"A long, slow falling in love."
“Tigers. Of course it’s tigers.”

These are two phrases that struck me as having significant inference.
As the story opens, two people who scarcely know each other are getting married--at gun point!  The groom had dreamt of a different way of marrying, like his parents, a falling in love. The bride just wanted someone to care. Neither was having those dreams fulfilled.
A recurring theme in this very different story from Lauren's is about going on, not giving up hope. Tigerish! This state of being is beautifully enlarged on later.
Then there's things people say and do in the heat of the moment and how that can impact life directions.
At the time when they were orphaned, Judith Worth literally lost her sister when she took her sister Camilla to task for choosing the promise of a wonderful life from their uncle over the family. Judith wanted to keep family together. Camilla, at only twelve was seduced by her uncle's words of comfort and food. She didn't want to starve.
Did either of them know what they were doing. No!
It takes another sister and brother, Theresa and Benedict, to eventually track her down.
Camilla was cast adrift by the savior uncle, passed on like a parcel in the game of the same name. Each move was less salubrious than the last. She has changed her name and is trying to hold on to hope. All her life she's been reduced, ignored and belittled. And she's fought that every inch of the way. At one point she heart wrenchingly exclaims, “I won’t let them have me. I won’t let them make me weaker or stupider. I’m not going to let them take me away.” Because that's slowly what's been happening to her. She's been made lesser! She's become nobody!
Working as a maid seems as far as Camilla could go down the power ladder, but alas that is not so. Camilla Worth aka Camilla Winters is caught in a fight between two bishops. As has the groom, Adrian Hunter. Adrian's family is somewhat different to the rest of English society.  Their father was an abolitionist, their mother a Lady, the Bishop's sister. Adrian and his siblings have mixed heritage. Adrian is hopeful of having his Bishop uncle acknowledge the family. To this end he does favors for the bishop. Let's be clear, Adrian's family is wealthy. 
On a quest for his uncle, as part of a bargain to have the Bishop acknowledge the Hunters as family. Adrian masquerads as a valet. He is discovered in a locked room with the housemaid Camilla. It's just a few short steps and a gun to marriage. An annulment is the next thing on the list to obtain. All these factors come together as Cam and Adrian make their way towards his revered uncle seeking help and assurances.
Of course betrayal's on the cards. As is attraction!
A regency romance with a difference that pursues social injustices that are still present today.
Cam's sister Theresa is just wonderful and we leave her breaking loose on another quest. I can't wait for that to be uncovered!

A NetGalley ARC

Could there possibly be two more Hufflepuff main characters? (Answer: no.) I submit into evidence Exhibit A: this quote from Camilla:

    "We're all self-serving." Camilla shrugged. "It's just a matter of what we do to others in service of ourselves."
    -Camilla, After the Wedding by Courtney Milan



It takes a whole lot of heart and a fierceness of spirit to maintain the kind of trust Adrian has and the kind of hope that Camilla keeps when the world repeatedly grinds you down, when people show you again and again their ugliest selves. I just… I can't… Words escape me. I want to gather Camilla and Adrian close and wrap them up in a big Hufflepuff hug huddle. As I've said in previous reviews, wanting to be friends with the main characters is a major key to a five star rating for me. I love Camilla and Adrian so much, and several of the side characters really won be over too (especially Theresa and Mrs. Beasley!) that I'd give this, oh, six or seven stars, if that were an option. ALL THE STARS!

The way the relationship between Camilla and Adrian plays out is so wonderful to watch grow. For all of the hardship these two go through, this is a relatively low angst story that is beautifully told. For those who love a good slow burn friends to lovers story, this book is for you! Cam and Adrian are two kindred spirits who get thrown together in circumstances that would break many people, and they continue to trust and hope and love with this quiet, golden strength that I truly admire and can only hope to emulate in my own life. Plus, the level of flirt and sass in Camilla cannot be squashed by any number of jerk-faces.

    "That would no doubt be engraved on her tombstone: Camilla tried to be good, but not for very long." - Camilla, After the Wedding by Courtney Milan. 



I really appreciated a Regency romance with representation outside of the Heyer-esque white cis characters you often see depicted: notably Adrian and his black family and how his family (with a black American father and a white English mother) is treated by English society; the diverse cast of characters who work on the design team at Adrian's manufactory; and the sexual preferences of Mrs. Martin and others.

This is the second book in the Worth Saga, but it can be read as a stand-alone. However, there are some spoilers for the first book, Once Upon a Marquess (though not much more than you'd get from reading the back cover blurb). There is also a certain amount of lead up to what had dang well better be a future book in the series about Theresa!

Great story, involving a servant girl and a gentleman posing as a valet.  She is actually the daughter of an Earl, he is actually the grandson of a Duke, though both have pasts and stories which preclude them from being acknowledged by their families. He has been tasked by his uncle, a bishop, with finding evidence against another bishop and the rector for whom they work. A week after meeting, they are trapped in a forced marriage.  Their is so much more to this story, the couple is so likeable, their relationship fraught with issues, both looking for love and acceptance, but unable to seek it from each other .  The HEA is very well done.  There is some annoying repetition in the ruminations of the characters, but all stories have that. Highly recommend.  I received a free arc in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man, this book. It was so sad! Like, it was so disappointing to see Aidan’s uncle constantly treat him so horribly, and I couldn’t bear how Camilla was constantly falling in love with people and hoping they’d rescue her, only to find herself passed along to the next family. Yes, there was a happy ending, but I’d say about 95 percent of this book was filled with disappointment and heartbreak, and it was just so, so sad. I also didn’t think there was nearly enough tension and banter between Aidan and Cam, though that’s definitely personal preference. I think Milan plotted this story beautifully and hit a lot of great points, but it was too bittersweet of a romance novel for me to fully recommend. Though I am still very eager to continue this series! And shout out to the fact that this book features a ton of diversity while still being set in Victorian England. I mean, the hero is biracial and the heroine is bisexual, which you almost never see in England-set historicals, so that’s pretty awesome.

Thanks Netgalley for this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ok,This book was ...Not my Favorite Courtney Milan book. I felt a little lost (maybe because I didn't read the 1st one? ) Mrs. Milan is the reason I love Historical Romance. She write smart romance. I loved that but this book just didn't do it for me (which is sad) I couldn't get into it. I read it but I didn't "live" it. I had to make myself finish it. Which usally I can't put down her books. I felt the key to this whole book was communication. All they need was Communication, between family, between the Mc's, between EVERYONE! 
 
I'll go 3 stars

I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a while, so if you haven't recently read Once Upon A Marquess, go reread it to refresh yourself for this one. 

While I'm always game for one of the zillions of dukes lying around historical romance's England, Courtney Milan's ability to write about the everyday people is refreshing. Camilla is that poor relation that gets passed around- first to distant family, then as a "companion", and finally, as a fallen woman/maid. She carries her family's secret close to her heart, that her father was executed for treason and her sister has married into a title. After all, when she turned her back on her family at 12 for dresses and tarts, why would they want her back?
Adrian is the child of abolitionists, a black man in England, and runs a ceramics/pottery factory on his family's land. His uncle is a (I think ) bishop and, in hopes of being recognized as his family, Adrian poses as a rival bishop's valet, where of course he meets Camilla, and then there's a wedding... at gunpoint (and nobody is pregnant!).

Camilla's story and character made me cry, like maybe more than usual, because Milan is so good at writing characters that life kicks down, yet they never stop believing in their worth (har har). At points I felt like the conflict about her family was a little forced, but I'm willing to roll with it for this level of skill in writing.

I wanted to know a LOT more about Adrian, his parents, and his family-- "child of abolitionists, brothers dead in the civil war" is not a lot, and felt like it could use a whole book on its own. 

I'm going to recommend this book, but only if people have read the first in the series, because I don't feel it could stand on its own otherwise, which I hate to say about any of Milan's books.

I enjoyed this book. Well written with a great opening to pull you in. I wanted them to get their HEA very badly and I enjoy hearing his POV and how his opinion changes over time.

I've been reading through Courtney Milan's work for several years now, and I am always bolstered by her stories. I rarely wait until I'm in a specific mood to reach for them. They're always what I need.

Her books have consistently told stories of people who have been silenced, dismissed, or marginalized, crafting narratives to provide justice and compassion. This one takes a step further, demonstrating how people who grow to care for each other should lift the other up and use their respective privilege for the other's benefit. This isn't what you might expect from a forced marriage story, beginning with ambivalence or outright hostility. There's a fierce loyalty in both of them for people who are used as pawns, and rather than it coming out in anger at each other, they give each other what the world (specifically, the people who have power over them) has denied them: confidence, trust, and agency.

I loved reading this book. It was a welcome transportation from daily stress, but it was more than an escape. It was an edification and an encouragement to do better, not just for my own benefit but for others'.

Thank you, Courtney Milan, for the ARC of your excellent book. I've already pre-ordered it and recommended the hell out of it to everyone I wasn't already furiously texting about it over the weekend.

I quite liked this book! I received an ARC of it through NetGalley, and was excited to read it as I love Courtney Milan, even though I have not read the first in the series (have since purchased it.) This book is about a woman (Camilla) who long ago left her noble family and is feeling very lonely. She is working as a maid for a really awful man. After meeting Adrian they are forced to marry at gunpoint for nefarious reasons. The story from there is how they plan to get out of said marriage. 

I am ashamed to admit that this is the first historical romance I have read that includes a black man as the Hero. It was really well done and he was such an awesome character. It was interesting to learn how interracial couples were often treated in this time period.

All of the characters were great and the relationships between all of the various family members so interesting. I'm always impressed with how this author brings in so many great historical details of the time period and this story was no exception.

I would like to start by saying how utterly decent it is to have a racially diverse meld of main characters in a historical setting. I thought that effect was refreshing and so necessary in a staid genre that is only recently breaking out of it’s vanilla mold, pun intended.

Courtney Milan is a skilled writer who can turn a phrase with elegance and a philosophical cast. Not only does her writing own distinction, she creates an accurate, realistic setting while pearls of history blend expertly with the fictional storyline. 

There were trace moments of redundant inner monologues that repeatedly swelled throughout the chapters, and this added to the dragging moments of the story. However, the fervor and passion of the characters helped the plodding storyline along. 

The characters were developed, obsessive creatures looking for acceptance and love in an astringent society, and Milan delivered on that promise.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

After The Wedding by Courtney Milan is everything you want romance to be: deeply emotional, with moments that are laugh out loud funny and a story that examines real world issues — while never losing focus on the two characters falling in love.

The story begins with a wedding at gunpoint, because these things tend to happen in historical romance. Adrian Hunter — the son of a duke's daughter and a black abolitionist — has been posing as a valet to dig up dirt on a rival of his uncle. That is, until he's forced to the altar with a pistol at his back and Miss Camilla Winters, a servant, at his side. She's actually Camilla Worth, who after nine years exiled from her family, wants nothing more than to be loved and settled. (Just not on these terms.)

But this is not a story about how they get together, it's a story about how they stay together. Instead of a predictable, bickering, enemies-to-lovers plot, they become friends who work together to unravel the reasons why they were forced to marry. In spite of their increasing attraction, they're also determined to keep their distance for the sake of their inevitable annulment (right?!). It's no spoiler to say that Camilla and Adrian do get the long, slow falling in love they both want and deserve. They show us that the best happily ever after is the one you choose.

There are many pieces here to cause strife and conflict, too many. As a result, the romance was underwhelming. I rated this 3.5ish stars, but it is difficult to rate because it is unique. Because there were some lovely moments and phrases to quote. Because I would love more historical romances journey these topics, just with a little more finesse and focus on the romance. What this really lacked was good character development. We were told how the characters felt rather than experience it with them. It didn’t help me connect with the characters. Despite all the themes, what we knew of the characters thoughts and feelings were repetitive. I am interested in the coming books in the series. I am invested enough in the saga to continue, so I am not ready to give up on it. 

I think the main characters here would have worked better in a less convoluted story. Adrian and Camilla “deserved” a better love story, one with more joy and tangible feels. I am not going into too much detail. There are already some great reviews doing this, and I don’t have any more to add at the moment.  

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I so, so wanted to love After the Wedding by one of my all-time favorite authors, Courtney Milan, but, sadly, I left the book feeling disappointed and vaguely upset. 

I know Courtney Milan has much more in her than this story. Her Brothers Sinister series gave me so much life, and I credit her with my love of historical romance. However, this book felt like Courtney Milan was checked out.

On the surface, the book seemed a bit like The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, one of my favorite books of 2017. We get a bisexual heroine, a bi-racial hero, and an adventure story, of sorts, in a historical setting. However, After the Wedding didn't have nearly the same level of excitement and didn't even come close to capturing my attention in the same way. 

I found the characters to be almost one note, their defining characteristics drilled into our heads with repetition over and over again. Yes, Camilla is hopeful and wishes to be loved. Yes, Adrian is too trusting. I just couldn't help finding them to be one-dimensional. The internal monologues from Camilla felt like the same thing over and over again. And I couldn't feel the chemistry between them at all. The love just wasn't there for me. 

And I don't know if it's just me, but I found the plot to be confusing and muddled. The beginning had me scratching my head, then we flash back in time and start over. Okay... But then the plot involved some complicated scheme that I didn't quite get and that never fully engaged me. 

Finally, I want to mention a bit about the diversity in this book, which I loved. I am a reader of queer romance and I love increased representation in historical romance. I also loved that we got a biracial, black male MC. However, I was surprised at how open both the female MC and a side character were about their sexuality. It felt like a wholly modern detail, as everyone was only the barest of acquaintances at that point. I would have thought that in a historical romance, the characters would have used a lot more discretion. I really applaud Courtney Milan for giving us representation, but I didn't feel like the way it was introduced fit with the time period at all. 

I'm giving this book 2-stars because I think it did a few things well, but mostly I felt like it was lacking. I just KNOW Courtney Milan can do amazing things with words, and I think I was just expecting so much more. 

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

I read this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

After the Wedding is the second proper novel in the Worth saga, the story of Camilla and Adrian, who are forcibly married and have to decide what to do with their lives after the wedding. Camilla is the long-missing sister of Judith, the protagonist of Once upon a Marquess – the Worth sister who was first taken in by relatives, and then saw her fortune take a tumble, landing, in the end, as a barely paid servant in a clergyman’s household. Adrian has lost several of his elder brothers to the American Civil War; he badly wants to gain approval of his mother’s brother, a bishop. Circumstances put them together and result in them getting married at gunpoint (in the very first chapter of the book). Things progress from there.

I read After the Wedding in little over two days. It’s a page turner, compelling and extremely engrossing. It does lovely things with representation (Adrian is black; Camilla is bisexual) but without making a huge deal about it. It is funny and kind and humorous; the starting conceit is only a small part of the story of the characters and it doesn’t overshadow what happens after. The personalities and insecurities of the protagonists are very relatable; both deeply yearn for acceptance and both are afraid of rejection. Then there are also the amazing side characters, all the middle aged and elderly ladies the protagonists encounter in their travails, and the families, especially Grayson (Adrian’s brother) and Theresa and Benedict (Camilla’s long unseen younger siblings). There is love and cuteness and kindness and forgiveness (for those that deserve it). It all just works together so well.

It’s a lovely book. Go forth and read it. Now.

And now, of course, the wait commences for the next volume in the series…

A longer review including some thoughts on reading Milan is available on my blog: https://fromgirlslibrary.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/after-the-wedding-by-courtney-milan/

A shorter version of this review was published on GoodReads 4/23/2018.

My first from the author. I always meant to pick up books  by the author and now I will make sure to read more. Swoon,

After the Wedding is the second full length novel in Courtney Milan’s saga of the Worth family. As Ms Milan’s fans know this book was long in the making so while it is possible to read it as a standalone, a reread of the first book in the saga, Once Upon a Marquess, is strongly recommended in order to better understand the circumstances that brought Camilla, the heroine of the second book, in such dire straits that even a marriage at gunpoint seems to be a preferable option to the life she’s been leading over the past nine years.

Camilla is the second eldest child in the Worth family. When her family fell from grace when she was in her early teens she accepted her uncle’s offer  to go live with him in better comfort than her eldest sister Judith could offer only to find herself rejected after a short while and moved from one unloving family to another. Camilla never loses hope to find some who will love her someday – and she keeps reminding the reader of this never dying hope every other page to the point of becoming downright repetitive and tedious. The romance with Adrian, the initially unwilling groom she is forced to marry at gunpoint in the context of a conspiracy they find themselves witnesses of, suffers from this ever brooding mood that never seems to find resolution until about three quarters in the book.

And if our hero of African descent, Adrian, cannot pinpoint when he started nurturing feelings for Camilla in this slightly long slow falling in love, neither can the reader, but the final chapters in the novel were finally beautifully written and were about the romance and not expectations and delusions or social issues and those I reread thrice after struggling an entire week with the previous chapters. I hope the sort of unlocking I perceived in the final part of this book speaks for a return of the Courtney Milan I discovered and loved with her previous production.

Although the beginning was interesting, as the pages went by, everything has become monotonous and repetitive. I had a hard time finishing it. There is nothing particularly striking in this story, which could have been simply "one of many" had it not been for the countless times the author repeats and repeats and repeats why her characters are the way they are. There comes a time when everything stagnates and it is almost impossible to continue.

I liked the book´s point of departure. I liked the characters. But I didn´t like the execution and/or the development of the story.

The characters are so extreme (either awful good or cruelly bad) that they become a caricature and it is difficult to connect with them when all they do is complain and complain and complain and tell us their sorrows but they do nothing to take charge of their lives. Or they did it  extremely late. It was uncomfortable and pathetic (at times) to read about them.

Interesting the hero´s brother ... it seems (a priori) that he has more self-esteem than these two.
***
A pesar de que la historia empezó muy bien, a medida que pasaban las páginas todo se ha vuelto monótono y repetitivo. Me ha costado terminarla. No hay nada especialmente llamativo en esta historia, que podría haber sido una más si no hubiese sido por las incontables veces que la autora repite y repite porqué sus personajes son como son. Llega un momento en que todo se estanca y casi resulta imposible seguir. 

Me gustaba el planteamiento. Me gustaban los personajes. No me ha gustado ni la ejecución ni el desarrollo de la historia.

Los personajes son tan extremos (o muy buenos o muy malos) que se vuelven una caricatura y es difícil conectar con ellos cuando lo único que hacen es quejarse y quejarse y quejarse y contarnos sus penas pero no son capaces de coger las riendas de su vida. O lo hacen tardíamente tarde. (En ocasiones) Resulta incómodo y patético leer sobre ellos.

Interesante el hermano del héroe… parece (a priori) que tiene más autoestima que estos dos.

I’m a big fan of Courtney Milan’s – her Brothers Sinister series is comprised of six of the finest historical romances written in the last decade or so, and hers are books I always recommend to people who want to read entertaining, character-driven historical romances that are well-grounded in actual history and which don’t blithely ignore the inherent inequalities and prejudices of the eras in which they are set.

We’ve waited a couple of years for a new full-length novel from Ms. Milan.  After the Wedding is the second book in her Worth Saga which is currently projected to be eight books and which will largely take place outside British shores.  This is great news for those of us who have frequently wished for more historicals that take place away from the rarefied atmosphere of Georgian or Victorian London, and with that, comes the promise of more diverse characters and stories, both of which are welcome prospects.

I will admit, however, that I wasn’t wild about the first two books in the series, Once Upon a Marquess and the novella, Her Every Wish.  I felt the romances were rather underdeveloped in both; and in the novel in particular, as though the author had rather lost sight of the fact that it was supposed to be a romance amid the sheer ‘busy-ness’ of the book as a whole.  I didn’t connect with the protagonists and, more importantly didn’t feel they had much of a connection to each other, which isn’t a good place for any romance to find itself in.  Still, the premise of After the Wedding – a (literal) shotgun wedding – reeled me in (arranged/forced marriage stories are my catnip) so I pounced on it, hoping that perhaps those earlier novels had been anomalies and that this one would once again provide the richly developed, engaging characters and stories I have found in the author’s previous work.

Sadly, that didn’t happen.

Our hero, Adrian Hunter, is the son of a widowed duke’s daughter and a black abolitionist; he is one of five brothers, three of whom perished fighting in the American Civil War.  He’s good-looking, clever, compassionate and well-to-do; his one source of discontent is that his mother’s brother, Bishop Denmore, has never publicly acknowledged their familial relationship.  The bishop took Adrian into his household when he was a boy, where he acted as his uncle’s page, and then, once grown, as his secretary, but nobody knew he was anything other than a servant.  Still, the man’s frequent expressions of affection for his ‘favourite sister’  give Adrian hope that one day, the bishop will own him as his nephew, and it seems that day is imminent when Denmore asks Adrian for a favour.  He wants Adrian to pose as a valet in order to enter the household of his rival, Bishop Lassiter, whom Denmore suspects of something underhand.  Adrian will gather evidence which the bishop will use to expose Lassiter and then Denmore will acknowledge Adrian.  It’s clear from the outset that’s never going to happen – and it’s hard to credit that Adrian, whom we’re supposed to believe is intelligent and a good businessman, could be so credulous.

Anyway.  Adrian takes the job as valet and accompanies Lassiter on a visit to one of his cronies, Rector Miles, which is where he encounters Camilla Winters, one of the housemaids.  She’s pretty and inclined to flirtation, which Adrian thinks might work to his advantage if she knows anything useful – but before he can find out, they are set up to be discovered alone together and forced to marry.  Clearly the intention has been to discredit one or both of them – but why?

We know that Camilla Winters is in fact Camilla Worth, younger sister of Judith, heroine of Once Upon a Marquess. Their father, the Earl of Linney, had been executed for treason and their eldest brother, Anthony, has disappeared; Judith and her younger siblings, Theresa and Benedict, lived, until recently, in very straitened circumstances, and it was this life on the edge of poverty that Camilla wanted to escape when, aged, twelve, she decided to go to live with their uncle.  She might not have her family, but she would have plenty of new dresses and lemon tarts.  Judith, for whom family is incredibly important, was angry and upset and said some very nasty things, Camilla left, and they haven’t seen each other since.  Unfortunately for Camilla, things didn’t work out with her uncle and over the past nine years she has been passed from pillar to post, working as a companion to an elderly lady, then descending lower in the pecking order to become a domestic servant.  Humbled and cowed, she now works for Rector Miles for half-wages, which is all she’s worth on account of her sins, but through it all, she’s been sustained by one thing – hope.  Hope that one day, she will be loved, one day someone will choose her for her own sake.

Adrian is lovely – a thoroughly decent, kind man who takes his responsibilities seriously and wants to do his best for everyone around him.  The trouble is that at times he’s perhaps a little bit too good to be true – so much so, in fact, that he’s at risk of crossing the line between ‘understanding and forgiving’ and ‘gullible’. Camilla, however, proved to be a major stumbling block, with her repetitive, ‘woe-is-me-I-just-want-to-be-loved’ introspective navel gazing – and her contradictory self-flagellation and ruthless optimism.  And I just couldn’t buy the situation she’s in when we first meet her. She decided to leave her family home when she was twelve and then, when her life started to fall apart, never attempted to contact her siblings. It made no sense to me, regardless of the fact we’re told Judith told her never to come back; if you literally have nowhere else to go, you would at least make the attempt, wouldn’t you?

The romance, while it does have moments of tenderness and humour, is ultimately lacklustre.  Adrian and Camilla spend a decent amount of time together on the page, but not much of that time is spent actually building their relationship and there isn’t a great deal of chemistry between them.  When one of them realised they were in love, it came so much out of the blue that I was actually startled, and although their mutual honesty is refreshing, Camilla is such a one-note character that it was impossible to become invested in her.  She thinks she doesn’t deserve love because she abandoned her family in favour of a regular supply of lemon tarts – and if I never again read the words “long, slow falling-in-love”, it’ll be too soon.

There’s a lot going on in After the Wedding.  We’ve got a mixed-race hero, a heroine who has had romantic feelings for another woman, the rich, powerful men of the church being exposed as the petty hypocrites they are (and the casual racism of Adrian’s uncle is truly disgusting), the eternal struggle of women not to be oppressed, a woman of the upper classes having fallen on hard times to become a maid, and probably other things I either missed or can’t recall.  And as with the earlier books, the romance feels as though it’s been squashed to make room.

The novel is well-written, and the author’s way with words continues to impress.  But while it’s technically accomplished, the story lacks heart (for want of a better term) and ultimately falls flat.  I am sure there are many readers out there who will find more to enjoy in After the Wedding than I did, but much as it pains me to say it, I was sorely disappointed.

3.5 stars / B-

Posting May 28

Courtney Milan's one of my favorite authors, even though I only read her for the first time last year. Her romances are daring, original, vibrant, bantery, and incredibly clever. She takes risks and doesn't do what's typical for the genre very often. That's probably one of the benefits of her self-publishing, actually. Some of her books don't work out as well, because that's why risks are risks, but when they do, they're sheer perfection. Bless her for books like After the Wedding.



Because I want any excuse to read Courtney Milan, I requested After the Wedding without having read the first book in the series yet. That's probably not something a blogger should do, but what fun is life if you only do what you should, amirite?

I dispatched Once Upon a Marquess and Her Every Wish in no time. They're not my favorite Milan, but they do highlight what I love so dearly about her as an author. They're both massively quirky and about women pursuing careers above romance. Once Upon a Marquess is probably the quirkiest romance novel I've ever read, full of silly banter, ridiculous role play (and not of the sexual variety), and puns. It was at times puzzling, but it was never boring or cliched. Her Every Wish has an interracial romance, though I do wish we'd been along from when they first met, but it's cute and another good example of what makes Milan such a powerful author.

In After the Wedding, everything came together into one of those books that I absolutely, thoroughly love. At the end of Once Upon a Marquess, lost sister Camilla appears at the door, married and in need of help. After the Wedding rewinds back to just before the wedding and plays events out to that moment and a bit beyond. I was a bit thrown for a loop by that initially, but it works really well because so little was known about Camilla's whereabouts.

Camilla ends up wedded to Adrian Hunter, the half-black, legitimate son to a duke's daughter and an abolitionist, after they are locked in a room together for unclear nefarious purposes. Adrian initially seems cold and hard, leaving his new bride behind and walking at speed away from her, but the story quickly comes out. In search for his uncle's approval and acknowledgment of his family as relations, he reluctantly agreed to pose as a valet to suss out a rival Bishop's ill deeds, only to end up married because of this ill-considered favor.

Adrian and Camilla end up working together to try to find a way out of the marriage and to figure out what the evil-doers were up to, even as they both begin to wish they could stay together. They're both such pure and kind souls, and they have such a fantastic connection, one based in friendship and teamwork, not physicality, though they are obviously both attracted to one another. Due to the rules of forced marriages, they can only annul if they don't tell anyone they are husband and wife and do not consummate their union. This lets the sexual tension build deliciously.

As usual, the whole cast is charming. Adrian's grumpy and jaded brother Grayson, sarcastic and loving, immediately became one of my favorite people, and I sure hope there's a romance for him too. Camilla's siblings, Tessa and Benedict have POVs throughout, and they're charming and accidentally effective thieves. Though usually this trading of POVs wouldn't work in a romance novel, they're so cute that it totally doesn't feel like an annoying distraction from the actual romance in this case. And then there's Grayson's family's pottery, which is this amazing diverse little Eden; I hope Milan sets some more books and novellas there because I love it so.

The plot's strong, and I love the resolution. The ending isn't full perfection, but it's powerful and realistic. Adrian grows and learns to escape a toxic relationship. Camilla learns to value herself again and that she deserves love, a difficult lesson after her childhood. Milan doesn't play things out the way most romance novelists would, and that's why I love this book so damn much.

Give me more Worth Saga. ASAP. I NEED IT.

This was...fine. I love Milan's books, but this definitely felt a bit like it was just a stepping stone to get to Theresa's story. The plot wasn't particularly interesting or romantic, and Cam and Adrian were just okay. I did appreciate that this book was a diverse historical romance though! And as always, Milan writes some of the most feminist historical romances available.