A review by eve_prime
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

4.75

After more than a dozen Vorkosigan books, finally, we get Ivan's story, leading up to Ivan's happily-ever-after. Ivan is Miles's handsome, "normal" cousin who has worked hard to keep a low profile and avoid all the stress and hassle that people like Miles find for themselves. Ivan is asked to keep his eye on a particular young woman, Tej, who may be in trouble. She's lovely and has a beautiful sister with blue skin who's in hiding with her. Soon they're both facing serious problems, and the best way that occurs to Ivan to keep Tej and her sister out of trouble is to marry her (with the mutual intention of divorcing as soon as it's reasonable to do so). So now Ivan has a wife, and they're very much in love (though still with the intention of divorcing), and the reader has the great pleasure of getting to see more of their lives and Ivan's home planet, which have generally been rushed past in the Miles books. Then, almost exactly at the midpoint of the book, Ivan abruptly finds his life in chaos when about a dozen people from Tej's past life catch up with them. Most of the rest of the book is as pell-mell as anything that's ever happened to Miles, but now it's Ivan's turn. So much fun!