ARC Review: What the Bride Wore by Jade Lee

What the Bride Wore continues the Bridal Favors series from Jade Lee. It is a delightful and unique series that surrounds the workers and customers of the Bridal Favors dress shop. This third installment deals with the shop’s fabric buyer, widow Irene Knopp. Her love interest is Grant Benton, the Earl of Crowle, the mysterious missing brother introduced in the novella, Winning the Bride. While What the Bride Wore can be read as a stand-alone, your enjoyment of the story would be greatly enhanced by reading the previous books and novellas in the series. There are quite a few recurring characters in this one.

Grant Benton has left behind his old life and his identity in order to build the money needed to reclaim the family estate by running a fabric mill. Irene enters his life just as he discovers that he will not be able to purchase the estate. Irene is actually a lady, the daughter of an earl, who lost the husband she loved and finds purpose in her job as a buyer. The attraction between the two is immediate, but many things get in the way, including their insecurities and the possibility that someone wants to murder Irene. Can these two damaged souls get past the issues that surround them and discover that they really are made for each other?

I really enjoyed What the Bride Wore. Lee likes to delve deeply into her characters’ minds, making the reader feel that they really know them. I understood what made Grant and Irene confused about their goals and feelings. It was great fun to become reacquainted with characters from the previous books. The on-going story line of character Wendy Drew was further developed, leading to her story in the next book (I hope!). There was a good degree of action and the steamy scenes were hot, sensitive and loving. What the Bride Wore has all of the components of a good Regency romance. My advice is to be sure to read the entire series – each one is really good and they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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