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3.0 out of 5 stars
Average test score., Jun 29 2004
Gently born but impoverished, Julia of Childress has become one of the greatest cooks in medieval France. Jealously guarded by the abbess of the convent in which she was raised, Julia longs for a husband and family of her own as many of the other girls at the convent have found. Finally, along comes a count with enough clout to make the abbess relinquish Julia's considerable talents for the period of a year. Though she's incensed at being bartered for like a piece of property, Julia is excited at the prospect of adventure outside the convent walls--she hopes that at her new home she might be able to snag a husband.Griffin, the Comte de Grandaise, has an olfactory peculiarity. He was born with a sense of smell so powerful it will put modern day readers under the impression that it is akin to a super-power. Unable to stomach most food because of his condition, Griffin is enamored of Julia's cooking and determinedly wins her services for a year. Not prepared to be presented with a noble born lady instead of a homely, lower class cook, Griffin finds himself drawn to Julia for more than just her culinary skills. At first I was as enchanted with "The Marriage Test" as every character in it seemed to be with Julia's food. I loved the large role the food itself played, it really added to the entertainment value of the story. Later, some of the food description did get a little old, but overall I didn't feel it detracted in any way from the story. Julia is a strong woman, but not headstrong. She realizes she has to play by the rules of her time and does the best she can to arrange her life the way she wants it without the extreme hysterics we so often see from medieval heroines. Later in the story, when Griffin is forced at sword point to marry Julia, her reaction is so real to the situation and afterward her reaction to Griffin's treatment is so genuine I'm moved to tears. Griffin doesn't fare as well as Julia. His character never quite gets the polish it needs. It seems he has a decent backstory, but it's not explored satisfactorily. In the end, he's a little bit of an enigma and a little bit of an idiot. I can understand Julia's attraction to him, but I'm never quite as sure what his real feelings are. The romance isn't bad, in fact it has moments of greatness, but they're not enough to make for a stellar read. Toward the end, the love story is resolved a little too early so the author introduces a silly, totally undeveloped hang-up on Griffin's part that has me gritting my teeth as it's an obvious device to add a final bit of drama to the romance. Not that the hang-up was the only problem because the story had really run out of steam before that. All in all "The Marriage Test" is easy to read and at places truly entertaining and moving, but doesn't quite pull together into a really good book. I give it three stars because two wouldn't do justice to the excellent heroine and the well researched and entertaining plot. I've read a Betina Krahn book before, but I can't remember which one it was, which may not be a good sign. I would read this author again if one of her storylines seemed like something I'd like.
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