The Impossible Bride
Ivy Books, 2002
Allie Shaw

Our second book in this column entitled The Impossible Bride is Allie Shaw’s second book. The Impossible Bride’s heroine is Deborah Edgerton, Texas’ Senator Maxwell’s secretary in Shaw’s first book, The Impossible Texan. In The Impossible Texan, Deborah’s past was revealed and created a scandal for her in Austin. In The Impossible Bride, she is given an opportunity to make a new life for herself in Galveston as an assistant to Pat O’Connor. However, upon her arrival in a town several miles from Galveston, she discovers that she has been deceived and she is actually going to be Patrick ("Trick") O’Connor’s wife.

Patrick immediately notices that Deborah is quite a woman. He realizes that he is going to have to convince her to cooperate with his scheme to marry her immediately and then go from there to his home in Galveston. Deborah devises a scheme of her own to try to escape Trick’s plans for her. However, he is able to lasso her and continue on their trip with her riding in front of him on his horse.

Upon arriving in Galveston he explains that his wife died a few years before and he had promised his son a new mother by his sixth birthday. The day after Deborah’s arrival is Duncan O’Connor’s sixth birthday. Duncan is very pleased with Deborah and can’t quite believe that his father was able to keep his promise.

As time goes by Patrick enjoys his marriage to Deborah more and more. He becomes very aware of her keen intelligence and ability to assess the personality of people with whom she and Patrick socialize. He also enjoys her delicate beauty. Deborah quickly becomes aware of his handsome masculinity and the deep love and devotion he has for his son.

A few days into the marriage Trick receives letter which takes the three of them on an exciting adventure to Venezuela. Even with Duncan along on the trip, Trick manages to make it into a honeymoon for Deborah and himself.

The Impossible Bride is fantastic! I enjoyed every page and couldn’t wait for the next one. Shaw shows us several facets of Deborah’s personality early on. However, she saves the fascinating aspects of Trick O’Connor and gives them to us one at a time. Not only is he handsome, virile and fascinating, he is also a very troubled man. As I made my journey through The Impossible Bride, I slowly began to understand his attractive qualities and the depth of his emotions.

In The Impossible Bride Shaw reveals her ability to write beautiful love scenes. Her technique pulls the reader into the passion shared between Trick and Deborah. The love and sensuous relationship that developed from their strange marriage surprised both of them. Trick married Deborah believing that having a wife and a mother for Duncan would be quite sufficient but slowly his mental discussions with his deceased wife disappeared as he begins to accept and enjoy his relationship with Deborah. Deborah thought she could never love a man who had forced her into a marriage.

Shaw tells us that when she wrote The Impossible Texan she didn’t know how it would end. When she and her editor were polishing up the final draft, it became clear to her that Deborah’s story was not over. Shaw’s philosophy is that an author never really plans the story – they are just along for the ride. She also feels that sometimes authors get so attached to certain characters that if they haven’t wrapped up the loose ends with that character, it is difficult to say goodbye and hence a sequel is created. The Impossible Bride is the end of the "impossible" series.

I asked her to elaborate on the inspiration of the La Roja (the "red pearl") and research she did on Venezuela and Galveston. She said the idea of the pearl just came to her one day and then the color red was born out of Patrick’s family’s fascination for the color red.  Shaw did not visit Venezuela but says that Margarita Island it truly an island off the Venezuelan coast which experienced a pearl rush during the mid-19^th century and today is a tourist attraction. She visited Galveston and discovered that the horse Conch, the animal that produces the tomato-red pearl, is native to the Gulf Coast. Much to her disappointment, as she thought it had been her idea.

I mentioned to her that I had never heard the nickname "Trick" associated with the name "Patrick" and wondered where it came from. She invented the nickname, and we both agree that Patrick would never consent to an ordinary nick-name. "Trick" immediately brought to my mind a mischievous boy with an outrageous personality and intimidated by very few people or situations. When you read The Impossible Bride, let me know if you agree that she picked a perfect nickname by responding to me through the website email.

Allie visited Borders Books & Music in Naperville, Illinois to sign copies of The Impossible Bride. Allie Shaw at Borders

Shaw’s next book, which is still in its early stages, is a "dual identity" story set in the late 19^th century San Francisco. She hints that she has been imagining what it would be like if someone like Zorro met someone like Lois Lane in that time period. I can’t even begin to picture the scenario, so I look forward to the trip her characters take her on in this next book.

Kaye Hatfield

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