A Perfect Wedding

Marjorie MacTavish might like to strangle the person who sang My Heart Will Go On. When the Titanic sank, it took the love of her life with it. In the time since, she has seen her two dearest friends find love, but she has remained alone, preferring the memory of love to the risk of new love. Dr. Jason Abernathy can empathize. His young wife died not too long ago, taking his heart with her to Heaven, or so he thinks until something begins to change in his friendship with Marjorie. Working together to help the Chinese of San Francisco and performing in the Pirates of Penzance begins to open their eyes to the love neither is sure they are ready for, but both need. Yet, the road ahead is not completely smooth for their love. Supported by characters from the prior books and set amid a rich culture, Ms. Robbins concludes her trilogy on a bright note. Warm humor pervades this story of new beginnings and hope. As usual, Loretta threatens to steal the show with her vibrant nature, but that is enjoyable.

In April of 1912, Marjorie MacTavish was one of the few survivors when the mighty "Titanic" went down. Leonard, her fiancée, went down with it. Marjorie believed her heart died with Leonard that tragic night. The only good thing about that cruise was that she met Loretta. It is now September, 1915. Marjorie may have been born in Glasgow and had poverty-stricken beginnings, but now she lives in San Francisco. Marjorie is the companion and secretary of Loretta Quarles. (A nine month, pregnant with twins, very outspoken, and wonderful friend.) The only draw back is that Loretta has a childhood chum named Jason. Though Loretta calls him "my friend", Marjorie calls him "the bane of my existence". But that is about to change. Though he has teased her for three years, Dr. Jason Abernathy is charmed by Marjorie and her soft brogue. When he learns she is in the cast of a local church's opera, he immediately joins as well. And when Lo Sing, his nursing assistant, needs the doctor to help the wounded in Chinatown after a tong war, Marjorie offers her pair of hands as well. Marjorie could not possibly know that she was about to enter the mess surrounding the Chinese Exclusion Act, a tong war, or a certain doctor's heart. **** Author Anne Robins (A.K.A. Alice Duncan) has another winner in this interesting tale set within San Francisco and its famous Chinatown. There is plenty of romance and suspense to keep you reading until the very end. As you read you will find out much about women's suffrage and the Chinese Exclusion Act. However, Anne Robins has blended it well into the story and you probably will not even realize you are learning something! Smoothly done indeed. **** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

In 1912 Marjorie MacTavish leaves Glasgow, Scotland to catch the maiden voyage of the Titanic accompanied by her fiancé. On board Marjorie befriends Loretta Quarles. Although Marjorie and Loretta survive the sinking of the Titanic, the former's fiancé dies in the tragedy. In 1915 Marjorie resides in San Francisco where she works as secretary and personal companion to Loretta. She enjoys her work for her outspoken friend, a champion of women's suffragette, but feels Loretta's childhood friend Dr. Jason Abernathy is a nuisance and the bane of her existence. Jason enjoys teasing Marjorie, who he would like to see on a social basis, but she rejects his minor advances. He even joins the church choir to be near her. When his nursing assistant Lo Sing informs him that a tong war in Chinatown has injured many people, Jason and Marjorie go to help. As she sees a different side of the doctor, Marjorie begins to fall in love, not knowing she already owns Jason's heart. In her third "perfect" historical romance (see A PERFECT STRANGER and A PERFECT ROMANCE), Anne Robins provides a terrific tale that enables the audience to get a close look at San Francisco just prior to the United States entering WWI. Especially intriguing is Chinatown and the treatment of Chinese including specific prejudicial racial laws aimed at control of the Asian immigrant population. The romance between the lead couple is charmingly presented even when the duo works as a team providing medical care to Chinese victims of the tong war and other racially motivated incidents. A PERFECT WEDDING is a fine early twentieth century Americana tale. Harriet Klausner