The Bride Sale
by Candice Hern
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Description
A Bartered Lady Lord James Harkness is shocked to discover a "bride sale" taking place in his small English village -- and surprised by the depth of his feelings for the unfortunate gentlewoman being auctioned off by a disreputable husband. But is it honor and nobility that compel James to outbid the townfolk for the proud, beautiful lady -- or is it something more akin to . . . desire? A Mysterious Lord Verity Osborne is not sure whether good fortune or ill brought her to this dark, show more brooding man and his lonely manor house on the moors. Local talk brands James Harkness as evil -- but Verity senses a gentleness underneath. She dearly longs for her liberty, but his sensuous touch causes her to stay. However, James must first trust Verity with his secrets if they are ever to share love's rapturous freedom. And will the promised passion she sees flaming in his eyes warm Verity's heart . . . or burn her? show lessTags
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Member Reviews
At the beginning I hated the idea of a woman being sold on the streets to a total stranger!! But her good fortune kind of helped her through out the whole thing!! Verity is a very charming, witty woman, James is just so damn lucky to have her under the same roof!
London gentleman sells wife in Cornwall, uses money to pay gambling debt.
Local lord, cranky since experiencing horrors of war, and suspected of murdering his wife and child, buys girl.
Girl gets whole village to love lord again, all live happily ever after. All is twee.
The conflict in this story did not come from the main characters, who got on quite well from the start. Rather the conflict is in the entire local community thinking the lord is a monster. The scenes of dominant man needing to wipe out memory of horror by making free with a girl cancelled out the often sympathetic portrayal of a victim of war.
Local lord, cranky since experiencing horrors of war, and suspected of murdering his wife and child, buys girl.
Girl gets whole village to love lord again, all live happily ever after. All is twee.
The conflict in this story did not come from the main characters, who got on quite well from the start. Rather the conflict is in the entire local community thinking the lord is a monster. The scenes of dominant man needing to wipe out memory of horror by making free with a girl cancelled out the often sympathetic portrayal of a victim of war.
Wonderful book. This is the second book I have read by Ms. Hern, but well worth it. I am will be buying other books by her to read.
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Author Information
27+ Works 1,707 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
- People/Characters
- James Gordon Harkness, Lord Harkness (Baron); Verity Osborne (Russell); Alan Poldrennan; Grannie Pascow; Gilbert Russell
- Important places
- Cornwall, England, UK
- Important events
- The Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo
- Dedication
- To Casey Mickle, whose help throughout this endeavor was invaluable from its earliest inception at Greenwich Village tapas bar to final editing. I could not have done it without her.
- First words
- Cornwall October 1818
C'mon me laddies. What'm I bid fer this fine bit o' flesh? - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)They smiled into each other's eyes, Lord and Lay Harkness, then turned to their guest and bgan to celebrate the first day of their new life together.
- Blurbers
- Balogh, Mary; Putney, Mary Jo; Quinn, Julia
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 107
- Popularity
- 302,057
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.81)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 1
