Elizabeth Thornton (1940–2010)

I'm honestly not sure why I finished this book. Perhaps since the initial premise was so ridiculous---of course you'd send your friend something cryptic about the villain when he's coming to kill you instead of saying, plainly, "the villain did it!"---each succeeding plot twist and contortion of character seemed less absurd than it truly was.

By the time I got to the part where the hero was lambasting the heroine for putting her dead husband on a pedestal---because the hero, himself, has show more apparently put the heroine on a pedestal and can't forgive her any flaws or mistakes---I was already so far into the blasted thing that I decided I might as well finish it. I might, too, have been hoping the hero and heroine would have a nice knock-down-drag-out and sort everything out between them...but that didn't happen either. All told, a complete waste of several hours' reading time. show less

At times gothic, and other times confusing, A Bewitching Bride ended up very sweet, but left me wondering what the heck had happened. Kate sort of ping-ponged back and forth in her emotions--I thought she was pregnant at one point because in the span of half a page she went from euphoric to screeching shrew for no reason I could ascertain.

It was however an intriguing story that was different and entertaining to read. Neither Kate nor Gavin were people particularly comfortable with show more themselves, or with each other half the time, but prophecy is a powerful thing. The true villain is rather easy to discern, though the motivations are muddied, but the real fun was watching Kate and Gavin being stuck in each other's company. show less

I usually like Elizabeth Thornton's heroes and heroines, but there was just something about Mahri and her actions that kept me from enjoying this book as much as I'd hoped.

Alex is an agent in Her Majesty's Secret Service (in 1885). He's also a bit psychic, even though he'd rather slit his own throat than admit that to anyone except his likewise afflicted brothers. They inherited their 'talents' from their deceased grandmother, The Witch of Drumore. Alex can hold things and learn about the show more people they belonged to, and when he captures a young man who may or may not be involved in a plot against the Queen, he's not quite sure WHAT his talent is telling him.

Mahri is stuck between two equally bad alternatives. She can betray her close ones or keep quiet and let them kill the Queen. After much thought, she decides to do neither and instead tries to foil their plot on her own, only to end up captured by one of the Queen's agents, a very handsome agent indeed. Now she's torn even more. How can she choose?

Mahri is indeed in a bad spot; she will have to betray one 'side' to prevent murder and neither are likely to forgive OR forget. I don't want to give too much away, but it was irritating to figure out most of the story less than halfway through the book. There are plenty of red herrings and suspects, but really only one makes sense (at least to me). Ms. Thornton DID manage to throw in a surprise or two along the way and the taut attraction between Alex and Mahri was wonderfully written.

I can't remember if I've ever read another of Ms. Thornton's books that had even a hint of the paranormal, but Alex's skills really played a very small part in this plot. So I wouldn't describe it as full-on paranormal, more a historical romance with a bit of woo-woo. Since I'm normally a fan of Elizabeth Thornton, I'll be interested to see what she does with stories of the other brothers. show less

Damn, this is the kind of historical romance i just love...Our heroine has guts, our hero is a bad-boy and the story flows rapidly...

Two thumbs up!