Book Review: A School for Brides by Patrice Kindl

I probably picked up A School for Brides: A Story of Maidens, Mystery, and Matrimony from the dollar store, since it seems newish, although the thrift store is also a contender. I bought it because it seemed frothy and bubbly and fun, and it kind of was. Summary:

The Winthrop Hopkins Female Academy of Lesser Hoo, Yorkshire, has one goal: to train its students in the feminine arts with an eye toward getting them married off. This year, there are five girls of marriageable age. There’s only one problem: the school is in the middle of nowhere, and there are no men. 

This book takes place sometime in the Regency era, as there are references to pelisses and Napoleon. The writing tone is that fun retro tone, as if the book were written during that time by a Regency person (albeit one with some modern sensibilities). The setting reminded me of a Regency romance novel I'd read a while back, which was also about a young ladies' school set in a remote English village/town with few marriage prospects. That one was different, though as it was purposefully a refuge for girls who wanted a different life than they were expected to have (i.e. bluestockings and headstrong girls). I want to say it was by Tessa Dare? Some decently big romance writer. That series was more bodice-ripper, and very different than this book, so no copying was going on.

 The author makes the choice to refer to everyone by the way they would be referred to in society. This means all the girls are referred to as Miss Crabbe etc., which was somehow much more confusing than if they'd been named to us as Mary or Rosalind. Luckily there is a character names and descriptions list in the front of the book, which was very helpful. Still, all the girls, except for a few archetypes (the 12 year old baby of the school, the extremely shy possibly autistic girl, the wiseass comedian girl, the probably aroace bluestocking), kind of swam together. The same was true for the older/married women (I got some step/sisters confused). Robert the himbo footman is a beautiful cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. The other men were ok, I guess. No real standouts, save of course for the scoundrels (just gross, not sexy).

I would categorize this book as a young adult comic historical Regency mystery romance. There were a lot of storylines in this book, and while some were more interesting than others, I still enjoyed reading them. I figured out the two mysteries pretty quickly, and found the shy anxious girl's sad storyline very suspenseful. While we didn't spend enough time with each couple's relationship development, making their engagements seem a bit fast/out of nowhere, I felt that each storyline ended satisfyingly. I love the idea and setting of a girls' finishing school, but to provide romantic prospects for even the four oldest girls is a lot of storylines and characters to follow. 

Anyway, I did enjoy this book, and would read the next one (sort of a prequel about the step/sisters). Recommended for lovers of light fun Regency romances.

Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: March 29-30
From: dollar store?
Status: give away/sell

Cover notes: A cute pastel cover, which makes this book seem more frothy and chick lit-y than it is. The font is very '90s chick lit and an interesting choice.

Trigger warnings for this book (rather spoiler-y I'm afraid): Abusive, bullying, controlling nanny/parental figure; adult bullies possibly neurodivergent child, including making her stand on the edge of a tower because she's afraid of heights; absent and neglectful parents; golddigger older man stalks and tries to groom teenage girl into marrying him for her inheritance (otherwise no inappropriate discussions/actions); children tied to borderline-abusive wooden "posture" frames for a period of time; period-typical sexism; dating deception; classism; descriptions of dangerous old medical practices (i.e. leeches)