Review: Capable heroine plans inexpensive wedding, deals with a troublesome guest, and scores herself a Lord!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 19, 2013
So cute!  I have to concur with the other reviewers - Winter Wedding is one of my favorite Joan Smith regencies and I say that after reading about fifteen of them in the same number of days!Clara Christopher, the heroine, is a very likable character.  Despite her somewhat straightened circumstances (she is orphan who lives off her relatives by "visiting") she has a wonderful demeanor and is always helpful to her hosts.  She is not a "poor me" heroine, but rather one who enjoys her existence as "an eternal wandering guest."At the beginning of the novel she is residing with the family of her cousin's fiance Prisse and helping the girl's "nipcheese" mother, Lady Lucker, plan the wedding.  She learns that Lord Allingcote, whom she quite liked when she met him at house party two years ago is actually Lady Lucker's nephew and may be coming to the wedding.  He does arrive, albeit with the uninvited and incredibly obnoxious, but stunningly beautiful neighbor Nell.  Nell sets out to aggravate Prissie and Clara steps in several times to ensure that the wedding occurs without a hitch as she is quite fond of Lady Lucker.In the midst of the approaching wedding and Nell's increasingly aggravating antics, Clara and Allingcote spend quite some time together and while there are plenty of clues from the start that Allingcote is seriously enamored of Clara.  Clara has some very good reasons for believing he is just a flirt and subsequently doesn't pay him the same attention he gives to her.Thankfully, there is isn't some contrived misunderstanding, just a gradual development of a relationship between two nice and funny people who like one another very much and who have a big obstacle in the form of Nell to overcome.  Nell didn't bother me because she provides a good foil for Clara and because Clara has some pretty funny conversations with Allingcote about his tolerance for the Nell's behavior and his typically male reasons for believing Nell is not such a bad egg.Altogether, a funny and clean romance with very likeable main characters, as well as a treasure in the nipcheese in money, but generous of heart Lady Lucker.