I enjoyed the historical setting of TRAPPED AT THE ALTAR, set in the time of England's Charles II . The treatment of the historical facts was somewhat light, but in keeping with what I have come to expect of a Jane Feather story. The anachronisms were not egregious enough to jar me out of my enjoyment of the story as a whole.

This is a friends to lovers tale. Ivor and Ari were betrothed as young children to end the long feud between their families, and at age six, Ivor was sent to Ari's family to be raised. They were raised with the familial expectations that they would go to court to represent their families' interests. A merger of the Catholic Daunt and Protestant Chalfont families also allowed them some flexibility no matter what the religion of the monarch in power.

Ari feels herself in love with a poet, Gabriel, and is planning on sneaking away to Gabriel's family so the two lovers could remain together. But then Ari's father dies, and this precipitates the very rapid marriage of Ari to Ivor. Duplicitous Ari tries to scheme how she can outwit her family elders to end up with Gabriel instead. She then informs Gabriel that she can see no way of escaping marriage to Ivor, but she wants to carry on an affair with Gabriel once she's married. This headstrong and sly behavior made me actively dislike Ai.

Ivor is generally a more likeable character. I felt sorry for him throughout most of the book, given how manipulated and constrained he was by the two families. He is reasonably honorable, and trying to do his best in a difficult situation. He also tries to shield Ari from the consequences of her thoughtless behavior. However, he behaves like a jerk in parts of the story as well. I did not dislike him for the most part, as I did Ari, but I did not fall in love with him. I felt it hard to root for a happily ever after for these two characters.

Toward the end of the tale, there is The Great Misunderstanding, which could have been avoided if Ari and Ivor had simply talked things out. I find this to be a much misused construct for creating tension in romance, and it made me more annoyed with the characters. The buildup to the supposed misunderstanding was also very heavy handed. Despite these flaws, Feather's voice does a wonderful job at evoking the historical feel of the seventeenth century setting. Hardcore fans of Feather will want to read TRAPPED AT THE ALTAR, as may those who like the friends to lovers trope.