Wed by Proxy
My friend recommended this book to me and I have to tell you I was hooked from the moment I read the blurb:
‘Thrice wedded, but never bedded’.
I MEAN! YES PLEASE!
This book scratched an itch that I thought I’d never be able to reach. I grew up on books by Jilly Cooper, specifically the series where the main character’s name was the title of the book. These were tempestuous novels with slammed doors and groveling and intense feelings, but I know these books don’t at all hold up. I desperately wanted to read a tempestuous novel but one that wouldn’t make me cringe or rage because of dubious consent, controlling behaviour, and the like. Alice Coldbreath seems to have gifted the world with just that kind of book!
Mathilde’s mom is a powerful courtier in the newly united country of Karadok. Mathilde has been married off legally for political reasons three times. The first two were very old men and she only met them a couple times in all before they died. The third time was to a leader from the recently-conquered north, Lord Guy Martindale. It’s part of a peace treaty, but the two never actually meet before signing the wedding papers, and they don’t meet for the first four years of their marriage.
Mathilde grows frustrated with her sheltered life at court and so runs away (with the help of a few pages) to go to her husband, Guy. The journey nearly ends in disaster when Mathilde and her page friend Robin are chucked in jail, but Guy saves the day when he vouches for both of them. He installs them in the hunting lodge – as though she was a mistress and not his wife – for he doesn’t believe that she is his wife. You can see what the third act issue is going to be!
This is a more progressive version of the books that I grew up reading. Delicate, wide-eyed virgin who is finding her more spirited side paired with a gruff, alpha-male type who is protective and very large. Except, in this book, while Mathilde has the endearing naivete of Amy Adams’ character in Enchanted, she does seduce Guy using the tips in the illustrated erotica that the local witch gives her for inspiration. Guy is pretty alpha, yes, but he’s a proponent of enthusiastic consent and he does some world-class, A-grade grovelling in the last third of the book supplicating himself at Mathilde’s feet. Literally. Repeatedly.
It’s difficult to put into words why I love this book, when all my brain and heart want to do is flail from pillar to post exclaiming that I love it, but I shall endeavour to be more articulate than that. I love that this book revisits old archetypes in a way that is so much more palatable than those classics from the 80s and 90s. I love that Mathilde’s naivete is so believable and earnest that it’s impossible not to love her. But she never becomes a sickly sweet figure. She is discovering that her little teeth bite (literally). Guy is initially a bit flat, but as he meets Mathilde and grows more in love with her, his personality blossoms. The writing is so immersive that for the hours that I was reading this book, I completely forgot about my nagging to-do list and as soon as the budget permits I shall be buying this series en masse.
Speaking of which, the blurb labels this a standalone novel, but other reviewers have said that this book should actually be read after the Vawdrey brothers series. This is my first Alice Coldbreath novel and I adjusted with ease to the world and existing characters, but I am now keen to go back and start with book 1 of the Vawdrey series and work my way through from there. I loved how it updated older, familiar archetypes, I loved how absorbing it was to read, and I can’t wait for more.
– Lara
Thrice wedded, but never bedded, Mathilde Martindale has long lived in the shadow of her indomitable mother, and meekly done as she was told. Until one day she decides to become mistress of her own destiny and leave the royal court to find her own path.
Married by proxy, Lord Martindale has never even met his bride of three years. Wed as part of a peace treaty, he bitterly resents the mercenary wife who cares only for wealth and prestige. And then he meets her…
Wed By Proxy is a stand-alone novel of over 111,000 words and is set in a medieval style landscape in the fictional kingdom of Karadok.
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Thanks!
This intrigues me. Thanks for the recommendation.
On a side note, there are at least two different video ad windows that kept popping up as I scrolled through the post, one of which right now is half covering the comment box, appearing & disappearing and then appearing. I know the site needs to make money to run, but this type of ad is particularly annoying & difficult to maneuver around on my iPad.
Seconding what @Laurel says about the pop-up video ads. I first noticed them yesterday, so not sure if they’d been running before then. The worst part is, no matter how many times I tap the X (not a euphemism, lol), I can’t close the video for about ten seconds. I agree the site has to make money, but I gently suggest that ads viewers are unable to close may not be the way to do it.
I third the annoying pop up ads. I agree with @laurel and discodollydeb.
OK, I’m hooked, too.
On my TBR after this review!
@Laurel, DiscoDollyDeb, Beth – Thank you for the gentle feedback. Yes, indeed it is a very difficult time for revenue online, and this was suggested as a way to increase revenue. Can I ask if you’re all on iPad/tablet/mobile? I had wanted the video to be aligned left (since most folks are right-handed) but it wasn’t an option. I will absolutely ask what I can do to adjust.
Basically, I want to keep all of you coming to hang out, and I want to keep having a place to hang out, and that balance is really tricky sometimes!!
Also, related to the review, and most importantly: I have seen SO MANY people talking about how great Alice Coldbreath’s novels are, both on blogs and social media and on Reddit. If you’re a Coldbreath fan, which one do you recommend I start with?
@Sarah, I was using my iPad in landscape mode when I had the trouble. It was not a typical pop-up ad – this one kept popping up, even when you clicked the X to close it. It seems particularly aggressive on the iPad – at one point there were two video windows on top of each other, moving down as I scrolled. Right now on my computer monitor, with a much larger screeen, the video is sitting in the lower right corner, not in the way at all, but it has also popped open and closed on its own. It kind of feels like it is not working as intended.
The uncloseable video ad is on the right sometimes and moves to the center and obscures most of the comment entry box. It’s horrible usability.
I’m on an iPhone.
1) Did anyone else read that Mathilde was from
“newly united country of Karaoke”??!!
2) IPhone SE; iOS 16.6.1 (17 sounds scary…); pop-up is super-frustrating.
Sarah, TIA for anything you are able to do.
3) Happy Sukkot!
Re the adverts: I’ve opened this on my android phone of some sort, and my ancient and venerable macbook, and haven’t had a problem (yet).
Re the book: Oooh, the idea of old skool, but not bad old skool has my finger twitching on the ‘buy now’ button.
@Betsydub I didn’t read that as Karaoke, but you can bet I’m going to from now on!
I read HER BRIDEGROOM BOUGHT AND PAID FOR (Brides of Karadok book 4) first because I stumbled upon it (probably here?) and was grabbed by the blurb. I went off from there, maybe reading the other Brides books before the Vawdrey books, but I’m not completely sure. Either way, I believe you can’t really go wrong, but they’re great read in the intended order.
There’s also the Victorian Prizefighters series and I enjoy those just as much.
All the books hit similar beats: alpha heroes, heroines coming into their own power however that looks, the heroes being a bit slow to realize their feelings, but each couple is unique so it stays surprisingly fresh.
One of Alice Coldbreaths’s books, Her Baseborn Bridegroom is on KU. I enjoyed that one for the reasons Lara wrote about.
The Coldbreath series [Vawdrey, Brides of Karadok, and Prizefighters] are something I’m currently reading and rereading obsessively. They’re compulsively grabbable, and I’m impatiently awaiting the next one.
@Laurel @Queen celeste: This is really helpful information. Thank you very, very much for explaining what you experienced.
another Coldbreath fan. might want to read Vawdrey books in order but don’t think it matters too much otherwise
also find video ads hard to deal with on ipad, especially as impossible (so far) to close—tapping X does not work
I’ve had the mobile video ads disabled. Sorry about the trouble with them!!
@SB Sarah: thank you—the video ads are no longer appearing on my iPhone (which is where I usually view the site). Also, I apologize to Lara and Alice Coldbreath fans for the unintentional thread jack.
I love Alice Coldbreath and have read all of her historicals. Each one of them is excellent, and they can mostly be read in any order. There might be a slight advantage to reading in order, but they can all stand alone for the most part. I like the Prizefighter ones just a little less, but they are still good. She is an instant buy for me.
Re: order to read the Alice Coldbreath books (btw what a non de plume! I love it). I think reading the Vawdrey books in order is a good idea, but I feel like in the first one, she kind of has the least grasp on the world. It sounds like she has a much better sense of place in this book, which I haven’t gotten to yet. More books for the TBR pile!!
I’m ready to duck comments which may be thrown my direction, but I’d be pleased to pay for content. The books and authors I would have never have known, the sales I would have missed, the new things to think about (old ex.: don’t refer to people as being Oriental), the sheep videos (I still miss Friday videos, SB Sarah), the perspectives and ideas from younger-than-me reviewers who although they have different world views and experiences are readers just like me, and the smart, helpful, sometimes funny comments. Yeah, charge away, just don’t go away.
@LML: thank you. I won’t throw things at you! Figuring out ways to keep on going in a very uncertain revenue landscape is something that occupies a lot of my brain energy. It really means a lot to know that you value the site and the community enough to suggest paid tiers or membership access. Thank you.
@LML I totally agree with your sentiments. I find this site so incredibly valuable and validating that I would pay for it!
This might be crazy, but, how about a subscription forum dedicated to requests for and discussion of spoilers? I mean, I’d subscribe. 🙂 I don’t know how generally popular it’d be.