The Last Bride
Time travel books are a wonderful subgenre; they allow the pleasure of experiencing another time, even if it is vicariously. If the reader has a favorite setting or period of history, it’s pure joy to read about it as discovered by a modern transplant. In The Last Bride, medieval France is the setting, and the labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral is the means by which the present-day heroine is transported back in time to 1202. The underlying theme is reincarnation and the reuniting of this young woman with her past (or future) husband who is languishing in feudal Normandy, beset by sneering relatives and retainers, and plagued by a ghost. Aidan is a hunk, but no one will have him for fear of the haunting who specifically attacks women he attempts to woo. Some of the modern-to-medieval wordplay is funny, such as Claire feeding Aidan Dove chocolate, but others did not work as well—such as Claire referring to a medieval tavern maid as a “breast reduction candidate.” It was enjoyable but fairly predictable.
