Penelope Stratton

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I went into The Devil’s Bride by Lucy Gordon expecting something devilish, paranormal. What I got instead was an absolutely lovely and entertaining historical romance that was thoroughly engaging. The characters were fantastic and well defined. Rupert was drool-worthy and Calvina grew from the meek girl at the start to a force to be reckoned with by the end. The pacing is spot-on. Never slow, never fast, just right! We get to grow with the show more characters and with their relationship, which is great! I haven’t giggled and gushed as much as I did reading this in quite some time. Seeing these lovely beautiful idiots fall in love with one another and then try to deny it, fight it, each thinking the other despises them. It’s fantastic! Finally, throw in a bit of a twist at the end with a small little mystery and attempted murder, The Devil’s Bride by Lucy Gordon is an amazingly entertaining historical romance that hits the spot for a lovely light, delightful read!

// I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this title. // show less

Full of juicy angst. Well written with almost a lyrical quality. I found the heroine to be particularly strong. Especially after she figures out the whole revenge angle. The hero was an ass but I enjoyed him. I especially liked how once she figured out his revenge angle we had a lot of scenes from his POV that showed how remorseful he was and how he was trying desperately not to lose her.

The only thing that pulled it down a star for me was the HUGE misstep the author took at the end. The show more heroine had been in love with the hero's cousin when they were young but had been forced to leave him and the cousin had subsequently died in a car wreck, a suspected suicide. Hence the revenge. So here was this beautiful young love that pervades and drives the whole book. The author ruins the whole thing be making the cousin have been, unbeknownst to anyone, a drug dealing layabout. So when they discover that he was in fact killed by a rival drug dealer they can both feel better about the fact that they love each other now. I mean sure she needed to come to some realization that she hadn't killed him but couldn't the author have left the love alone and let him be a nice young man who she used to love? Cop out. Big cop out. show less

In Regency England Lord Rupert Glennister reputation as 'Devil Glennister' has badly misfired and he has been ostracised by the ton. Only a marriage to a virtuous lady can redeem him.
Calvina Bracewell, an orphaned daughter of a parson, is thrown onto his path. But their marriage is anything but calm and safe. Is it just her imagination that her life is in danger, and who from.
I really enjoyed this story, it kept be amused and didn't flag. I am getting to like these romances as long as there show more are interesting characters and some mystery.
A NetGalley Book show less

I don't think I've read this author before but I'm definitely going to try her again. This was a lovely story about a woman who runs a boarding house and has a small girl with a facial deformity. They meet a poor young Italian man in a park and as he doesn't seem to notice her daughter's deformity the heroine, Laura, persuades him to come and board with her. Eventually she persuades him to marry her and become her daughter's father as he, Gino, and the daughter, Nikki, are so fond of each show more other. Gino loves another woman who married his brother instead and so decides since he will never love again to marry Laura for Nikki's sake. But of course they eventually fall in love.

The story took place over many months and you could see them growing closer. The emotions seemed real. Gino, especially was a lovely character, very well written with many layers. Nikki was important to the story but she didn't take it over and her actions were appropriate for her age. Laura's actions and feelings as the mother of a daughter whom others shunned were very realistic I felt.

The ending was just a bit too fast for me with others involved in getting the two to admit their feelings. I felt the story would have been even stronger if they had had more face to face interaction to reveal their love but that is a pretty minor quibble considering how strong the rest of the book was. show less