The Accidental Bride [Unabridged] [Mass Market Paperback]

Jane Feather (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 1999

Dear Reader,

In my "Brides" trilogy, three unconventional young women vow they will never marry--only to be overtaken by destiny. The Accidental Bride could only be the story of Phoebe, the "awkward" one....

For four years, Cato, the Marquis of Granville, had been just another man--the uninteresting, somewhat intimidating husband of Phoebe's older sister. But then her sister died, and Phoebe seemed a reasonable substitute. Her forced engagement to him should have been quite a cold-blooded arrangement...except that one day Phoebe looked at Granville--really looked at him--and saw what she'd never seen before: he was darkly, breathtakingly attractive.

Once she'd noticed, she couldn't seem to stop noticing, and suddenly Phoebe was disastrously in love. It would be nothing short of torture to be married to Granville, knowing he didn't love her and never would. After all, Phoebe was not the kind of woman men fell in love with--Phoebe with her untidy hair, her rumpled clothes, and her fingers forever ink-stained from the poetry she wrote.

When running away does not solve her problems, Phoebe decides to try something a little different--something that involves a little change in wardrobe, a daring new attitude, and a bit of brazen seduction.

Granville is about to discover that his awkward Phoebe is woman enough even for him....

Warmest wishes,

Jane Feather


P.S. Be sure to watch for Olivia's story, The Least Likely Bride, coming in hardcover in early 2000.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jane Feather is an accomplished storyteller...rare and wonderful."
--Daily News of Los Angeles

From the Inside Flap

Dear Reader,

In my "Brides" trilogy, three unconventional young women vow they will never marry--only to be overtaken by destiny. The Accidental Bride could only be the story of Phoebe, the "awkward" one....

For four years, Cato, the Marquis of Granville, had been just another man--the uninteresting, somewhat intimidating husband of Phoebe's older sister. But then her sister died, and Phoebe seemed a reasonable substitute. Her forced engagement to him should have been quite a cold-blooded arrangement...except that one day Phoebe looked at Granville--really looked at him--and saw what she'd never seen before: he was darkly, breathtakingly attractive.

Once she'd noticed, she couldn't seem to stop noticing, and suddenly Phoebe was disastrously in love. It would be nothing short of torture to be married to Granville, knowing he didn't love her and never would. After all, Phoebe was not the kind of woman men fell in love with--Phoebe with her untidy hair, her rumpled clothes, and her fingers forever ink-stained from the poetry she wrote.

When running away does not solve her problems, Phoebe decides to try something a little different--something that involves a little change in wardrobe, a daring new attitude, and a bit of brazen seduction.

Granville is about to discover that his awkward Phoebe is woman enough even for him....

Warmest wishes,

Jane Feather


P.S. Be sure to watch for Olivia's story, The Least Likely Bride, coming in hardcover in early 2000.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1ST edition (July 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553578960
• ISBN-13: 978-0553578966
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming read!, November 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Accidental Bride (Mass Market Paperback)

The book started out slowly and I thought I would put it aside and forget it. But then it took a surprising turn and I found I couldn't put it down! I loved how Cato and Phoebe developed as characters and people, and how they grew as a couple. In fact, I had borrowed the book from someone to read, then reread it again a month later. Definitely enjoyable!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Best of the trilogy - but still not really credible, May 19, 2002

By 

Dr W. Richards "wmr-uk" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Accidental Bride (Mass Market Paperback)

Phoebe, the awkward one and sister of Diana, the late Marchioness of Granville, is ordered by her father to marry her widowed brother-in-law, Cato. Cato is also the father of her best friend Olivia, and is almost old enough to be her own father. He's distant, cold, very proper and only interested in politics and the war.

And yet one day she looks at him and falls in love.

So then she has to try to make him fall in love with her - which isn't easy, since she's overweight and awkward and informal and everything, it seems, which he disapproves of. She gets Olivia into trouble and creates chaos in his ordered manor home. And she has neither the talent nor the wish to take over housekeeping. None of her clothes suit her - which is hardly surprising, since they were all made for Diana, who was a completely different shape to her. She's not even, he thinks, all that good in bed, and she doesn't seem to be showing any signs of becoming pregnant.

Although I enjoyed this and found some parts of it humorous, I really had problems with the idea of Cato as a husband. In the first book he was very distant and cold and not at all hero-like. And, of course, a man in his mid-thirties, he is married here to a seventeen-year-old and a friend of his own daughter's. Doesn't he feel the slightest awkwardness at the thought of taking Phoebe to bed?

And as for Phoebe, I do find it hard to understand why she continued to love Cato, who for most of the book showed no interest in her beyond criticising her. I'm not even sure that he would have found her clumsiness endearing, as he eventually did.

So, although on a superficial level I found this book entertaining, I really didn't find it at all credible.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Realistic heroine, March 19, 2002

By 

curvynovelsdotinfo "[e-mail]" (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Bride (Mass Market Paperback)

Heroine:  plump, voluptuous
     Rumpled, romantic Phoebe has the unenviable task of stepping into her late sister's place as wife to the handsome but cold Marquis of Granville, a man more concerned with the civil war outside his home than the battles going on within it. Phoebe falls in love with her husband and, desperate for him to notice her, turns to her dear friend Portia and stepdaughter Olivia for advice on how to make him love her.

What worked for me: Bright but awkward; longing to be elegant but forever rumpled; Phoebe was just darling! She was uncomfortable with her generous proportions and hid them under shapeless and ill-fitting gowns which made her seem even larger and more ungainly. Fortunately her friends take her in hand and teach her to make the most of her voluptuous, womanly figure.
I enjoyed the camaraderie between Phoebe and the other girls (who incidentally also have books about them which round out the Brides trilogy) and I particularly enjoyed Phoebe's attempts to get Cato to fall for her. There was more than one delicious love scene to savor over the course of this book.

What didn't work for me: Phoebe had three stepdaughters: Olivia who was also her best friend, and two by her late sister. The smallest girls never really factor into the story. Phoebe neither hates nor loves them, and it's nearly as though they don't even exist. (Though this is true of most aristocratic households.) 
The villain in the story didn't feel threatening enough for me, being more of a weasel than a wolf. And the hero Cato felt a bit inaccessible to me. I would have enjoyed more passages from his point of view, particularly his thoughts on Phoebe and her changes. 
The witchfinder scene didn't sit well with me either. One moment Phoebe was in grave danger from the worked up villagers who declared her a witch, and the next her troubles on that head have vanished into thin air on Cato's say-so. I think there would have been some bad feelings and grumbling after everything that took place.

Overall: A fun read, and I think I may go looking for books 1 and 3 of the trilogy despite the fact that they don't fit in with my plus-size reading list.

If you liked "The Accidental Bride" you might also enjoy "The Bride and the Beast", "The Fire-Flower", or "Suddenly You".