Customer Reviews

The Bargain Bride (Signet Eclipse)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Barbara Metzger is the queen of the comical regency - she has been writing them for many years and nearly always with the assurance of a seasoned hand. She has a clever and polished style of writing that is always a joy to read and an ability to create scenarios that are funny but poignant and populated by a range of cleverly drawn characters.

In this story, we have a comical though sometimes painful dissection of an arranged marriage of convenience. This marriage is set up for the usual reasons of advancement and money and will cross quite serious class divides. However, our heroine, the daughter of a rich and ambitious cit, has taken umbrage at being kept waiting for 13 years and is ready to kick over the traces. Our hero, originally the younger son, finds himself inheriting his father's title and, suddenly, his life needs to undergo some serious change - no longer in the Army, no longer living the life of a young buck in London, he needs to set up his nursery with a willing wife.

There are the usual coterie of oddball servants and relatives in this one; watch out for Marcel, her grandpa's valet, and a pretty unusual pug dog who needs the kiss of life every now and then. Add in some annoying stepsisters, a bit of a mystery and an abduction and you have one of the author's funny and harum scarum set-ups.

I particularly liked the homage to the late Edith Layton that appears in the chapter headings purporting to be from a tome on arranged marriages; some terrific one-liners here - worth the price of the book in my view.

I really liked this and had several hours of real reading pleasure. Highly recommended to her fans but also to those who like regencies, like comedy and appreciate talented, well crafted prose.

I agree with another review who said the short chapter notes written as a tribute to Edith Layton are worth seeking out. Those are amusing, very much in keeping with the late author's style, and fun.

But this is also the first Barbara Metzger I haven't finished. On my second try, I made it just over halfway. I'll probably give it a third try at some point, but since Metzger is in my top five must buy list, The Bargain Bride has to go down in the disappointment category. It has all the elements I love - the self capable heroine, the repentant hero, the arranged marriage (I'm a sucker for those), the positive view of male relationships, but it fails to come together. There's too much farce and not enough friction. Penny is angry, West is resigned, but why are they together? He's ready to make the best of it, she's decided she must fight him at all costs or we'd lack a plot. I mean, or her heart will be broken again. There are typically wonderful touches - Penny's book of adolescent poetry is as dreadful as it should be, West understands her reluctance to be seduced - but it never gains enough speed to lift all the baggage it carries.

I'm absolutely buying the author's next book, but this one just wasn't for me.

Their fathers arranged their marriage when she was thirteen and he was about to go fight against Napoleon. However, Persephone Goldthwaite has spent half her life waiting to tie the knot with Viscount Kendall Westmoreland. Both want to end their betrothal so he goes see her serendipitously to gain her concurrence.

However, West changes his mind upon meeting the beautiful effervescent Penny. Her father suggests Penny marry her stepbrother Nigel, son of his second wife. Instead West invokes the agreement, but his former lover and her odious step-sibling have other abduction plans for the pair that ignores West and Penny falling in love.

THE BARGAIN BRIDE is a humorous Regency romance filled with an eccentric cast that seems to have escaped from bedlam as their chaotic antics are fun to follow; but centered and owned by the lead couple. Fans will relish this fine historical as the battle for who marries Penny shapes into a zany free for all in which Penny must determine whom she can trust with her life. Topped by citations from the chronicles of "By Arrangement" heading each chapter, this is an amusing entertaining tale with a suspense subplot enhancing the jocularity; as Barbara Metzger is at the top of her game.

Harriet Klausner

As a long-time fan of Barbara Metzger, I found this book to be a disappointment. The characters in this novel were much less engaging than her usual work.

Miss Penny Goldwaite and Viscount Westfield ("West") were betrothed years ago by an arrangement between their respective fathers. Penny's wealthy banker father got the promise of an aristocratic husband for his daughter, and in return West's sire got much-needed money from Mr. Goldwaite. At first, Penny - aged 13 - was too young to marry, then she was in mourning for her mother, and then West was away in the army. But West has been back in London these past four years, and has never once contacted Penny.

Penny meanwhile has been living for years with her grandfather in the country, where she was sent after her father remarried. She has been unable to consider other marriage proposals because of her engagement, all while reading of West's womanizing in the gossip pages. She once thought him a knight in shining armor, but he has completely failed her and broken her heart in the process. Penny is now 26 years of age and wants nothing to do with West. The only feeling she has towards him is EXTREME anger. Then her father forces West to honor his commitment, and she has no choice but to wed him. However, she insists they get to know each other before their marriage is consummated, hoping to stall him as long as possible to inflict some deserved pain on her now eager suitor. What Penny is surprised to discover is her own pain and longing from their forced estrangement.

Overall this was an entertaining, lighthearted read. The author made good use of humor, the supporting cast was quirky and fun, and the story's "full speed ahead" pace was often exhilarating. In fact, the humor and storyline - a kind of farce involving the couple's odd assemblage of friends and relatives - was much stronger than the romance itself. The romance had lots of potential, but faced too many distractions along the way. I never felt a strong connection to West or Penny who, although fairly likable, fell short as romantic leads. Penny could be difficult, West catered overmuch to her whims to the point of seeming unmanly, and their rambling thoughts about the other when apart did little to instill a sense of passion. Still, the story finished up smartly, with everything set right with the world, and ultimately left me with a good feeling. 3.5-4 stars

I have always liked Barbara Metzger. Back in the day when there were Signet Regency Romances, she was a favorite, along with Patricia Oliver, Emma Lange, Elisabeth Fairchild, Nancy Butler and a bunch of others that younger readers of romances may have no knowledge of. The thing about these Regency romances was that the story was all important but not exactly adventurous and the sex was either non-existent or at least definitely non-explicit. So you read the book for the way it was written and the way it placed you back in a time you love because of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. This is that kind of book. You read it for the pleasure of reading it and you cannot skip passages because you might miss something very clever or funny in either conversation or description. Another plus to the book is that whatever misunderstandings occur between the hero and heroine are settled relatively quickly, without allowing for those annoying irrational reactions and estrangements to be found in other romances. There are interesting secondary characters, the requisite villain, and there ARE love scenes. So why don't I give this well-written book 5 stars? I guess because I got a bit bored while reading it.

Jane Austen was a genius, a spinster living in an isolated country village (all country villages were isolated in her day) and writing knowingly of affairs of the heart.

She probably would be astonished to learn that she created a genre.

Author Barbara Metzger has a few advantages that Miss Austen did not, including a historic overview.

For a good number of years, Metzger has been crafting clever romantic tales set in the period when Jane Austen had lived.

She writes authoritatively about the era, so much so that one has to remember that Barbara Metzger had not been born at that time. (Not by several centuries.)

As with her last few books, Metzger's work continues to mature.

THE BARGAIN BRIDE is her best romp yet, with all the requisite elements: A reluctant bride whose father barters her dowry for the title of wife to an impoverished nobleman -- an impoverished nobleman who is the classic alpha male that every woman wants and every man wants to be.

Yet are they a good fit for one another? This is the conflict that must be resolved.

In typical Metzger fashion, their differences are explored with great humor. The chapter beginnings, ruminations on the theme of arranged marriage -- most marriages in that era were arranged -- never fail to amuse. And, typical of Metzger, there also is an endearing dog as a character.

THE BARGAIN BRIDE is the perfect Regency romance. It has every component that makes one of these novels charming. Don't miss it!

I put up a good fight, but I couldn't finish it. The heroine was awful. She "hated" the hero...but he was god from Olympus...but wait, she hates the hero...no, no...he's so handsome and god-like...really? I must have lived a seriously sheltered life to never have met anyone I could say resembles a mythological figure. Ugh. Oh, wait...did I mention they got married and then you are still forced to put up with this twaddle? (And that was by the second or third chapter!) The only redeeming thing about this book is that I was able to use twaddle in the review for it. Barbara Metzger really does write good books, this is just not one of them.

This is the first book I have read by Barbara Metzger. It will not be the last. She reminds me of Julia Quinn with her humorous take on love in Regency England. I liked the resourceful heroine. Some reviewers don't like her because they find her mean. I think most people would have a bit of a burr in their hide if they had been made to wait 13 years for their partner to show up. Both the hero and the heroine were waiting for the other to say "I love you" first but I chalked that up to the usual stupidity of lovers. I can remember being that stupid. My wife might say I still am. So I gave this book 5 stars for the reasons already stated in other four and five star reviews. And by the way, I laughed at the fictitious quotes from the book on arranged marriages that started each chapter.

If you've read more than one or two of Barbara Metzger's novels, you know that she has a basic plot framework that she weaves her gifted prose around. In this novel, she has the framework, but that's about it; and the lack of substance exposes the flaws of the underlying plot.

What I truly love about Metzger (and I have nearly every book she's written, and read them all multiple times) is her playful, almost mischievous use of language; the stories are often more a starting point for her linguistic flights of fancy rather than being moved along by them. In this book, the flights are almost non-existent.

In addition to this, I found the heroine to be getting dangerously near to being self-centered and her issues bordering on irrational. The gay plot point, while commendable in its inclusiveness, is implausible in its handling.

If you have never read a book by Metzger, I recommend that you find a different book - "A Loyal Companion" is her best, and can be found used.

If you are a Metzger fan, only get this one if you just have to read every book she's ever written.