One Week to Wed

Lady Charlotte Gregory had been a widow for four years, she had loved her husband, and she knew she could never love anyone that way again. In London for the funeral for the duke of Skeffington – her sister Elizabeth’s late husband – Charlotte meets Lord Andrew Pearce, she feels something inexplicable that she had thought long forgotten, and they had flirted. Charlotte goes back to Cheshire, where she lives, but who should she meet but Andrew, and not all the fireworks were the ones that happened in the sky … Have tissues nearby, dear readers, because you will need them. ONE WEEK TO WED is a moving, and powerful love story that is at the same time wonderful and terrible. Andrew and Charlotte broke my heart several times: a secret that could hardly be told; a love that circumstances nearly made impossible, but that refused to die, and a marriage that neither wanted when it happened. The tone of the book is often one of watercolours, so lovely and light, and sometimes the colour of rain clouds. Laurie Benson paints a beautiful picture of bucolic Cheshire, and a heartbreaking one of Charlotte and Andrew’s inner turmoil, whose situation is made painfully realistic. The characters in ONE WEEK TO WED are magnificent! The Sommersby family dynamics – Charlotte, her sisters Juliet and Elizabeth, and their Aunt Clara – are superbly conveyed, and Andrew’s interactions with his brothers are no less interesting. I also loved how Ms. Benson seamlessly inserted some historical facts that made the story even more compelling, as the events did play a role in Andrew and Charlotte’s romance. I am thrilled that Juliet and Elizabeth will have their own stories, because they are very intriguing characters: young Juliet, the voice of reason, and Elizabeth whose book I cannot wait to read because we already know quite a bit about her, and who knows what awaits her. ONE WEEK TO WED is a brilliant start to what will certainly be a fantastic series, with three strong and fabulous female characters!

This was the first book I have read from author Laurie Benson and it won’t be my last! It’s also a fabulous beginning to a new series, The Sommersby Brides. Andrew and Charlotte were a great couple and Laurie Benson did a wonderful job of telling their story! This was a perfect story about second chances, hope and new beginnings! Well written with everything you could want in a story!! It’s definitely a keeper for me!

Can one find love twice in a lifetime? Charlotte did not believe so. Can one live without love? Andrew believed so. These two found their lives turned upside down when they met. With the dangerous times all around, a testament to the actual history of the time, a fun courtship with moments of uncertainty, misunderstanding, and interfering friends kept me reading this story. There were occasions I wanted to say "it is right in front of you", moments for happy and sad tears, and a hard-won sigh of happiness. I enjoyed this story and recommend it. I received an ARC of this book as a gift, and this is my unsolicited review.