When She Said I Do by Celeste Bradley

I was really looking forward to this book.  I enjoyed Ms. Bradley's Royal Four and Liars Club books and two are even on my 5 Star All-Time Favorite List (To Wed a Scandalous Spy and Seducing the Spy, so I was very excited to read that poor Ren Porter was going to get a book of his own.  I was also looking forward to the whole Worthington family.  Ms. Bradley had explained on her website that she was trying to portray a family similar to the Weasley family from Harry Potter so what could go wrong?  Apparently A LOT...

Now, Ms. Bradley's books have always been a little hit or miss for me.  As I mentioned, two of the Royal Four books are absolutely wonderful, however one of them, Surrender to a Wicked Spy, is absolutely dreadful.  The Liar books are really well-plotted and interesting to read, but the Heiress Bride books are not that great.  So the fact that she has started out a series with a clunker isn't a deal breaker for me because I know that the next book, And Then Comes Marriage, could be another 5 star offering.  I will probably just get it from the library first.

So what was my problem with the story?  On the surface, the plot is a good one.  Callie is interesting, Ren is sufficiently tortured yet still hero material, the Worthingtons appear to be insane (more on that later) and there are lots of cameos by the Liars and Royal Four members.  Here are my main beefs:

• What the F??? are Callie's parents thinking leaving her with some guy in a hood they've known for less than 24 hours?  Sorry, not buying the whole explanation at the end that maybe her crazy mother was in cahoots with the dressmaker.
• The Worthingtons are truly NUTS!  The whole family except for apparently Callie and a couple of brothers.  Not only are they crazy, but the level of neglect the whole family has suffered is appalling and not even a little bit endearing.  I know there were a few explanations thrown around like the older brother having been thought killed in Spain, but really???
• Did I miss where we discovered the ages of anybody but the 12 year old homicidal sister?  
• And speaking of her - WTH was all THAT about?  I'm sorry but I have no interest in plot lines that include 12 year olds plotting to murder their brother-in-law.
• I just didn't understand the whole Henry and Bertice plot and what was with the name Unwin?
• There should have been more interaction between Ren and the Liars that ALL dropped everything they were doing to check out Ren's new wife.  A nice little reconciliation scene would have been great.
• This book was very graphic in the sex scenes.  Way more than was necessary and they went on for pages so when I was skimming them it felt like I was missing half the book.  

So, 1 Star is how I would rate this book.  Like I said, I will try out the next one just because Ms. Bradley can write wonderful stories.  Unfortunately this is not one.