The Marriage Lesson [Mass Market Paperback]

This story is romantic and funny at the same time. The character of Thomas is so typical male that it's hilarious to read about him. When it comes to love he seems to be rather dense. I think in the end his friends even feel sorry for him because of his lack of smarts where Marianne is concerned. Marianne is truly a heroine to fall in love with. She is smart and full of wit. She is not going to let any man stand in her way. She is very independent and imaginative. She keeps Thomas on his toes. And the romantic things Thomas does to win Marianne's heart are so funny.

The secondary characters are also very well developed and likable. I would like to see more written about Pennington and Berkley. Marianne's sisters were also very enjoyable characters. Especially when they teamed up to help Thomas with Marianne. And the whole idea of Marianne writing the "Absolutely True" stories definitely added some spice to the book.

This book is very enjoyable and is easy to read. I found myself reading faster and faster to get to the end to see what happened. It was definitely a great way to spend a few hours.

The characters in this story are endearing; I look forward to seeing them again in future stories. The romantic and sexual tension kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime. Victoria Alexander will hereon in be ranked with Julia Quinn, Christina Dodd, and Jill Barnett as favorite authors of romantic humor.

However, the lady did protest a bit too much, in my opinion. Surely even a dimwit could have divined that Thomas was in love with Marianne, even if he didn't think to say the actual words. And the sexual encounters between the two were too numerous to be consistent with this period. One would have been enough to make any unmarried couple fearful of pregnancy, but as many times as these two go at it...well, it's an accident waiting to happen! And, from the start, I was doubtful that society of the period would cast an approving eye on a situation where three young girls came to live in a home with an eligible bachelor, even sporting a dragon of a chaperone.

Still, this is a captivating story that will have you in tears of joy and laughter clear to the end. Let's have more like this one, Ms. Alexander!

Thomas is charming, sensual, strong, masterful and an accomplished lover , as any romantic novel hero should be, but at the same time has flaws,and makes mistakes and even gets himself in ridiculous situations sometimes. Surprisingly, that doesn't take away from him, on the contrary, makes him even more endearing and believable. Marianne is bold, romantic, intelligent and a dreamer. I liked the fact that she wears glasses, its kind of different.

I enjoyed the sex scenes in this book, they were passionate, and well written and balance a story that otherwise would have been too "light". A nice surprise in a Victoria Alexander book, that sometimes tend to not include enough or not develop well this type of scenes.

The story is funny and romantic, althogh there are some things I had trouble believing, like the fact that Thomas needed a clue from Marianne sisters to figure out the stories were about them. Hello? It was pretty obvious.

One thing I have noticed about Alexander's novels is that the characters sometimes tend to act in a maner more appropiate to this century than the rigid English society of that time. The heroines are far too bold and the tolerant and even encouraging attitude of the older people (specially the Dowager Duchess)is a little unbelievable.

But in general is a good story, fast paced, passionate and charming. A real page turner (I could barely put it down) I strongly recommend it.