Brynnde by M. Pepper Langlinais

Brynnde by M. Pepper Langlinais 

Rating: 4/5, good

Summary:

Brynnde Archambault needs to find someone to marry, else she’ll be stuck with dull Mr. Dallweather. The answer to her problem arrives in the form of handsome and witty Viscount Burbridge, but just when everything seems to be going smoothly, scandal strikes and the engagement ends.

Meanwhile, Brynnde has no trouble matchmaking her friends and even her own brother. But while she breezily finds suitors for everyone else, for her time is running out. Must she resign herself to becoming Mrs. Dallweather? Or will Brynnde yet succeed in making a match for herself?

This book was written by someone in our local writing meetup. She sent out some digital copies so we could read it.

I wasn’t expecting to like this book. I read Pride and Prejudice about a year ago and thought it was really boring. I almost never read romance (I haven’t reviewed any other straight romance books on this site, just fantasy and scifi with romance elements).

I honestly really enjoyed this book. I would heartily recommend it to just about anyone because it’s such a sweet and universally appealing story (and not too much mushy stuff, lol). It does what fiction is supposed to do: suck you in and keep you immersed and needing to find out what happens next. This is a great book for if you’re sick or things aren’t going so well and you need a happy distraction.

Even though I didn’t like Pride and Prejudice and I liked this one, Brynnde clearly takes a lot of inspiration from P&P, both in plot and characters.

Brynnde, the main heroine, is a bit like Elizabeth Bennet, she’s feisty, independent, intelligent. She doesn’t see why people make such a fuss over love, she just wants to ride her horses and read her books.

Garrick, the love interest, is a bit like Mr. Darcy. He’s distant and rude at first, but eventually shows that under that rough exterior, he really loves Brynnde.

My favorite character was Violet. She’s a shy bookworm who is very pragmatic and seems so innocent and unassuming, but she has a devious side (like Brynnde and I’m assuming like most women of the period who developed a talent for manipulation in lieu of outward power).

There are 4 different marriage plots, various kinds of impropriety, dramatic Victorian illness, and animals (which is always a plus in my book!). It reads very smoothly. It takes like 2-3 chapters of introductory place-finding, but then it takes off and it just *goes*.

Mild spoilers:

The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of was the way things get out of Brynnde’s control at the end. The whole rest of the book she’s calling all the shots, but at the end it was less “Brynnde saves the day” than “things happen and the day is saved”. Still, I do have to admit that her actions influenced the end quite a bit, just not maybe as much as I (or Brynnde) would have liked.

However, I think the author was trying to make a point that Brynnde is a character that takes too much control and doesn’t know how to step back or look after herself first. She sets everyone else up for happiness while neglecting her own, which I think will be relatable for a lot of women.

If you like historical fiction, or if you just want to dip your toes into the romance genre by reading a book that’s more focused on romance and social intrigue than sex, this is a good pick.

(It’s been described as “fun”, but in this case that’s not a euphemism for stupid. At no point did I feel like this book was insulting my intelligence, unlike some others I could name *cough* Magic 2.0 *cough* Want *cough* Red Rising *cough*. It’s almost like romance is an unfairly maligned genre or something… hm.)