Wedding of the Season (Book 1 in the "Abandoned at the Altar" Series)

Abandoned at the altar . . .
Lady Beatrix Danbury had always known she would marry William Mallory. She'd loved him forever and she'd never doubted he loved her, too. But when she made him choose between their life together or his lifelong dream, Will chose the latter . . . and left two weeks before their wedding.
Return of the duke . . .
Will has no illusions that Beatrix would welcome him back with open arms, but six years did not dim his love or desire for her. The only problem is, she's about to marry someone else. Someone safe and predictable . . . the complete opposite of Will. But can he stop the wedding of the season and win Beatrix back, or is it just too late?  ( Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.com)

This is the first book in the “Abandoned at the Altar” Series by Laura Lee Gurkhe.  Lady Beatrix Danbury and William Mallory, Duke of Sunderland   were engaged to be married when he got the opportunity to join Howard Carter’s expedition to excavate for Tutankhamen’s tomb. She let him go and he went!  Six years later, she has had adventures with her cousin Julia ( like learning to drive and owning an automobile) and is now engaged to Aiden Carr, Duke of Trathen. William comes back and their love story begins again.

What I liked about this book was that even though the plot is a tried and true one, Ms. Gurkhe did not make the path to romance an easy one. William and Beatrix have not resolved the core issues between them; his travels and her needing a secure home space and traditions.  Throw in the fact that Aidan is a nice guy, if a bit stuffy, and it gets complicated. Both of the main characters need to look inside themselves and decide what is really important to them and how to make their relationship work. This was a great book to read on snowy day.

The subplots with Julia and her unhappy marriage, Aidan, and Beatrix’s cousin Paul who is dealing with marriage issues of his own make look forward to the next book in the series- Scandal of the Year -due out January 25, 2011. Lucky for me I have an advanced copy on my Nook so I don't have to wait!