Guest Review: The Marriage Test by Betina Krahn

by Jessica Cornish published: May 13, 2010 No Comments

M is for Marriage Test, The
Guest review by Jessica Cornish.

This Book Is About

Orphaned at a young age, Julia of Childress has become the angel of the kitchen at the Convent of the Brides of Virtue. She may be renowned for whipping up meals that can make any mouth water, but all Julia wants is a kitchen of her own-and a husband for whom to cook. Unfortunately, the abbess has other plans-such as transforming Julia into a proper nun.

Griffin de Grandaise will do anything to make Julia his personal chef-even keep his vow to return her to the convent in one year…virtue intact. But nothing prepares him for Julia’s sumptuous meals-or for the maddening way she drives him wild. To make matters worse, it’s obvious Julia is determined to get him to propose a more lasting arrangement-and it will take every ounce of Grifffin’s will power to resist. [From book jacket of mass market paperback edition, with some minute paraphrasing]

My Thoughts On This Book

I loooovvveed this book! Many non romance readers tend to have an uninformed negative view of the genre, and while there are some trite stinkers out there, this is NOT one of them. This story is well conceived and and cleverly written, with fun characters that are both real and unique. The talented and isolated female chef, the greatest hidden treasure of the convent, desperately sought by a man who has been made resignedly miserable by the unfortunate circumstances of a hyper olfactory system-the man can smell everything!

Personally, I can relate; I can detect the differing smells of the soap, shampoo, perfume, etc when someone walks past me. If anyone in my large neighborhood starts up the BBQ, I know what they are cooking. Want to know where the perfume isle is in a department store, walk around with me and wait for the sneezing to start. So having a hyperactive sense of smell is a good and a bad thing, but when living in a period of history with little to no public hygiene or sanitation, I can imagine very clearly the horror of such a life.

To be so impaired by bad smells, to be overwhelmed by them so much that inhaling is an assault to the system is pure torture. And having one’s appetite stunted for years because of the rancid smells and poorly prepared, unseasoned meals masquerading as palatable…anyone who has ever gone a long period of food deprivation will relate to turning into a bit of a monster. With such an interesting situation and unique characters, entertaining events are bound to ensue upon interaction. The romance that develops between our two main characters is both touching and amusing, making this story most worthy of savoring.

But wait, there’s more! This is a Historical Romance, so in addition to the fun and touching love story, there is the wonderful history of the period. The book is resplendent with detailed descriptions and information on medieval food and spices, so much so that a reader can easily forget what genre they are in. Most of us remember learning about the spice trade in middleschool history class, but never was that class as fascinating as the in depth, personalized ‘lesson’ of spices, and the industry in this period of Europe, presented by the author. I was entranced by the author’s use of the characters to illustrate the spice market, the value of spices, and their original culinary uses.

The food! Oh the food!!! All the food prepared in the book, it made me hungry and curious all at once!

Now, I read the range of historical books (historical mystery, historical novels, historical romance, history books), and I am an avid reader of all areas of the romance genre. So surely it must be of particular note that even I was surprised by how amazingly the author did in bringing this history into this love story. Heck, at times I forgot that what I was reading was a romance novel. This book could have been shelved with the rest of the historical fiction section!

Upon the completion of this book (after doing the “good-read” happy dance, and giving the book a place of honor on my shelves) I started looking up books on the history of the spice trade in Medieval England and the history of food. That a book makes you want to learn more about its topics is a very good recommendation.

Now, as a lover of food there is a minute possibility that my opinion is biased by the fact that I was hungry while reading this book. But I doubt it . So if you love history, food, and romance, read this book.