B+
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Theme: Marriage of Convenience
Archetype: Diverse Protagonists
After the Wedding is the second novel in the Worth Saga, the story of a family trying to survive after disgrace. This book is the story of Camilla, the second oldest sister in a family of five siblings, and Adrian, a biracial man who runs a business and who becomes involved with Camilla in an extremely unexpected way.
The first novel in the Worth Saga, Once Upon a Marquess ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Scribd ), introduced us to the oldest sister, Judith. Judith grew up wealthy. When her father and brother were accused of treason, she devoted herself to keeping the family fed (they lost everything) and together. However, twelve-year old Camilla had an uncle who offered to take her in. She accepted the offer, against Judith’s objections. The two had a terrible fight about it during which Judith said truly horrible things. Camilla left and did not answer any of Judith’s letters. Judith is haunted by the loss of her sister and the knowledge that she had said such awful things to her the last time she saw her.
You will probably be able to enjoy After the Wedding as a standalone, but I recommend reading Once Upon a Marquess first. It gives more details about the fall of the family, more details about Theresa’s personality (Theresa, a younger sister, is a major character in After the Wedding), and it explains Judith’s decisions and desperation.
After the Wedding is Camilla’s story. After being sent from one household to another, Camilla (now an adult) winds up at Rector Miles’ house, where she meets Adrian. Adrian is there because he is spying on Bishop Lassiter on behalf of Bishop Denmore. Denmore is Adrian’s uncle, and Denmore is always promising to acknowledge Adrian and his brother “someday.” Demore tells Adrian that if Adrian will do this one thing for him (expose wrongdoing by Lassiter) then Denmore will finally publicly acknowledge Adrian.
So, Adrian shows up at the Rector’s house (Lassiter is visiting the Rector) and he and Camilla flirt, and then they are locked into a room together and subsequently Adrian is forced to marry Camilla at gunpoint.
That escalated quickly, didn’t it?
Adrian and Camilla find themselves in the awkward situation of trying to get an annulment even though they like each other and, as the story progresses, they fall in love. They have to gather evidence that the marriage was forced upon them and they also have to gather evidence that Lassiter was embezzling and that Lassiter forced them into marriage to discredit them. On top of that, Adrian has to keep up with his actual job, which is running a family business (Harvil Industries, designer and creator of fine china).
As the story progresses, there is much emotional angst, by which I mean at times I actually lost my breath with sadness – I would read a phrase and all the air would whoosh out and I’d need some time to recover. Camilla has terrible abandonment issues. Adrian, who lost two brothers in the Civil War, has survivor’s guilt. Additionally, despite having an abundance of loving family members, he can’t let go of his need for his slimy, narcissistic, racist, classist, scumbucket of an uncle to publicly accept him, which, Sweetie…just…no. As they say in Orphan Black, don’t cry over him, Sweetie. He ain’t worth the salt.
I had remembered that Milan tends to hit me in the feels, but somehow I forgot how funny she can be. Adrian and Camilla are both snark masters, but it’s the supporting characters who really bring it. Allow me to present Mrs. Beasley, telegraph operator and gossip connoisseur, and Mrs. Martin, who has no use for men, and who points out that, “If you have to put the word ‘technically’ in front of ‘the truth,’ you are not telling the truth.” Further words of wisdom come from Mrs. Singh, who, when Camilla states that complaining does no good, replies, “Then you aren’t doing it right.”
The book is as wonderfully diverse as England was at the time. Adrian’s parents were abolitionists. His father, who was black, was born in the USA and moved to England. The factory is full of artisans from all over the world – Mrs. Singh, Mrs. Song, Mr. Alibi, Mr. Namdak. Mrs. Martin, who has no use for men, REALLY has no use for men. In terms of class, Camilla is from the upper classes but works as a servant because of her estrangement from her family. Adrian is of the merchant class – his family has money and is respectable, but not aristocratic.
There’s a lot to unpack in this book, but the dominant theme is of the importance of choice. Just because Camilla and Adrian love each other doesn’t mean they want to be forced to marry at gunpoint. Adrian wants his uncle to choose him. Camilla wants someone, anyone, preferably a marginally decent person, to choose her. Adrian wants the right to choose his own wife and be chosen by her in return.
Choice also involves logistical and financial freedom as well as emotional freedom, even though that same emotional freedom can lead to choosing emotional commitment. As Camilla becomes more self-confident, she starts upgrading her choices – she doesn’t want just anyone to choose her, she wants and deserves love. As Adrian falls more in love with Camilla, he becomes more flexible about what choice means.
This book was often repetitive and it wasn’t subtle. Certain phrases are repeated over and over again and certain themes are brought up again and again – this, plus the fact that I don’t think it would be as effective as a stand-alone as it is when read with the rest of the series, is why I give it a B+ instead of an A. However, it’s a great character study of two people with great chemistry, a great story about a terrible predicament with a happy ending, a good mix of intense emotion and humor, and a seamless continuation of the Worth saga.
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I.LOVED.THIS.BOOK. I hadn’t read the first one (which thankfully is on sale right now). This book was an emotional coaster, but a really slow one, not fast and scream-y, but lordie is it good. At one point I found myself telling the book “If you don’t make this right COURTNEY MILAN, I will find you and throat punch you!”. I mean, I knew she would, eventually, right? But still, but still, I didn’t know how..
The secondary characters were FANTASTIC! Mrs Martin, who really, really has no use for a man, deserves a novella featuring her, and her pretty young things.
Unfortunately “After the Wedding” was my bus book this week, and I hit several emotional patches while on the bus. There is just no way to discretely wipe your eyes and blow your nose (or turn a sob into a cough) when surrounded by so many strangers. And I just didn’t care – the book spoke to me so strongly.
I agree with the comment about repetition, and I’m still a bit woozy about why the gunpoint marriage (the upcoming second read should help with that), but it was SUCH A SATISFYING READ!! (had to go allcaps there – sorry not sorry).
I really really connected with this book pretty hard. And can I just add, I am so SO here for Theresa and where her story is going.
I didn’t read the first book. I read the sample and the characters rubbed me the wrong way. But I was really interested in this and thought it stood alone pretty well for anyone else who didn’t read book 1.
I agree about the repetition. There were times where I spoke out loud for the book to get on with it because we’ve been in this exact spot before. Overall I liked it except the end. I would have preferred a longer period of time for them to get back together. Because it was so fast, I didn’t really feel much of a “choice” was actually made.
I was already looking forward to reading this. Now after this review, I’m more eager! Thank you, Carrie S.
I was a little nervous about getting this book, since from what was in the first one hit on one of my triggers, but I figured Courtney Milan would make it OK … and she did.
One minor note about the plot – if I remember correctly, in the first book the uncle had offered to take in all the children except Theresa – she’s … at a guess, I’d say on the autism spectrum, but that’s just a guess. Judith refused to leave her out, so she’s trying to keep the family together and fed. And in this book, there’s a mention that when the earl and his oldest son went off to India, they left all the children with the same uncle except Theresa (uncle is NOT tolerant of anything different or that inconveniences him).
This looks good!! I’m so glad I got book 1 not long ago when it was on sale. I have seen mixed reviews and hesitated to start, but this reviewer here is someone I trust so will go in soon.
I would have given this book six stars if I could. The feels were big and the prose was good and the snark was snarky. The Theresa storyline was so great. OK I am not being very articulate, but I was reading this while recovering from a broken foot, feeling very small and miserable myself. Plus I had recently read “A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue” and saw a lot of similarities between Adrian and Percy in their general all around goodness and desire to see the best in people. I didn’t mind the repetition, as I thought it bolstered the themes. Camilla feels so unlovable and Adrian feels if he just works hard enough everything in the world will come out all right. Theresa and Benedict are just too terrific – I could read about them again and again – an army of two against a world that wants to tell them what “normal” should be….Anyway, just loved it.
I loved this one too, even though I didn’t particularly enjoy the first book in the series. That being said, the overarching mystery is very compelling, so I do recommend reading the first book for that reason. Camilla and Adrian make a wonderful couple, but the secondary characters make the book. Theresa’s character moves forward in this book and Adrian’s brother is incredibly intriguing. My only complaint, which somewhat contradicts what I love about the book, is that the story is so packed full of characters and bread crumbs that it doesn’t leave room enough for the A plot to breathe.
I started reading this book right before I got some upsetting news at work (hours cut to the bone–salary almost non-existent). I wasn’t able to concentrate on anything for a good week and by that point, I didn’t want to try to figure out where I left off on this. If I get the much better news I’m hoping for tomorrow, I’m going to get the first book and then attempt to read this one.
I really loved this book, but lordy did ya’ll notice how HOPEFUL Camilla is? She never gives up hope. I know this because an author of great characterization and subtlety for some reason reminded me of the mc’s HOPEFULNESS about seventeen times. I wanted to shake the book until all the hopefuls fell out.
That being said, I have all the love for Adrian and can’t wait for Teresa’s book.
This was my favorite of any of Courtney Milan’s books! Usually, I really like her books for the first half, but she drags out the “everything is terrible, we can’t be together” bit out like 3 or 4 chapters too long. But this one!!! So, so good. I loved the main characters. My favorite thing about the book was that they didn’t fall into the usual trope of hiding information from the other person to protect them, which is my least favorite. Every time I expected them to lie to each other, they were honest, which was such a refreshing change. I did notice the repetitiveness, but honestly didn’t mind it, because at least the characters weren’t being stubbornly angsty for angst’s sake.
I ADORED this book, it hit me right where I live. Truly the book I needed at the moment (going through a breakup). I think most of us relate to just wanting to choose and be chosen in return. I just love love loved how non-cynical Camilla was. So many books have the main character all jaded and having to rediscover love and optimism. It was so refreshing to see how blind optimism (sorry Camilla!) can be its own kind of block to happiness, and how to deal with the issues that come with that and find true contentment.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one a little annoyed by the repetition of how hopeful Camilla is. One second I would be very moved by her predicament and the next I’d be forcibly reminded of hope making Katara tearbend.
That said, Adrian was so wonderful and kind and open-hearted and his older brother will probably rip my heart out and eat it when the next book comes out. Milan does family conflict so, so well, especially with Judith and Teresa’s ongoing argument—they love each other to death but fundamentally misunderstand each other, and if that’s not a real family, I don’t know what is.
I love Courtney Milan and this book was purchased before the release date because I loved Judith’s book. The first thing in this book that impressed me was how she introduced the ethnicity of the hero so subtlety that it didn’t strike me at first (or maybe I am just slow :)) But that’s the beauty of her writing – it was about the story of their lives that we were focused on and not their origins. It was like “Oh so he is of African descent … right… now how are they going to resolve that issue?” It just didn’t matter.
The next thing that impressed me was how she showed us the family lives of those they interacted with as so diverse and yet real.
If there was one complaint – it was the same as the others; the repetition. Especially how many times Camilla kept wishing for just one person to want her for herself. After the first 100 times, it no longer produced any sadness in me. But otherwise – Courtney Milan did it again!
I loved this book too and started off annoyed with the repetition of Camilla’s hopefulness. When I thought about it thought, it was more about Camilla, trying to hang onto her hope. It’s an expression about her fight, she feels hopeless but she wants to be hopeful so she keeps telling herself she’s hopeful. I saw it as one of Camilla’s coping strategies.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. And oddly, it was the continuance of hope and the repetition of Camilla’s hoping that rang truest for me. I used to work in a residential group home for girls who had already exhausted foster home settings. And there is nothing more heartbreakingly hopeful than young women who hope for love when the world has repeatedly told them they are unworthy of being treated well or loved as unique individuals. They might not look for love the way I would like, but they do it with that sort of hope that Camilla has. Her character reminded me of all those girls and made me hope that maybe, just maybe, a few of them have actually found love and peace in their lives.
The repetition didn’t actually bother me—it felt very realistic, a depiction of Camilla’s trauma (and probably PTSD) as well as her desperate hope. I haven’t read the first one yet—though I ended up buying it, because I loved this one so much—but somehow, this struck all the right places, for me. And my god, the amazing supporting cast.
Kate, it’s funny that you say you usually like the first half of Milan’s books best. I’m the opposite–I feel like she actually does the work to make books not end too easily. So many authors would take the first chance to end conflict and stick in an ending, to the point that romances often feel very incomplete or half-assed to me (tell me the last time you read a Julia Quinn book and felt like it wasn’t a little lazy on at least one of a half-dozen fronts).
I remember getting midway through the Heiress Effect and the book didn’t take the easy way out but kept going. I looked down at the percentage on my Kindle and realized how much was left and rejoiced.
I can’t wait for the next book, or any of the ones after.
I haven’t read the first one, but really loved this. Loved Adrian- he is the perfect hero to me. I also read Camilla’s hopefulness as her reminding herself to be hopeful, to not despair.
I also loved the secondary characters and found myself wishing some of them would at least get a novella!