Review: Gamble on Engagement (McMaster the Disaster)
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 10 30, 2011
I really liked the first book in the series, so I read the second (Gamble on Engagement). It truly is a great disappointment for anybody at all familiar with England.The first book, Bridesmaid Lotto, was written by an American about America. The second book is written by an American largely about England and it is so full of inaccuracies and ridiculous assumptions as to really ruin the book except for those Americans who know little about Great Britain. So lets examine it:1) The ONLY princes in England are members of the royal family. They are Prince Charles and his two sons. ALL other scions of various noble families, whilst being related to the royal family, are NOT princes.1a) Thus Prince Leo was not a prince!2) Other members of the royal family are Earls and Lords. Their sons are Viscounts etc and do not gain titles of Earl or Lord until their fathers die. (I'm not really up with this title stuff, so those Brits who know about it, please excuse my ignorance..)3) Nobody in England goes out and buys a castle unless they are mega rich and basically nuts! Firstly there are VERY few (if any) castles for sale, secondly there are not that many of them, thirdly they are usually highly inefficient buildings costing a fortune in upkeep! And finally who keeps a gigantic building like that EMPTY? What's this business of 'wings' - 'his wing', 'her wing', good Lord, apart from princes from Saudi Arabia or Dhubai who has the loose money?4) NO 'scion' of some noble family has access to any real money, unless he makes it himself. Most of these types either join the forces; sometimes ending up senior military figures; or enter some profession or if they're lucky, enter the family business. NOBODY 'buys a castle' because he likes 'his solitude'! LOL.5) The idea that these guys are 'soft' or 'silly' as the story implies couldn't be farther from the truth.6) The idea that the housekeeper would for a moment hope to be the love interest of the lord of the manor is another reason for a LOL! These employees are highly professional and would certainly be totally UNinterested in such an idea. Also, the very idea that an English nobleman would be interested in the help (beyond a quicky with some willing local girl behind the stables, in their 'teens..) is far from reality. (Sorry, I'm not a stuffy type, I just know the facts.)6) NOBODY takes the best part of a 2-day train trip to Marbella! To save money they might drive in a large RV if they have a family, I guess. Otherwise they FLY!~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Rachel Astor obviously did absolutely NO research whatever. However, even if she HAD done any she would still have been unable to write such a story without serious help from an English co-writer, if only for the sake of realism. It's a pity because her first book was such fun, AND realistic and made this book even more irritating to me. For goodness sake, can you imagine a woman from Manchester (in England) writing a book about the deep south, such as New Orleans, or the midwest? Now THAT would be a laugh, right?I might read the third in the series if the story is placed in the US, otherwise I'll probably give it a miss. Regretfully I think Ms Astor isn't good with foreign country research.