Customer Reviews

The Bridegroom (Dell Historical Romance)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

- this book fell into the "I wish I had not bought this" category. It is not particularly badly written, but I found the hero's actions to be less than romantic and the whole scenario somewhat unbelievable. Furthermore, although the story is set in Regency-era London and then in Scotland, there was very little detail provided to make me feel that I was really in the period. Yes, there was a derelict castle, there were the usual retainers. But the story could have been set in Scotland in any year, in any century, apart from the occasional reference to transportation . There were no references to what was happening elsewhere in politics, society or even in Scotland itself. I find this kind of a narrative, torn from history, rather hard to take. Where was the history in this historical romance?

I *am* picky about such things, and this review is for people who care about the use of history as more than wallpaper or a generic label. If you are a Joan Johnston fan (or the author herself), ignore this review. If you don't particularly care that the historical setting be somewhat close to real history, again, this review is not for you.

This book is related to AFTER THE KISS, although I suspect I am missing a book in between. Very briefly put, between AFTER THE KISS and this book THE BRIDEGROOM, the daughters - of a British duke have grown up. One of them, Rebecca, is unhappily married, and comes to love a man whom she cannot marry since he is so low in rank. [Her story and his forms the backdrop to the major story, that of her sister and a man out for revenge].

The hero Clay is a peer who has been disgraced by her father's actions (however well-intentioned). Since he lost his family, his title, his estates, and then his freedom, he bears a grudge against her entire family. Althouh the heroine, Regina (Lady Regina Blackthorne) knows this, she forms a friendship with him, believing his grudge to be a matter of the past. He has her kidnapped, thrown into a brothel from where he pretends to rescue her. He then persuades her to marry him, before springing the series of revelations - he hates her and her family, he wants to be revenged on her father, and so forth. He keeps his promises by preventing Regina from meeting her father, and vice versa. There is some mystery generated by the fact the hero has been wrongly accused, of course, and that the real villain is at large and in an unexpected position to strike again. There is however no reason given for the villain to want to hurt the hero in particular.

Part of my problems with this book was that I could not believe in the whole revenge scenario. I could believe that the hero would want to be revenged for his sufferings, and that he could present himself falsely to a gullible female. But could the heroine have been that gullible - to believe in the good faith of someone with cause for grievance, and to do some other stupid things? While a convicted felon lost his estates, removing a title even from a convicted peer was not easy. There is a complicated process of attainder. Furthermore, Rebecca's marriage could not be annulled so easily, and certainly not on the whim of her husband alone. All this rather detracted from the story. I won't even go into the problems with Mick's real identity.

I had problems with the characterization as well. Clay's desire to seek "compensation" for the loss of his title and estates (for several years) as well as the hardship he suffered is understandable. But he seemed too much like a stock character, the wronged hero out for revenge [think Edmond Dantes of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO]. He shows very little growth in the course of the story, although he recognizes - before the real villain is unmasked - that it is wrong to keep Regina and her father apart. Regina is amazingly quick to forgive Clay for putting her in danger and for tricking her into marriage, not to mention keeping her from her family.

On the other hand, Rebecca and Mick were well-drawn, and I wished the book had been about them, even though Mick's good fortune is almost unbelievable.

The minor characters tended to fade quickly and made little impression on me or even on the hero or heroine (since Regina forgot about the orphans so quickly, for example).

If you like a good tightly constructed plot, with a real sense of living in the Regency period, I really cannot recommend this book. If you want your Regency lite, this book might satisfy, but again it might not, depending on how credible you find the romance between Clay and Regina.

This book begins okay, and it's interesting to meet the characters from the previous books in the series, but about halfway through I began to get really bored. The hero is far too indecisive, the plot comes undone very quickly and the ending is so abrupt and contrived it left me shaking my head in disbelief. Ms. Johnston appears to have a hard time writing about characters who really have a dark side to them - Carlisle could have been much better constructed, but his angst seems weak. Its also very difficult to make the hero from one book the apparant villain in the next (Blackthorne), and we never do understand Cedric Ambleside's motives in this story. Too contrived, particularly the ending, and not enough real characterization.

I will admit that this book started out very slow and did not capture my attention. As a matter of fact I had started reading it a few months ago and quickly got bored after the first few pages and set it aside.
I think there were a few other things that could have been better in this book, I must agree with the other reviewers that said that the pain and turmoil that plaged Clay just really wasn't there or felt deep enough by the reader... although I will admit that she did an excellent job at the end!!! I loved it!! It had me in tears and completely made up for where, in my opinion, it had been lacking else where.

Ok. Yes, the plot was a bit farfetched at times. And yes, the characters weren't perfect. I also admit that the ending could have been drawn out a bit more but, alas, all of a sudden it was just there and they all lived happily ever after. This is a romance novel not a work of literary genius. That's not to say that there are not romance novels that can't achieve that status, but that's not what one really looks for in a romance novel. We want romance and this book has it. For all its faults, I liked it. I liked the characters regardless of the semi-weak characterazation. It was enjoyable and romantic, just the way I like my romance novels to be.

This book is an insult to readers' intelligence. We are asked to believe that a man, deeply scarred by his own illegitimacy would conspire to have the marriage of the woman he loves annulled. It's done--and in record time, without the knowledge of her father, a duke, or anyone else. Does the author not know that annulments were rare and time-consuming to obtain, that having a marriage annulled (on trumped up grounds that the husband was a bigamist) would make the daughter illegitimate? Would any mother stand for it? Would the man who instigated this and is so conscious of his own illegitimacy-- contemplate it? As for him, the sudden discovery that, instead of being the illegitimate son of a whore he is the grandson of a nobleman, that too, strains credulity, not to mention the circumstances which forced his mother to prostitute herself. Finally, why the villain of the piece should wait 12 years to revenge himself on those he once wronged and then attempt several times in a row to murder them instead of continuing to hide is beyond me. But then, I like my stories to have a modicum of logic. One star is as low as one can get with this ranking system. I would have given the book a raspberry.

I waited anxiously to get this book since the other 2 were so good. But this story certainly went a different route than I expected. Nevertheless, it was very enjoyable and it wrapped the series up.

By Dolores Monaco, Pensacola Florida

For years I searched for a modern Regency romance with the charm and authentic period detail of the original Georgette Heyer novels. I found all that and more in Joan Johnston's "The Bridegroom":

-- A strong but wounded hero transformed by an equally strong and lovable heroine

-- A story with heart as big and complex as love itself

-- A subplot and secondary characters that mesh with the main storyline and enhance it

-- Minor characters who delight, touch and amuse; whose interaction with the principle characters develops them and the plot

-- Realistic conflict grounded in human nature and the social order of the period

BRAVO, MISS JOHNSTON: Come back from the Wild West and give us more of your topnotch Regencies!

"The Bridegroom" hooked me from the first page and never let me down. I stayed up all night reading it and was sorry to see it end. The twins, especially Reggie, who delighted us in the earlier Captive Heart books, take the reader on a whirlwind ride. Ms. Johnston has provided the reader with a sensual, thrilling, exciting read to conclude the Captive Heart series. Its no wonder "The Bridegroom" has been on the bestseller lists since its debut. Ms. Johnston's books keep getting better and better. She never lets her readers down.

After over thirty-five romances, many of which were best sellers, one would think that Joan Johnston has written about everything and could only be trite and stale. However, the incomparable grandmaster of historical romance shows she is quite refreshing as she provides her audience with a majestic tale of love's struggle to surmount a quest for revenge engraved inside the hero's soul. The story line is a fast-paced, yet seductive love story that makes for a wonderful climax to the captivating "Captive Hearts" series (see CAPTIVE, AFTER THE KISS, and THE BODYGUARD). Ms. Johnston should be right back where her readers always seem to place her, at the top of all the best selling lists.

Harriet Klausner

Those delightful twins from the earlier Captive Hearts books are all grown up ... well, with a bit of maturing yet to do which they will in the course of THE BRIDEGROOM. I would have given five stars but for the brutal scene in the barn for which Clay is not repentant. With his background, he should have been horrified.