The Bride Ship (Harlequin Historical) [Kindle Edition]

Deborah Hale (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

As governor of Nova Scotia, Sir Robert Kerr has worked hard to bring order to the Canadian colony. So when he receives word that a "bride ship" is sailing into Halifax Harbor, he plans on sending the shipload of strumpets back from whence they came. Mrs. Jocelyn Finch, the chaperone accompanying the ladies, not surprisingly takes offense at having her girls being labeled as "loose," and challenges the governor to a duel. After successfully beating Kerr at a game of chess, Jocelyn wins Kerr's reluctant cooperation for her plans to arrange suitable matches between her girls--all poor young Englishwomen--and the single men of Nova Scotia. Jocelyn does her best to include him in all the upcoming social functions, never once suspecting that Kerr might eventually change his mind about not being in the market for a wife himself. With her usual skill and wit, Hale puts a fresh, fun twist on the Regency historical. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

A ship full of women could only cause trouble!

Of that Governor Sir Robert Kerr was certain, just by considering their chaperon! Though a widow, Mrs. Jocelyn Finch was young, vivacious and utterly determined to have her own way—especially with him!

Challenging the governor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to a duel was obviously a poor way to introduce herself. But when Sir Robert accused Jocelyn and her charges of something, well, less ladylike than husband-hunting, what else could she do? Besides, someone had to show this straitlaced, yet gloriously compelling figure of a man that there was more to life than doing one's duty!

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 542 KB
• Publisher: Harlequin Historical (January 17, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006L303OS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,616 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

After a decade spent tracing her ancestors to their roots in Georgian-era Britain, Deborah Hale learned a great deal about the period and uncovered enough fascinating true stories to inspire her fiction plots for years to come. In 1997, Deborah won Romance Writers of Amercia's Golden Heart award and several months later sold her winning manuscript to Harlequin Historical. Since then she has written many historical romance novels with a variety of settings, as well as two other-world fantasies for Luna Books. In the pilot episode of the hit television series "Hustle" one of Deborah's books was used in a key scene! Deborah lives in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada, a place steeped in history and romance.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For History Buffs, February 11, 2006

By 

P. Altenburg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bride Ship (Harlequin Historical) (Mass Market Paperback)

I often wonder how accurate historical fiction is. In this instance I happen to live in Nova Scotia, and although Deborah Hale has tweaked the time frames to suit the story, she's definitely captured the history and the flavour of the province. The author excels at detail. I graduated from King's and Dalhousie, so their petitions for money from the lieutenant governor made me laugh. (Some things never change.)

Halifax was, and continues to be, a military city, so you can imagine what might have happened if a bride ship had really sailed into port looking for husbands. All those lonely soldiers...!

Sir Robert Kerr knows exactly what to expect, and to say he's not thrilled is an understatement. Fortunately Mrs. Jocelyn Finch, formerly Lady Jocelyn, is not easily deterred. She's determined to make love matches for each of her young charges. Of course, since this is a romance, she and Sir Robert find love themselves. Their affair is well served by this backdrop. If you like history, you'll love The Bride Ship.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MOST EXCELLENT - REGENCY ROMANCE, June 1, 2006

By 

M. Hartmann "abayyan" (Milan, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bride Ship (Harlequin Historical) (Mass Market Paperback)

We are given a bit of a look into Canada [before hand] when the colony Governor Sir Robert Kerr is informed of a ship full of women.
He has denied himself the company of the female persuasion and feels that these women, under to protection of Mrs Jocelyn Finch will cause nothing but trouble.
Which almost happens after the levee given by Sir Robert.
Some men felt they were going to be cheated out of an opportunity to court these women.
Ah, but one thing leads to another and Sir Robert becomes slightly enamored of Mrs. Finch, who vows never to surrender her independance ever again to any man.

Oh, she is more than willing to become his mistress but never his wife. But one must do ones duty.

Definitely recommended --M - thoroughly enjoyable read.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Historical Romance, March 5, 2006

By 

Nikki (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bride Ship (Harlequin Historical) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Bride Ship is an excellent romance centred around two people who never thought they'd find love, and yet somehow managed to find each other.

Mrs. Jocelyn Finch is a war widow has decided to take a ship full of women from England to Canada so that they can find husbands. Upon arriving in Halifax, she discovers that the letter announcing their intent has been lost.

Sir Robert Kerr, thinking this Bride Ship is more seedy than sentimental, challenges Mrs. Finch to a chess match. If she wins she and her prospective brides can stay. But if she loses they must sail back to England.

Needless to say, Mrs. Finch is quite resourceful and she and her charges are allowed to remain in Nova Scotia.

I loved two things about this book:

1) The historical detail is excellent, and even though Ms. Hale tweaked the details of the time period a bit (which she explains in her notes), the overall feeling is that of a wonderfully raw landscape. I loved reading about this place.

2) She writes about heroes and heroines you can really relate to. Mrs. Finch was independent, smart and yet not in the least bit cold. Whereas Robert Kerr reminded me a lot of Mr. Darcy (never a bad thing) -- uneasy around people until he gets to know them better.

I loved this book!!