The Novice Bride - Carol Townend

Title: The Novice Bride

Author: Carol Townend

Line: Historical

Release month: UK - March 2008/USA - August 2007

The S-Factor: Sweet

Back-Blurb:

INNOCENT BRIDE, CONQUERING HUSBAND!

As a novice, Lady Cecily of Fulford’s knowledge of men is nonexistent. But when tragic news bids her home immediately, her only means of escape from the convent is to brazenly offer herself to the enemy...as a bride!

With her fate now in the hands of her husband, Sir Adam Wymark, she battles to protect her family. Suspicions and betrayal are rife, yet their convenient marriage offers Cecily much more than comfort in her knight’s arms...

Review:

Set during the Norman Conquest, The Novice Bride takes a familiar conceit – having as its hero one of the invaders and its heroine a Saxon. This type of set up is a popular one as conflict between the characters is inevitable from the word go, and in some instances, authors using this type of plot let the stories write themselves. Not so Carol Townend! The tale that plays out in The Novice Bride is an utterly engaging one, and the author’s skill is so great that she effortlessly weaves the backdrop and central story together in such a way that the reader becomes enveloped in her historical world.

Indeed, it was the historical background that I found most enthralling in this story. The research is so thorough that everything seems real and authentic, and the experiencing of the sights and sounds of 11^th century England is a joy. I really didn’t want the story to end. Taking her reader through a poverty-stricken village, a post-invasion Winchester struggling to come to terms with its new masters and the bleakness of an unforgiving English winter, Carol Townend is a confident, enthralling historical writer, one who never lets the backdrop overshadow her central romantic story.

And what a romance! In Cecily, the author has crafted a lovely and lovable heroine whose innocence and inherent goodness are her defining qualities... I defy anyone who reads this not to fall in love with her from the start. Cecily’s journey from prim and proper nun to loving wife is thoroughly engrossing. As for the hero, Adam Wymark is a little sterner and his character is the more complex of the two, and he’s a hero I could really identify with. His growing love for Cecily is always believable and makes for great reading. The romance scenes are well handled and full of subtlety and sweetness.

The rest of the story is populated with interesting supporting characters and tension between both the protagonists and everybody else. Carol Townend really puts across a feeling of what it was like to live in these harsh, violent times which is why I loved the book so much. In fact, it’s my favourite historical romance yet!

Reviewed by: Gray

Hero Hotness Factor = ♥♥♥♥

Heroine Lovability Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Awww Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Stickability Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Weepy Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Did you know that Carol's first novel, set in 11th century England, won the RNA New Writers' Award? To find out more about Carol why not visit her website ...

Have you read this book or others by the same author? Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you!!!

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The Italian GP's Bride - Kate Hardy

Title: The Italian GP's Bride

Author: Kate Hardy

Line: Medical

Release month: August 2007

The S-Factor: Simmering

Back-Blurb:

Dr de Luca's proposal

Orlando de Luca is the archetypal Italian - smooth, handsome and charming! His dedicated professionalism is only matched by his playboy bachelor ways...until he meets his new colleague Eleanor Forrest. Ellie is only in Italy to find her family, not to embark on an affair, yet the chemistry between them is hard to deny. So when Ellie becomes a patient herself, she finds the only person she wants to rely on is the dashing Dr de Luca.

Everyone thinks he's a gorgeous bachelor - really, he's a husband in the making!

Review:

This story begins with the drama of an external conflict on an airborne flight. It's through this medical emergency that Ellie and Orlando meet for the first time in their professional capacitie

Kate Hardy swiftly emerges the reader into the lives of both the hero and heroine in this powerful and emotional story. Her story telling skills will have you on the edge of your seat as the subsequent personal and medical dramas of Ellie and Orlando unfold.

This is another well researched book that serves to be informative without being overpowering - both within the story's historical setting of Pompeii and the medical scenarios that arise. Kate Hardy creates an evocative sense of empathy with all the issues she addresses in this, another fab read from one of Harlequin Mills & Boon's most prolific authors.

Reviewed by: Sue

Hero Hotness Factor ♥♥♥♥♥

Heroine Lovability Factor ♥♥♥♥♥

Stickability Factor ♥♥♥♥♥

Weepy Factor ♥♥♥♥


Did you know that Kate Hardy also writes non-fiction under the name of Pamela Brooks? To find out more why not vist her Website or her Blog...

Have you read this book or others by the same author? Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you!!!

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Reunited: Marriage in a Million - Liz Fielding

Title: Reunited: Marriage in a Million

Author: Liz Fielding

Line: Romance

Release month: August 2007

The S-Factor: Sweet

Back-Blurb:

Trophy bride to wife for life...

Popular TV presenter Belle is married to gorgeous billionaire Ivo, and lives in a beautiful Belgravia mansion. But beneath the veneer of her perfect life is the truth of their marriage of convenience.

Belle knows that workaholic Ivo prefers their family of two, but somewhere along the way she fell deeply in love with her husband, and can’t help wishing for a baby to make their family complete. Now they must find it within themselves to share the secrets they’ve never trusted each other to tell, and make their marriage one in a million again.

Review:

Reunited: Marriage in a Million is the first of a trilogy sharing the journeys of three heroines as they confide in each other – secrets that they’ve previously held close to their hearts and that nobody in the world knows.

Liz Fielding takes us with her on Belle’s emotion-packed journey of discovery and we’re in for a bumpy ride. We accompany Belle as she makes the momentous decision to be true to herself.

This is a story filled with glamour and everything that comes with being a popular icon in the world of television and the wife of a successful billionaire. Liz Fielding strips away the glossy exterior that the public knows, and gives us an emotional insight into Belle and Ivo’s real lives.

Reunited: Marriage in a Million is a story that contains everything we’ve come to expect from Liz Fielding – the veteran of romance fiction. Her well-honed expertise is apparent at each and every perfectly-plotted twist and turn of this story.

When you pick up any Liz Fielding novel, you’re guaranteed a well-written, altogether moving experience and Reunited: Marriage in a Million is no exception.

Reviewed by: Sue

Hero Hotness Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Heroine Lovability Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Awww Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Stickability Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥

Weepy Factor = ♥♥♥♥♥