Bride by Mistake

I've only recently discovered Anne Gracie and am now very definitely a fan. Love the light-hearted, spirited approach to writing and the underlying humour that goes into each chapter. Bride by Mistake is a real page turner and the more I read, the more I warmed to Anne Gracie's voice.

When Lieutenant Luke Ripton makes a hasty wartime marriage to save Isabella from the misery of a marriage to her nasty cousin, he leaves his child bride untouched in a remote mountain convent with the expectation of an annulment once the danger has passed and Isabella comes of age.

Fate has other ideas for the couple. Jaded by war, the dashing young prince Isabella has waited ten long years for, is now a dark and brooding soldier turned Lord who finds it show more quite convenient that he has a ready-made, obedient convent wife to save him from the marriage mart.

Obedient she is not! Their fiery clashes will have you glued to your seat as the delightful Isabella leads Lord Ripton on a merry dance out of his gloom and into the happy ever after. Bring out the chocolates, pour the wine, make yourself comfortable and please, don't miss their journey... show less

I LOVED this! Stellar protagonists, insecure heroine who is not a doormat, a dash of adventure (which seemed to overshadow the romance at times, but not too much). A lot of tropes I enjoyed without being formulaic. I love Anne Gracie.

Debated between 3 and 4 stars for this one so since I'm feeling generous I went with 4. Anne Gracie does such a good job with setting her stories firmly in their time periods and places that I enjoy them even if other elements might not be so strong. There was nothing particular that I disliked but I felt the romantic relationship lacked something some depth. It was all rather easy maybe?

Three stars for the quality of the writing, but two would be a more accurate reflection of my response to this book.

Ms Gracie has superb descriptive talents but, in this book at least, indulges in them at the expense of the narrative. I skipped several dozen paragraphs of heavy, cloying prose to hurry on to the next dialogue and the next development in the story.

I think it's a simple matter of compatibility. This kind of bland, verbose historical romance is not for me.

Nice read - liked the heroine and the hero, but felt that the tone was periodically off in terms of the heroine's background and experience. The ending was also a bit too melodramatic and over the top and had a few too many coincidences for my taste. Still love Gracie's stuff, and will buy her next book.

This was just okay. I didn't love Bella at first. She was kind of annoying. But she grew on me. And I didn't love the adventurous journey Bella and Luke had home. I wish we got to see more of her adaptation to living in England with Luke and his family. The ending seemed to come too quickly with all the loose ends tied too neatly.