Tag: romance

The Bad Bridesmaid, by Rachael Johns

Waylen: ‘Mum’s about to call you, and I thought I’d better give you a heads-up.’
Fred (aka Winifred): ‘Don’t tell me she’s got a new boyfriend.’
Waylene: ‘Worse. She’s getting married’.

So begins a desperate campaign by Fred, or Winifred as she hates to be called, to stop her mother, Tracy, marrying for the sixth time. She accepts being nominated as her mum’s Matron of Honour only because being on the spot will give her a better chance to stop what she feels is a terrible mistake. How far will she go to carry out her plot?

Rachel Johns novel the Bad Bridesmaid is avidly read by our romance loving bear, Lizbeth
Our in-house lover of romance, Lizbeth Bear, sets aside Sense and Sensibility to find out just how bad a bridesmaid can be

As we compulsively read on to find out why on earth Fred is so antagonist toward marriage generally and for her mother in particular, we are taken from Perth to Norfolk Island and even across to the world to London. Why has her mother married so often though? And isn’t Fred just a little too upset about her mother apparently finding happiness?

Fred is even writing a book called “21 Rules For Not Catching Feelings” in which the 21st rule (this is not a spoiler) is, ‘If anyone shows signs of attachment, end it immediately.’ When she meets her prospective brother-in-law, Leo, Fred is horrified to discover she might in fact be catching a feeling or two. Her Rule 21 faces a severe test.

Among the little treats for readers to love along the way are the descriptions of Norfolk Island where the wedding is planned to take place, the references to Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and to the old movie, The Parent Trap, and the fact that Fred works in a library and that her house mate is a rag doll cat called Aunty. (Go on, try resisting all that. You have to read it now, don’t you.)

Author Rachael Johns not only has 30 novels to her name but also hosts an online bookclub and does podcasts and library visits. I heard her speak at a local library and she is very entertaining. Her books tend to be corralled under the heading “Women’s Literature” but she herself prefers the term “Life Literature”. For a good example of an often sombre, thoughtful and satisfying read about serious issues faced in life, consider looking for her novel, “The Greatest Gift” which revolves around issues of infertility and egg donation. This bloke really recommends that one.

Where to find The Bad Bridesmaid

All Rachael’s books can found through Rachael Johns own website . You can also listen to audio extracts there. They are available on all the big on-line retailer sites and in actual bookshops too. Print, Audio, and Ebook formats are available. I suggest getting a copy or several in print because after reading them, you are going to want to press them on to your friends so they can enjoy them too.

Your host, Mark, is Mawson Bear’s Guardian, photographer, editor, blundering typist, chocolates fetcher and cushions re-arranger. Mawson’s own Blog is Mawson, A Writer-Bear for Our Befuddled Times.
Baffled Bear Books ABN: 4787910119.

Runaway Weddings: We Dash To Gretna Green

Welcome back to the adventures of Scotland The Brave in the UK of Great Britain. With his Guardians, Scotty explored London, Stonehenge and Bath, Plymouth, Glastonbury, Cardiff and Ludlow, and Chester, and Liverpool. (Note: This post also appears on Mawsonbear.blog)

Scotty the Brave in his trusty steed or tour bus at last heads to Scotland

Next, they mounted their trusty Tour Bus and travelled to the Lake District. (Catch up with the story by clicking those links.) Now they are bound at last for Scotland. From Bowness-on-Windermere, the road took them through Cumbria and up past Carlisle.

Map of Scotty's route from Lake Windermere to Gretna Green
Dash to Scotland

To the Famous Blacksmith’s Shop:  Two miles over the border with Scotland they came to the village of Gretna Green where Scotty readily identified the Famous Blacksmith’s Shop by the big words, “Famous Blacksmith Shop” written on it.

Photo of the Blacksmith's Shop at Gretna Green under a rainy sky

REGENCY NOVELS: This place was important for eloping couples and it still is for every reader of Regency Period novels. Scotty sometimes joined our Teddettes Jane Austen Bookclub as they read all the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. Many ‘Regency’ novels feature an elopement to Greta Green. In Pride and Prejudice, for instance,  when Lydia Bennet elopes with George Wickham she leaves a note to say their destination is Gretna Green. (In fact, they stay in London and are tracked down by Mr Prejudice. But I digress.)

The Tedettes Jane Austen Book Club with their Regency novels
Tedettes Jane Austen Book Club

The Dash for Gretna Green: Thousands of eloping couples made their ‘dash’ across the border to reach this very building, often with furious fathers and jilted fiancés in hot pursuit. We couldn’t look inside The Famous Blacksmiths Shop because a wedding was being conducted at that very hour. Although that particular couple had not eloped (as far as we knew) they were still getting married over the famous anvil. But why an anvil?

The old Blacksmiths Shop in Gretna Green painted white with black trimmings and chimneys

Runaway Weddings: Gretna’s “runaway marriages” began in 1754 when a new marriage law for England and Wales meant a parent could veto the marriage of a person under the age of 21. But in Scotland, if a declaration was made before two witnesses, almost anybody had the authority to conduct the marriage ceremony. The blacksmiths in Gretna Green became known as “anvil priests” . For nearly 200 years the blacksmiths married couples over the now famous Marriage Anvil. The ringing sound of the hammer banged down on the anvil would signify that another couple had been joined in marriage.

The Guardians clasp hands under the handclasp sculpture at Gretna Green

These days hundreds of couples still marry here and also renew their vows here. In the picture above, Scotty’s Guardians were actually trying to shelter from the rain but since they were on the spot they did a handclasp as well.

View when passing though Dumfries and Galloway

On to Glasgow: From the border to Glasgow is 110 miles, not so far at all really, but this stretch of country, now called Dumfries and Galloway, holds much history.

View when passing though Dumfries and Galloway which have lots of wind turbines

For a long time it was wild ‘Borders’ country, which neither English nor Scottish crowns fully controlled, and where the fearsome reivers stole cattle and spread strife. (The ancestors of one of the Guardians had been among these dread reivers. More of that later.) All these events had taken place in the countryside sliding by outside Scotty’s window seat in the bus.

In the next episode, Scotty sails on bonny Loch Lomond. Don’t miss that one! (Click on the FOLLOW buttons so as to not miss anything.

BOOKS with Scotland in them (our Scotty, that is)

Scotty is the star of a very special book called When A Brave Bear Fights Cancer: A Get Well Soon Gift by Carola Schmidt. In the book, Scotty a little bear who gets a bad sickness called cancer. He’s worried and often scared because cancer is scary.  But the doctors and nurses and other patients help him. The book is to help kids feel much more brave when they are getting treatment. It’s available in paperback and Kindle. Look for the brave little bear wearing trews on the cover.

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You can also see Scotty in all the books by Mawson. One is called It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In (in that one he delivers the post) and another is She Ran Away From Love (he delivers the post again.) In Dreamy Days and Random Naps you can see him being a king and also a superb guitarist. Don’t miss that one! This is what the books look like:


Mawson Bear and his friends Caddy Bear and Bomund Bear hold books by Mawson

Mawson’s Guardian says: You can find Mawson’s books on this Link here, and on his Writer-Bear Page on Amazon.