Seducing the Bride (Brides of Mayfair Series, Book 1) by Michelle McMasters #review

February 05, 2017

Pages - 286

Genre - Regency Romance/Historical

Published - Feb, 2016

Sold by - Amazon

Language - 0/5

Sexual Content - 4/5

After a night of gambling at London's most famous gaming hell, Lord Beckett Thornby and his friend, Lord Alfred Weston, make a shocking discovery. They come across a beautiful young woman--clad only in a nightdress--lying unconscious in a rubbish heap. Worried for her safety and famous for his habit of taking in strays, Beckett takes the mysterious girl home and puts her to bed, intent on calling a doctor the next day. But his good intentions go awry when his mother and solicitor make an unplanned visit the next morning and all hell breaks loose.
Isobel Hampton is on the run from a villainous nobleman who will stop at nothing until he possesses both her and her family estate. The strong-minded Miss makes a break for freedom and disappears into the night, but Sir Harry Lennox vows to find her.
When she awakens in the bed of a handsome viscount, Isobel demands to know how she got there. But something in Lord Thornby's eyes makes her want to trust the handsome lord.
(Originally published under the title The Marriage Bargain in 2000 - Seducing The Bride is a newly revised and updated edition.)

Despite its having numerous type-o's and inaccurate comma insertions, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this story.

The two leads were fully developed and had personalities that are not only relate-able but also true to their time period.

Loved the H, - Beckett - and easily warmed up to the h, Isobel.

And, yes, as a few of the negative reviews claim, things just kind of slipped (or fell) into place for these two at the start, and some of the question marks remained unanswered, but it wasn't enough to keep me from enjoying the read or the plot.

The two do end up together under strained circumstances, and Beckett is thoroughly stubborn about falling in love again, but he is also playful, humorous, and an animal lover, so there is that.

Isobel has a rough life and witnesses a murder, but she isn't as predictable as some would believe.

She's determined to have the truth revealed and justice served but is also desperate for help and a winning hand.

After Beckett comes into his inheritance and the two newlyweds ship off to his Barbados sugarcane ranch, their lives take on new meaning.

It is on the beautiful island that the two are allowed to discover their inner passions and get to know one another better.

Yet Beckett remains stubborn about his feelings.

Didn't really bother me, though, and maybe because it rang true and believable -- there is no real reason why being stubborn has to mean instant realization of a personality flaw -- and for some, it truly does take much longer for that moment to occur than it might for others.

It isn't explained with any amount of clarity how the villain ended up on Barbados, which kind of bugged me, but the story itself kept me page-turning to the point where I didn't quite care about the details.

I also didn't mind so much that the Pirates, on the return trip to England, behaved less dangerous and unpredictable than 'normal' (whatever that might be in Fictionland), or that the quashed mutiny kind of irked me, because again, it wasn't to the point of distraction or loss of interest in the tale.

I just really enjoyed these two and their predicaments to the point of not really caring about anything else.

What bugs me far more, I think, is that this is an 'updated' version of the 2000 original.

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This is an Historical Romance, for heaven's sake! What sort of 'updating' could possibly be necessary to the plot?

So, yes, I really liked this one and will be interested in reading the two subsequent novels in the Brides of Mayfair series.

Highly recommend to anyone looking for well-developed characters with believable personalities who are tossed into a few predictable and sometimes cliche situations prior to their reaching the inevitable HEA.

If you enjoy reading Historical Romance for the pure romantic fantasy involved, then this is the book for you.

They deserved one another, and for me, this is a huge part of the reason why I enjoy reading Romance novels.