Customer Reviews

The Borrowed Bride (Harlequin Historical)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book and I really enjoyed reading it. I like being near people of integrity because they make me want to rise above myself and the two main characters in this book oozed with honor as well as tension.

I wanted to read the next page...the next chapter...to find out if Quint, the younger brother, was going to come back and the emotional explosion it would entail.

Hannah Gustavson grew up alongside Judd Seavers' younger brother, Quint. Being a decade older, Hannah didn't really know Judd and in fact, ran from his forbidding countenance. Hannah had always loved Quint, but Quint had wanderlust. He just wasn't ready to settle down yet.

Hannah had kept Quint's `roving hands' under control but somehow, the day before he left to satisfy his wanderlust, she gave in to his male urge. It was a decision she regretted immediately after - before she even realized the full implication of the deed But Quint left the next day when Judd, injured from the war, came home to take over the ranch.

Hannah went back to her parent's farm and started a weekly letter writing campaign to Quint. Two and a half months later however, Hannah realized she carried Quint's child. She tried to keep it a secret but her mother found out and went to Quint's mother. Judd was there and understood the stigma that would be attached to Hannah and her baby. He was the uncle of Hannah's baby. He had to protect them - the child and its mother. He offered to marry Hannah and give them a home and the baby the Seavers name. The marriage would be platonic for convenience only. Judd would have divorce papers drawn and ready to be signed the minute Quint came back.

It was the perfect plan. Hannah and Judd married and settled down to wait for Quint to come back home. Of course they developed feelings for one another but they wouldn't act upon it because any day now, Quint would come back to claim Hannah and his child...wouldn't he? And if he didn't, how long could Hannah and Judd hold out because they were both determined to do the right thing for the brother who wandered away.

Heat Level: Yummy

While Quint rushes off to seek adventure, Hannah is forced to grow up quickly and accept the responsibility of their baby. Judd has just returned from trauma of war and decides to do the honourable thing and offer her platonic marriage until his brother returns.

Various events force Hannah to mature quickly and she slowly recognises qualities to be loved and treasured in Judd. She in turn is the only one to break through his nightmares and give him the emotional stability he needs.

Their feelings for one another grow but always in the Quint's shadow - both hoping that he is safe and both committed to Hannah returning to him.

I don't want to spoil the story by going into further detail. I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. Obviously, as Quint is absent you are drawn to Hannah & Judd and how perfectly they complement each other. The secondary characters are also three dimensional and real, from Judd's difficult mother to Hannah's poor family.

This was an excellent book, it made me laugh and at times it made me want to cry. It was one of those books, that once you start it, you can't put it down.

I am very disappointed with this book. The plot seemed promising but there was no chemistry between Hannah and Judd. I couldn't feel any love between them. I could barely finish it.

For some reason I love the idea of girl begins with wrong brother and ends up with right brother. The plot was good and believable,the story flowed and was well written. I highly recommend this story :)

I couldn't put the book down!!! This is my first time reading Elizabeth lane and I am not disappointed! I'm now reading the second book which is Quint's story. :)

I really enjoyed this novel. I love how this author protrays her characters. It is so easy to get caught up in the story. This was a very touching and emotional novel. Life is not easy, and everyone makes mistakes. I felt that her characters were very inspiring, and made the best of a difficult situation.

The author writes well and the story was sweet. But I couldn't get over the ick factor of her sleeping with two brothers, especially within a year. Though well written, I cringed at the love scenes and kept thinking she just had your brother's baby. If you can't deal with one woman, two brothers or one man two sisters then I don't recommend this book.

Eh, this book was just okay. I liked the tension between the hero and heroine and their families, and the mystery over Quint's whereabouts kept me reading until I finished it in one sitting, but the romance was ultimately left undeveloped.

All of their thoughts of desire and angst over not wanting to betray Quint just seemed unsubstantiated. I didn't really see two people talking to each other and discovering a connection, I saw Romancelandia®-style elemental attraction where a chaste kiss or touch sets a treacherous body on fire. It's a common shortcut, for sure, but when used in a story where the heroine transfers her love from her lifelong beau to his brother, it's extra problematic. The hero spends much of their first married year away from her -- first leaving the day after their wedding to attend a weeks-long roundup and then leaving for months to look for Quint in Alaska. In the absence of conversation or some other sort of relationship building, what is there to convince me that Hannah's change of heart isn't just fickleness or gratitude? How do I know she won't flake out on Judd later?

The one thing I did really like about the book, though, was the cultural diversity of the characters. Lots of westerns imagine the place as homogenous and WASPy, but immigrants were everywhere in reality. So I really enjoyed that Hannah's parents were Norwegian, Judd's mother's nurse was German and the cook they hire later on was a Mexican. It was a refreshing change.