliens, but given the slight paranormal elements introduced by Honor earlier, it wasn't that far-fetched. There's other stuff, like the fact that this town actually has a knitting club that is the social hub for all the women and an equally bizarre fellowship for the men, as well as the fact that Honor's kidnapper comes back to haunt her (not literally), but these aren't really worth mentioning. Overall, this book did not impress me. I wasn't annoyed enough to not finish it, but I didn't want the characters to stick around once it was done - in fact, the only thing that is sticking around is the lack of reason for Bram and Honor to let themselves be manipulated into the situation in the first place. If it was set up in FIRST COMES LOVE, I sure don't remember it, and dollars to donuts I'm not the only reader. The marriage of convenience is an oft-used device in the romance genre, and in the hands of an expert, it can be a thoroughly enjoyable story, but given Ridgway's failure to set up a more clear, believable premise, it's clunky and falls flat. This marks the second Ridgway I didn't particularly care for, which means she comes off my auto-buy list. For a better Ridgway experience I recommend WISH YOU WERE HERE. For similar but more enjoyable romantic comedies, check out Rachel Gibson's SEE JANE SCORE or Susan Andersen's GETTING LUCKY.
Rating: 
Summary: Just plain awful!!!
Review: This author's writing style is so awkward and clumsy, both in the manner of writing and in the plot development. Everything about this book was so contrived and unbelievable. Two grown adults are "forced" to marry in the 21st century, based simply on the bride's father's threat to financially destroy a town? A billionaire father ignores his daughter during her entire life, yet cares enough about her safety to buy her a husband? The hero hasn't gotten over his late wife's murder EIGHT YEARS AGO, not because he misses her, but because he will never know what she felt in her final hours before being murdered? The hero and other male romantic sub-character both realize they love the women in their lives after a bright green light shines down on them from the sky? Huh?? Nothing made sense. Also, all of the characters were under-developed. I'm guessing, based on the little that was written, that Honor was supposed to be an impressive business manager, and was planning to manage the town's historic district, but almost nothing was written about how she was doing this. The main characters never talked to each other much over the weeks they were together, but somehow fell in love. In short, this book was an outline, not a fully fleshed book. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Just plain awful!!!
Review: This author's writing style is so awkward and clumsy, both in the manner of writing and in the plot development. Everything about this book was so contrived and unbelievable. Two grown adults are "forced" to marry in the 21st century, based simply on the bride's father's threat to financially destroy a town? A billionaire father ignores his daughter during her entire life, yet cares enough about her safety to buy her a husband? The hero hasn't gotten over his late wife's murder EIGHT YEARS AGO, not because he misses her, but because he will never know what she felt in her final hours before being murdered? The hero and other male romantic sub-character both realize they love the women in their lives after a bright green light shines down on them from the sky? Huh?? Nothing made sense. Also, all of the characters were under-developed. I'm guessing, based on the little that was written, that Honor was supposed to be an impressive business manager, and was planning to manage the town's historic district, but almost nothing was written about how she was doing this. The main characters never talked to each other much over the weeks they were together, but somehow fell in love. In short, this book was an outline, not a fully fleshed book. Don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: A delightful read...
Review: This story follows "1st Comes Love", and it is really cute. We 1st met Bram as the tortured guy who visited his wifes grave daily (still does). Honor, who followed Dylan to Hot Springs in the last book, her father blackmails Bram into marrying her. Bram is a technical genius, who has a very modern household, all which is run from his palm pilot. Honor does not get along with electronics, and proceeds to put everything on the fritz. It starts off pretty typical, but is well written and enjoyable. Bram softens towards Honor, but still has a hard time opening his heart because he is afraid of losing her the way he did his 1st wife. There is a side story with Mia, (Bram's housekeeper) and Josh McCool, (Honor's Fathers assistant, who originally shows up to romance Honor but falls for Mia). I could have cared less about that part and kind of skipped it. It was great seeing Bram grow into a caring person and start opening up, and how they help each other heal, her from her previous kidnapping. If you liked the 1st one definately buy it. This story will stand alone if you don't want to get the 1st one. Fun story that I read in one sitting, but not one of my keepers.
Rating:
Summary: Did Not Realize It Was A Sequel!!
Review: This story follows "1st Comes Love", and it is really cute. We 1st met Bram as the tortured guy who visited his wifes grave daily (still does). Honor, who followed Dylan to Hot Springs in the last book, her father blackmails Bram into marrying her. Bram is a technical genius, who has a very modern household, all which is run from his palm pilot. Honor does not get along with electronics, and proceeds to put everything on the fritz. It starts off pretty typical, but is well written and enjoyable. Bram softens towards Honor, but still has a hard time opening his heart because he is afraid of losing her the way he did his 1st wife. There is a side story with Mia, (Bram's housekeeper) and Josh McCool, (Honor's Fathers assistant, who originally shows up to romance Honor but falls for Mia). I could have cared less about that part and kind of skipped it. It was great seeing Bram grow into a caring person and start opening up, and how they help each other heal, her from her previous kidnapping. If you liked the 1st one definately buy it. This story will stand alone if you don't want to get the 1st one. Fun story that I read in one sitting, but not one of my keepers.
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