Too Wild To Wed?, by Jayne Ann Krentz

Too Wild To Wed?, is one of the last category novels written by Jayne Ann Krentz. Around the time this one was published (1991), she was writing some of my favourite of her books, like Family Man and Perfect Partners, so I had high hopes for this one.

Swept off her feet…

History professor Letty Conroy had led a quiet, scandal-free life--until she found out fiance Xavier Augustine had had her investigated and declared perfect wife material. They Letty set out to prove him wrong. She had some wild and naughty plans that impudent Augustine might not approve of .. . .

Xavier's nickname might be "Saint" Augustine, but there was nothing saintly about him or his troubled past. He'd come up the hard way, and he wasn't about to let Letty ruin his reputation--or hers. He would have to rescue her from the wild celebrations of the annual university medieval gathering--like a knight in shining armor. Little did he know that Letty wasn't exactly a damsel in distress!

It shows that this is a later book than some of the awful early-90s things JAK has written, but it's not yet up to the level of her single titles. My grade would be a C+.

Jayne Ann Krentz's heros have mellowed with the years, but this particular one I didn't really warm up to. The way he was so condescending to the heroine drove me nuts. I really would have prefered for him to spend much more time scared that his actions had lost him Letty. As it is, he was always confident that he'd be able calm her down, that this was nothing more than somewhat ruffled feathers. He never did realize why exactly Letty was so angry with him, and he never realized that her anger was justified.

Letty, a bit too sweet and naive. She did try to stand up for herself, but this was nothing more than a gesture, as she was way too easily manipulated by Xavier into doing exactly what he wanted.

The secondary relationship, between Xavier's detective friend and Letty's friend who helped her research Xavier, was potentially interesting, but it simply didn't get much space.

The one thing I loved was the backdrop to the story, both the academic comunity and the Medieval Revelers' convention. I wish there was something like that I could attend, even if it didn't end too well! ;-)