Customer Reviews

The Border Lord's Bride (Border Chronicles)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is not exactly a romance book. That's the problem. Oh, don't get me wrong, there is romance here. Just very little. I agree that its mostly a history lesson. So if you like to know a bit of history about the Scottish/English border in the 1490's then this may be for you.

I just can't recommend this as a romance. Its basically a story about a highlander lass is who forced (by the Scottish King) to marry a Border Lord (a lowlander). I was hoping for more of a book similar to Garwood's The Bride. This isn't it. There is no sexual tension what so ever here. And what is the point of the H/H telling each other I-love-you in the middle of the book? I didn't want to read after that. Whats the point? There is no great climax and most of the characters were irritating to me. Why oh why are 'ladies' using the f-word when they speak to each other? Men maybe but women? And a fourteen year old wh*re? ACK! That maybe what was normal for the time period, but I don't read romance for reality. This was more like reading a diary of daily activities than a story with a beginning, middle and end. Lags a lot.

Chock full of history which, unfortunately completely overshadows the romance.

Don't be fooled by the size of this book, it gets the extra pages by constantly repeating itself. You will hear what happened and then you will hear what happened... repeated in it's entirety... to the King, to Duncan's brother, to Duncan's sister in law, to the Queen and so forth, until you have heard it repeated a hundred times!!! I hated this book. About the only thing I liked about this book was the picture on the cover but even it wasn't accurate as the book always referred to Ellen as rounded.
Ellen was very likable in the first part of the book but soon became shrewish and aggressive. Ellen was very unbelievably telling the king and her husband how to plan all their attacks and run everything, unmanned them actually. She became vengeful wanting to see people die, slapped her nursemaid, she just became someone totally different from the girl she was. She complained more than once they were unimportant people with no power, as if she were discontent with Duncan because of this. I did not 'feel' the love she had for her child or for Duncan.

I also felt Duncan Armstrong fell short of being the loving hero type, he cared mainly for building up the walls of his home. He was not a good strategist or protector and I just never felt like Duncan actually loved Ellen.

One of my biggest dislikes besides the repetitive history lesson, meal descriptions and poor characters was the constant crude sexual acts. I do not like the F word, and it was a constant, both by male and females. The type of sex in this book made a mockery of romantic sex.
There was no build up, no passion just this sexual crudeness throughout. I felt absolutely no warm fuzzy feeling of awe, at the end of this historical Romance. Just a historically romantic let down!!

I love Bertrice Small's books, but I haven't loved her latest series. As one reviewer said, Ellen is fairly unremarkable, and Duncan is not nearly as memorable as some of her other heroes. This is your fault, Ms. Small--you've spoiled us by creating Skye O'Malley, Geoffrey Southwood, Adam de Marisco... I don't mind a bit of history with my escapism, but unfortunately, these books seem like a history lesson with a little romance tossed in. Still, it was a good read and kept my interest.

I don't understand what this book was supposed to be. A boring recitation of historical events? A romance novel? Literary porn? There was no chemistry between the characters. The book moves from irrelevant-to-the- plot rambling monologues on historical events, to completely cringe-inducing descriptions of violence done to women, to unbelievable plot points. Rape of women is so commonplace that the heroine doesn't get too bothered by it, but even when the plot logically is begging for it to happen to her, it magically does not. Not that I want any character to be raped, but it rang completely false and ridiculous to me. It was a terrible book. I can't believe I actually finished it.

It seems that we have yet another of the few authors that can weave romance and history together in such a ration which leaves you off feeling pleasantly educated as well as swept off of your feet. The original in my experience being Diana Gabaldon with her Outlander series.
Very interesting and not oftenly covered info about Tudor era, English/Scottish borders. We hear much in these novels about the worthy and lovely highlands, but this is the first I've read about the Lowlands and the border politics.
Exciting and brave heroins and engaging characters all around right down to James IV. Well done Miss Small, I keep reading.

The author apparently was paid by the word - she repeats story lines and meal descriptions over and over. Even the "love scenes" are repetitive. How many times can she describe sex as "he was like a piston"??? Did they even have pistons back then?! Unfortunately, she doesn't use any of her word count to describe the main male character...I'm not even sure if he was dark or blonde haired. My advice to Ms. Small...Know your audience - we're all here to read an escapist romance novel - not a history lesson on the brutality of Scottish history.

I give Border Lord's Bride three stars because it's a five star historical novel but a one star romantic read. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, unless you are a dedicated Small fan expecting a moving love story. Instead, you will get hundreds of pages of historical lecture with some forced dubious romance and prefab erotic ballyhoo.

Last year's Dangerous Love left me less than thrilled. Again, the history was spot on, but if I was seeking to study history I would have found a good non-fiction resource. I was really hoping that Small had found some of her old magic for BLB, and I was thoroughly disappointed. Now I'm realizing that BLB is representative of the dull talkiness and factgasms that have filled Small's novels for at least the last ten years.

It's quite sad as a reader to have fallen so in love with a novelist's earlier books when the later titles simply don't measure up at all.

The Border Lord's Bride was the most boring book I've read in a long time. Not anywhere near Ms. Small's usual standard. I've noticed in the past that Ms. Small takes great pains to describe meals. I'm sorry, but I don't care that the bread scooped out of the cottage loaf will be added to the stew and that King James likes poached eggs in a Marsala sauce. I can understand it if the meal was a wedding banquet, but she doesn't need to go into excruciating detail about every meal served.

How many times will Adair say "My half brothers are dead and this Real King of England is an imposter? We got it after the 2nd time. Ellen and Duncan are so boring. Again, Ms. Small keeps repeating how practical they both are, how honorable, how unimportant they are. If they are so unimportant, why waste a book on them?

I would not recommend that anyone purchase this book. I also noticed several mistakes where Ellen should have been Adair and vice-versa. I've noticed several mistakes of that nature in the last few years.

Though an interesting tale it is very slow going and really doesn't pick up until mid book. The excessive info dumps of history were totally unnecesssary. At times these appeared more as Scottish history lessons which had little to do with the story at hand and maybe more to do with sharing the author's knowledge of Scottish history. This waste of space could have been spent in developing the characters' motivations and especially creating a unique conflict more fully. Duncan is an interesting hero who deserved more development and Ellen though likeable in the first 3/4 of the book turns a bit shrewish near the end, which seemed out of character making her a less likeable heroine. The conflict was really forced here and only would have worked if it happened earlier in the story.

And lastly maybe it was the poor copy editing skills of the publisher, as clearly Ms Small knows her Scottish history, but for heaven's sake at least get the spelling of the Scottish city of STIRLING spelled correctly. STIRLING is the city, STERLING is the money. At $14 a copy someone's head should roll for such poor copy editing. And lastly, no self respecting Scot in an historical should ever drink whiskey ( that's Irish, Canadian, and American), Scots drink Scotch WHISKY. Whiskey and Whisky are not the same thing dispite what spell checkers say. One wonders if this book was a contract obligation to the publisher resulting in a rushed job.

Jody

I'm going to disagree with many of the other reviewers on this one. While I admit that the book started a bit slow and contains more historical information and food descriptions than some might think necessary (though one meal description had my mouth watering), once I got into this romance and accustomed to her style, I found it addictive. Her writing style is unique, full of detailed descriptions of events, some repeated in various conversations and a fair amount of "head hopping" (giving many different perspectives and some in only a few lines). But here's the important point: once the story ended I found myself wanting more. I am now a fan.

This is the 2nd in the Border Chronicles series (see complete listing below), which tells the stories of the men and women who made the border between England and Scotland home in the 15th century. It was a fascinating time in England and Scotland's history and Small's writing reflects her deep research into the times. The books are 400+ pages and take a while to read but they are well worth your time.

The Border Lord's Bride tells the story of Ellen MacArthur who was raised by her grandsire who loves her very much. He has betrothed her to a McNabb and Ellen is content with his choice, but the MacArthurs who live on Skye with the MacDonalds are not happy and one in particular intends to take her for his bride, Ellen's grandsire notwithstanding. To protect her, she is sent to King James' court where she becomes the friend of Jamie Stewart and his aunt. Called home by her grandsire at 18, the king asks Duncan Armstrong, laird of Duffdour, to protect her on the trip home. When they arrive they find the MacArthur that wants her has killed both her grandsire and her betrothed. Through a series of events, Duffdour is required by the king to wed Ellen. Will they be able to find love and passion as events conspire to challenge their happiness?

If you love a romance that does not float on the surface of the historical background and if you like to probe the depths of the characters' emotions, I think you will like this one. I'm reading the Border Lord and the Lady now (I had been given copies of these two in the series) and am loving it. I intend to read them all.

So you have the whole Border Chronicles series, here it is in order:

-A Dangerous Love
-The Border Lord's Bride
-The Captive Heart
-The Border Lord and the Lady
-The Border Vixen
-Bond of Passion (Oct 2011)