I tried really hard to get into this book and it's completely possible it was just my mindset at the time. I can see myself enjoying After the Wedding at a later date but right now, it just wasn't for me.

I'm a big Milan fan (as a person I think she's awesome, and as a writer I think she's one of the few truly innovative craftsmen of this genre), but this one wasn't my favorite. I spent quite a bit of the book wanting to throw Adrian out the nearest window. Despite that, it's a compelling read and the heroine is definitely interesting (in a pretty tragic sort of way).

*I received a review copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. I found the story line not believable, character that where out of character (for the time and place the story takes place). Heroine had way too many issues about herself and no self-esteem. Also too much inter dialogue as well.

I had to stop and abandon the book about 1/4 to 1/3 into it.

After the Wedding by Courtney Milan is the second in the Worth Saga, following Once Upon a Marquess.

In the first book we met Judith and Christian, and while we meet two of Judith’s four siblings, we only hear about Camilla, who took a spur of the moment opportunity when it presented itself and has then regretted it ever since.

When their father was found guilty for treason Judith became head of the household, and struggled to keep food on the table for her younger brother and sisters. An uncle offered to take Judith and Camilla in, however refused their younger sister, Theresa. Judith then refused, not wanting to leave anyone behind. Camilla, however, scared of the unknown, took the offer thinking it would mean a roof over her head in the very least.

The uncle however passes her on to someone who passes her on, and so forth, until she is basically a servant. And then she gets a little too close to a man who promises her everything yet leaves her ruined… and she is forced to move on again, however now at half pay. She finds herself servant to a rector who is at best a cad and at worst a bounder (sorry, I saw the chance to reference Austentatious and I had to take it) who is sneaking money meant for honourable things into his own pocket.

It is here that Camilla runs into Adrian, a man posing as a valet who is actually there on a mission from his uncle, to try to prove the rector as a disreputable man. However instead, the rector forces Camilla and Adrian into a compromised situation, which then gives him grounds to force them into an actual shotgun wedding, and toss them both out onto the street.

From there we have two people who are growing more and more attracted to each other, who are married so could legally act on these urges, however also want an annulment for the simple fact that it was a shotgun wedding and therefore they had no choice in the matter.

There are some other plot things here and there, but parts weren’t as clear as they could have been and the second quarter of the book dragged so much that it took me months to get through. Then it all picked up again and I finished the last half within an hour, and I can’t wait for the next one.

I love historical romance. I loved the Brothers SInister books. I did not love this book. It was missing something that is normally present in Courtney Milan's books.
I found the heroine annoying and couldn't really understand the premise.
Very disappointing. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road and Milan will go back to being her brilliant self with the next one. I am not ready to give up on her yet!

I've read quite a few of Ms. Milan's books and always enjoyed them. However, I'm kind of on the fence with "After the Wedding." In the beginning, I was intrigued with Camilla and Adrian in the altar scene. I wanted to know why they were married at gunpoint. Unfortunately, the flashback at how they ended up there was not as interesting as I thought it would be.

I found Camilla's character annoying with her constant inner monologue about her unworthiness and her desire to have love in her life. I understand how she would feel that way, but I didn't need to be reminded of it in every chapter. Adrian, on the other hand, was way too trusting and it took him most of the book to come to the conclusion that not every one deserves second chances.

I thought the biracial twist was interesting and it was the first time I'd read a relationship like that in historical romance. All in all, "After the Wedding" starts off intriguing, but by the time I got to the end, all I could think was "it's about time."

I didn't notice until after finishing that this is apparently number two in a series; it didn't feel like I was missing any information, so this can certainly be read alone. I was just looking for something light to distract me on the plane a few weeks ago.

I'm not sure how historically accurate this may be, although I'm sure that's not the point. The male main character was a little annoying in his hopefulness: it felt at times like he was willfully deceiving himself. The female main character was a little bit too Pollyanna; her outlook didn't seem sustainable. But still a sweet enough story with a predictably happy ending.

I really enjoyed After the Wedding. I had just read The Pursuit of.... and loved it and was hoping to see the heros make a cameo. They did get a few mentions, but alas, no cameo. That’s ok though because I loved Adrian and Camilla. I loved their long, slow falling in love. The writing and pace were excellent.

Courtney Milan is consistently one of the best and most interesting historical romance authors out there. Her romances feel genuine and true to history, while exploring diverse characters and parts of historical romance outside the ballroom. Recommended!

I am a big fan of Courtney Milan but 2 books in to the Worth Saga and I have to say that The Brother's Sinister series is much better. This book just took a long to time to grab me and even when it began to pick up I just wasn't as into it as I wanted to be. I don't know if I'll be reading the next one.

I love Courtney Milan and I so wanted to love this book. She always tackles things that were taboo during the time periods of her stories and so I was looking forward to this one so much. However, I stopped reading and just skimmed through the book after 30% because this story was SO difficult to get into. It was slow starting and just seemed more complicated that it needed to be, I didn’t feel like either character had any depth to them beyond the superficial and couldn’t feel any connection. Really gutted that this wasn’t up to the standards of the brothers sinister series. 1 star.

Let me be honest. When I started this book I had absolutely no recollection of the first installment in the series. I wasn’t even sure if I had read it until I went back and looked on Goodreads. No wonder I had forgotten. It’s been three years since Courtney Milan wrote the beginning of this series. But don’t worry, you don’t need to remember of have even read that book in order to jump right into this one.

This is an interracial historical romance, which is a bit of a rarity. But one of the things I like best about it was how low key the race element was. Yes, the hero and heroine are of different ethnicities, but this love story isn’t about their race. It was about love and acceptance. About choosing someone to love and who chooses to love you in return.

The heroine, Camilla, has spent the last nine years praying for someone to love her. I didn’t even have to be romantic love. Just a friend or really anyone who wanted to keep her around. After an estrangement from her family, she was shuffled from home to home to home. As the story begins, she is essentially a servant in the house of a rector. And though she wanted nothing more than to keep her nose clean and live in a way that could make the man proud, she ended up a pawn in a scheme to hide some of his wrongdoings.

The hero, Adrian, is the nephew of a bishop. All his life, he’s yearned for his uncle’s love and acceptance. But the man was too worried about appearances. You see, the bishop is white and Adrian’s father is black. Time and time again, Adrian has begged and scraped to please his uncle. Now the man wants him to go undercover as a valet to uncover secrets about one of his rivals. That is how he crosses paths with Camilla.

A short time after they meet, they are forced into marriage by the rector. Literally at gunpoint. Camilla doesn’t really mind the possibility of a future with Adrian. But he takes exception to being forced into marriage with a stranger and sets off to get an annulment. Unfortunately, his uncle won’t help with that until he gets the evidence he was sent to retrieve in the first place.

So basically the entire book, these two are married, but it is an epically slow burn because if they make any moves to consummate their marriage, it cannot be annulled. And it’s so sad, because Camilla yearns so deeply to be wanted and loved. She thinks the world of Adrian and you can tell that he has regard for her. It’s just not enough to stay married.

There’s this running thing in the book about falling in love slowly and how they both deserve that. And it’s exactly what ends up happening. I had so many feels for poor Camilla. She is so ratchet and broken inside as the book begins and she really comes into her own. There is not a lot of sex or romantic overtures. This is a relationship born through growing friendship. I thought it was quite well done…. even if I did not remember Camilla’s family history.

Props to the altar for the diversity here, not only with race, but a bisexual heroin and other LGBT characters. And I got a little thrill to find out that the couple in Milan’s Hamilton anthology were ancestors of Adrian.

In an author’s note, more installments in this series are promised ahead. Hopefully it won’t take as long for us to revisit the series.

Rating: B/B+

I really love this author. She tackles interesting social issues, and has particularly well developed heroines. This wasn't my favourite of her stories, but I do hold her work up to a higher standard than most authors.

Phew, this book isn't easy to rate. You see, on the one hand, I really loved the storyline and its characters but on the other hand, I felt as if both of them sounded a bit like a broken record which made for some lengths.

Where Camilla just hopes to be loved (and you really feel with her and you are upset and sad and just want her to find that love, finally), Adrian trusts the wrong man and is disappointed over and over again. And, I mean, you really start to hate this man, who uses him and who never acknowledges him despite all promises. Those two characteristics are repeated over and over again and it gets a bit annoying no matter how much you feel with them. Apart from that, well, I would have loved to kick the two of them the one or the other time because they just didn't understand and didn't believe and.. well.

It also feels a bit like there are too many ingredients. A case of "I kissed a girl", people of color and the problems they faced at that time, the church and those who represent it in a decidedly unchristian way and somehow things just pop up and you try to understand whether they are important for the story or not.
On the whole, I really enjoyed reading this book though despite all those points that I mentioned. It is sweet and I simply loved the characters and wanted them to get their HEA...right now.

This one unfortunately did not work for me. I was really excited to because our hero is related to the mc of In Pursuit Of. I just couldnt get into this one and I love the very idea the characters and the story but it just wasnt working for me. Case if its me not you book

This was so heart warming and heart breaking at many times. I loved their individual stories and how well they paired. I like that the author was daring enough to go outside the traditional ton box with an interracial romance. Questions were answered from the previous book, but now we have so many more. I am anxious to see how this family develops and all the who, what, and wheres play out.

I love a lonely heroine, and Camilla is one of the loneliest. I love a kind hero, and Adrian is the kindest hero I’ve read in some time. Together you’d think this would be an easy, idyllic romance—but it’s got some of the deepest, truest conflict. How do two people exist together? This book wants to find out, Beautiful, heartbreaking, and utterly riveting.

"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.